Hi everyone - I'm pretty new here but have been lurking quite a while.
I had a Chapter 7 bankruptcy back in 2005 which was due to medical issues and a job loss. In early 2006, I thought the health problems were all behind me and I got a new job, and an Orchard Bank Secured Card to try to rebuild my credit. Unfortunately, the medical issues that I had that led to my bankruptcy were not quite over with, and I got sick again, and lost my job before disability started. The Orchard Bank Secured card charged off, and has a DOLA of July, 2006.
My credit reports now list:
the bankruptcy;
a paid collection for CCB, Inc which is for my Village provided utilities from where I lived then;
an AFNI collection which is for Verizon;
a charge-off for HSBC for the Orchard Bank secured card;
a collection account from Portfolio Recovery for the Orchard Bank secured card.
I also have a BofA Secured Card that I have had for one month, and has a $1000 limit with a $0 balance right now. I feel pretty good about where I am at - the BofA should help my scores, and unsecure at some point.
I have sent a GW to to CCB to try to remove the paid collection, and a PFD to AFNI. Neither the Village nor Verizon show on my credit reports, so if I can get these two collections off, I will be very happy.
I am just not quite sure what to do with HSBC / Portfolio. I did send a PFD letter out to Portfolio a few days ago, and I thought at the time that I would probably GW HSBC after I get Portfolio taken care of. I did contact HSBC before sending the letter to see if I could just pay them, and they said that I would have to deal with Portfolio. Now I am wondering if I should have asked if I can reinstate the card. Even if I am lucky enough to get Portfolio to remove the collection, I don't know if I will ever be able to get HSBC to remove the charge-off. But, if I offered to pay the past due back to HSBC, and send an additional amount to reopen the card, then maybe I would be able to get rid of the charge-off, and have them start reporting current again. Does anyone know if they ever do that sort of thing? I have read where some CC's will let people do tha sort of thing, but has anyone ever seen Orchard Bank so that? I really don't want to get the Orchard Bank secured card again, as I am really happy with my BofA secured card, but still, if I can get Orchard to remove the charge-off and start reporting current, it may be worth reopening the card. So, has anyone ever had a charged-off OB secured that they rehabilitated? Has anyone ever heard of them being amenable to such a thing?
