topic Re: My Credit Repair Journal in Rebuilding Your Credit

My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 04:49:31 GMT

Hey all.

Here's where I'm at: Transunion 486 Equifax 471 (Please don't judge...)

I have 2 open credit cards. Both have been late 60-90 days. One has $341. The other is paid off. I have another closed card that amounts to $754 and a merchant account in the amount of $110. I have a ton of other (mostly derogatory) items listed that are fairly old.

In collections I have 3 accounts, $1920, $81, and $774. The last one is from 2006 but the other two are recent.

I'll be paying this off in the next few months. What should I tackle first, the collections or the accounts?

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

sphinx313 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 04:54:50 GMT

J_S, Welcome to myFICO!

I assure you, there will be no judging going on here. I was at an abysmal 388 when I started my journey, so this is just the first step in the right direction. One thing you have to do first if you haven't already, is pull your Credit Report from annualcreditreport.com. It is 100% free and provided to you once a year should you request it. This report will give us all the information we need, such as DOFD's so we can see if they are still within the SOL of your state. These reports will have all the information necessary to lead you down the right path.

Feel free to post copies of the collections/accounts sections so the members here can formulate a plan for you! Good luck!

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 05:39:10 GMT

Thanks for the reply, and encouraging words.

The adverse accounts section was too long to post here. Too many characters. Really, the ones I still owe on are recent. The one that was 2006 is the only one that I still owe on that's old. The rest are just a couple of months old. This is actually my second attempt to fix things. I just screwed it up again a few months ago. :smileysad:

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

Swapmeet — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 05:59:33 GMT

Don't worry about anyone judging you here, as sphinx said. A quick note of advice before paying anything, try and get them to agree to a PFD every time. It will boost your score quicker and you have a little leverage before you pay-- not the case afterwards. Good luck bro, you have already made a good choice (coming here). I am still pretty new here, but I have been reading, reading, reading, and following the advice of the knowledgeable people here. It is coming along nicely.

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:25:48 GMT

I didn't think about PFDs. I may give it a try.

Another question: Is it better to close accounts that have blemishes on them and reopen secured cards or keep the cards with blemishes? Do the blemishes of an open account ever go away?

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

beb86 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 06:37:00 GMT

Welcome to the forums and I look forward to hearing your progress....you can find a lot of useful information on the stickys in each topic.

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

Shogun — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:28:10 GMT

J_S wrote:
I didn't think about PFDs. I may give it a try.

Another question: Is it better to close accounts that have blemishes on them and reopen secured cards or keep the cards with blemishes? Do the blemishes of an open account ever go away?

It actually just depends on the blemishes. Were they just 30 or 60 day lates? Or were they more serious?

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 12:50:56 GMT

The Home Depot is 60 days late, Capital One is 90 days late.

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

Swapmeet — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:16:13 GMT

There are several factors to this decision. How long have you had these accounts open? What is your payment history like with them? You might be able to get your accounts current and GW the blemishes off.

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:00:46 GMT

The accounts are current as of today. They've been open for 6 months to a year. My payment history was good until I had the hiccup.

I think I'll work on GW letters today. When asked why I missed the payments I told them it was due to medical issues. What's the likelyhood of GW working with medical as the reason given for being late? In any case it's worth a shot... But do they work with open accounts?

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

sphinx313 — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:07:33 GMT

Nothing is better than a current account to GW on I don't think. It's harder to GW an account you half paid in settlement then it is a current positive account. Like most say about GW, I would keep any sob type story out of it, get straight to the facts and keep it short. Your mileage will vary regardless, but it's the general consensus.

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

Swapmeet — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:08:44 GMT

J_S wrote:
The accounts are current as of today. They've been open for 6 months to a year. My payment history was good until I had the hiccup.

I think I'll work on GW letters today. When asked why I missed the payments I told them it was due to medical issues. What's the likelyhood of GW working with medical as the reason given for being late? In any case it's worth a shot... But do they work with open accounts?

I don't see why they wouldn't, but I couldn't tell you for sure.

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 09:38:40 GMT

A total of 6 GW letters representing a total of 10 accounts are ready to be sent out, first thing Monday morning. I'm not touching the Collection accounts this time around. I need to figure out what I'm doing with the $1920 first. Try to settle or save my money a few months and PFD? I'm leaning trying the latter.

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 00:48:03 GMT

testing to see if I can paste a part of my credit report like I see some people do... lol <---noob

Txu Energy	XXXXXXXX0985	3/2011	$110	Charged off as bad debt		Details
Texas Guaranteed Student	XXXXX6405	5/2010	$0	Payment after charge off/collection	No	Details
Texas Guaranteed Student	XXXXX6406	5/2010	$0	Payment after charge off/collection	No	Details
Texas Guaranteed Student	XXXXX6404	5/2010	$0	Payment after charge off/collection	No	Details
Bank Of America		7/2011	$754	120 days past due		Details
Costep Servicing Agent		5/2000	$0	120 days past due		Details
Costep Servicing Agent		8/1999	$0	120 days past due		Details
Costep Servicing Agent		10/2000	$0	120 days past due		Details
The Home Depot/Cbna		2/2012	$341	Paid or paying as agreed		Details
Capital One Bank Usa Na		10/2011	$0	Paid or paying as agreed		Details
Western Shamrock Corp	XXXXXXXXXZ001	2/2012	$0	Paid or paying as agreed	No	Details
Credit First		5/2002	$0	Paid or paying as agreed	No	Details
Wells Fargo Auto Finance	XXXXXXXXXXXXX9001	6/2001	$0	Paid or paying as agreed	No

Ah... those are my accounts my collections:

Prof Debt

$1,920

Apr 16, 2012

09 Desert Sands Apartments

XXXXXXXX

Individual

Placed for collection

Cba

$81

Feb 27, 2012

11 Charter Communications

XXXXXXXX

Individual

Placed for collection

Bekmn Assoc

$560

$774

Jan 19, 2006

Med1 02 Montgomery Psychiatry Assoc

XXXXXXXX

Individual

Placed for collection

*cry* I don't know what I'm doing... :smileysad:

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

memakmady — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:13:59 GMT

Hello. What is or are PFDs?

Re: My Credit Repair Journal

J_S — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:00:22 GMT

PFD = pay for delete. It's where you require the creditor to delete the negative information in exchange of paying what you owe.