Yesterday, a thick packet of documents arrived in the mail from the mortgage company. Its peaceful, white envelope belied the torment hiding within. Sure, there was good news. We had been conditionally approved for our mortgage. Conditionally. And that’s where the torment began.
Most of the required conditions were reasonable and expected: more FHA paperwork to sign, the need to explain a five-hundred-dollar wire transfer into our checking account the week after we applied, having to prove our earnest money payment to the builder. What was not reasonable or expected, was a demand for me to satisy a tax lien from the state of New York filed back in 1989. For the record, I have never resided nor worked in the state of New York. I quickly visited the Website that allows you to print a free annual credit report. More torment.
Yes, Virgina, you CAN get a free credit report from all three credit reporting agencies, but only after wading through dozens of carnival side-show solicitations for various products guaranteed to improve your credit rating. “Step right up,” they beckon. “God knows what will happen to your credit rating if you don’t protect yourself with our credit monitoring service! Try it now, for the low, low price of only $14.95 per month!”
After clicking the “No thank you” button enough times to give me carpal tunnel, I was finally able to view and print out my reports. Of the three bureaus, only TransUnion was reporting the public record concerning the New York tax lien. I immediately set about researching what little information was presented. An address on Walt Whitman Blvd turns out to be an office building in Suffolk County, Long Island. The docket number yields nothing when I search the New York Unified Court System Website. The search form specifies a completely different format than what is presented in the public record. Everywhere I look, a dead end. In desperation, I dash off an email to the informational contact listed on the court’s Website. Could somebody, anybody, help me prove this was not my lien?
Before I went to bed last night, I registered a dispute with TransUnion. The small print on the submittal form told me that invetsigations might take as long as 30 days. As Liz lemon might say, “Blurgh!” I also sent off an email informing our mortgage processor of my dilemna, and asking for advice. Hopefully, something will break soon.
—Michael