566 FICO

[Anonymous]

12 charge offs, 1 auto charge from co sign and 1 repo, student loans have been consolidated. 

Hi all,

My credit is in pretty bad shape. Trying to put it back together again. I got laid off 1 year ago, car got repossessed, I co-signed on a relative's car when my credit rating was great and then they were late so now it's on my credit report. I have no credit cards, the charge off's are from utilities and medical bills.

I have now been back working for 1 full year and saved enough to start paying off the charge offs. What is the best way to re establish credit as I pay off the charge offs. My total debt without student loans is 4300.00 repo, 2200.00 in charge offs  I have 23000 in student loans that are in deferment.

Since I have no car I need to rent a car sometimes but I mainly use the bus as transportation. 

I now have a Experian of 566 pulled 10/12/09 Where do you think I could get 1 loan to pay off the repo and charge offs? and Should I negotiate the charge offs or pay them outright? 

[Tons_of_Debt]

Paying off the COs won't help your score or CR.

[anemo]

Hi,

I had a repo and what I did was talk to my loan company about a final payment to have account paid in full. What I ask for was! If I pay the remaining balance will u back date my credit to reflect on time payments and account paid in full. They said yes! My bank was Wells Fargo. With the CO's they may have went to a CA thier may be chance you can work something out with them or talk to the OC. I had a couple and what I did was settle with the CA and they reported it back to the OC and they reflected as paid on my credit. That may happening if only he OC has hired someone to collect, once it's written off or sold that's it. It up to the CA and you have to deal with them.

Don't be in a hurry to throw your money out there unless you get the results your looking for. After seeing if you can work out thoses accounts get ready to plan a big rebuilding project, secured cards, store cards etc.

It's not over! If you have savings that can help with your debt money(payments) can sovle any credit problems. Just make sure you get everything in written and make the best deals possible. It's the end of the year alot of companies are looking to clear thier books. Your score of 566 after all that damage is not bad in my eyes when you can buy a house at 620, so your not far away! You may not get that big impact for paying off the charge offs but you never know. Some of mine were deleted after paying the CA. Seek a PFD.. if under collection agency.

anemo

[anemo]

I forgot!

Your accounts may have went bad during a bad time, you have a score of 566 so there is some good credit some where on your report. Upon payments offers try during a GW letter(to OC) to to save some of those trade lines on your credit report if it's not in the hands of CA. As mentioned I had accounts that went to the CA and both where on my report. After payment the CA was removed and the OC updated as paid.

Keep all options open and make the best deals to reflect as paid or negative items removed on your credit report.

anemo

[Anonymous]

Hi wealthmgmt! Love the username!

First, one of the best pieces of advice that I got when I started in these forums was this; Repair first, then rebuild. Work on getting your baddies resolved before you start building new credit relationships. You might find, as I did, that being too hasty might result in a bunch of dead-end, low-limit, rebuilder cards as your oldest tradelines, and setting the precedent for low limits when you're ready to move on to prime cards. One exception would be if you open a secured card with a good limit, with a solid lender that will unsecure your card in 12-18 months with good & responsible use. That way, you could set your own limit.  

You'll need to use the HIPAA process on the medical debt-- it'll require you to PIF to the original creditor (doctor, hospital, etc...). Search this forum for "HIPAA Process" to find direction to the HIPAA process. I'd suggest trying to get PFDs on the repo & utility charge-offs.

I don't know where you got an Experian score from, but unless you got it from a lender during a mortgage app, it's probably not a genuine FICO score-- Experian scores are no longer available to consumers for purchase. You can get it from a lender with a mortgage app, for example, and/or from one credit union in PA that provides them to their members.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. I applied for a US Bank Secured and a Nordstroms MOD card which I thought was only supposed to go through my checking account. They ran my credit on both and now I have 2 more dings (I'm a bit bummed about that) I was denied for the Nordstroms card.

[Boldilocks]

Hi there!  First, you should definitley read these stickys at the top to familiarise yourself with things: 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=29793

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=rebuildingcredit&thread.id=28996

While I agree that you should repair first and then rebuild, we were like you and had no open credit cards at all - and when we applied for and got an Orchard card (with a 543 score) it was a 25 point boost across all CRAs.  I definitely think it's a good dea to have one card going, whether it be a secured on or a sub prime one.  But we had nothing positive going for us on our reports, except for old closed loans in good standing.

Google "whychat HIPAA" in order to read about the HIPAA process which is a means by which some have been successful at removing paid medical collections by paying in full to the OC.  

With the other collections and charge-offs, have a look at the DOFD on these accounts - the more recent things are hurting you the most.  Some of them might be out of SOL (which means they can still attempt to collect, but only by suing you - and if they do that you show up, show that it's outside SOL, and they can't win).  Also, some of them might be near the CRTP of 7-7.5 years, at which point they fall off your report.  If you happen to live in NY you can get them off sooner by paying them.

But first, you should pull your free reports at annualcreditreport.com.  There are a lot of fake "fako" scores out there.  the only places you can get your tru ficos are here (both EQ and TU), equifax.com and transunioncs.com.  You need to get those fico scores to see where you are really at.  Also a subscription to a CMS like CreditCheckTotal or TrueCredit can be helpful to monitor things (hopefully) dropping off your report, and new things adding.  Just ignore the scores.

By reading, reading and more reading here you will learn a lot about getting back on track and getting those scores up.  Most of us started with scores similar or worse than yours -it's amazing how you can bump them up with some research, work, and lots of trips to the post office!

Message Edited by Boldilocks on 10-26-2009 08:41 AM

[Supafly535]

If you live in New york you can get them off sooner by paying them?  Is this true?  I live in New York and have about 5 Collections that wont drop off until 2013-2015.. and I'm going to send out my DV letters and PFD letters tomorrow. Just curious how i can get them off sooner other then that?

[RobertEG]

I dont discourage either DV or PFD letters, but only emphasize what they are.

DV letters are under FDCPA 809(b), and their primary statutory purpose is to require creditors to cease active collectiion activity, and thus get creditors off of your back in calling or contacting you, or posting to your CR, until such time as they may choose to respond.  CAs are under no perioid to respond to any DV letter, only to cease active collection activities until they do.  You may sit forever (unless you live in a state that requires DV response, which is rare) . And a harsh DV may prompt them to post to your CR, if they have not yet done so, or worse yet, to bring legal action.

PFD letters are conditional offers, and thus have no legal basis for any response. They can just chuck them in their circular file  They may even harm you.  Under some state SOL laws, an offer to pay,which is what a PFD is, may reset your statute of limitatiions, and extend the period under which they may bring successful legal action.

Slinging out DV letters and PFD offers is encouraged by many.  Know both sides of the coin, and know your state law.

Message Edited by RobertEG on 10-31-2009 10:51 PM

[QueenBean]

Since paying the CO in full won't help your credit, I would opt for a a settlement, especially since I've no doubt that a lot of what you owe was fees that were tacked onto your original balances (companies seems to really pad the balance when they think you are headed for a default) - that way the debt is fairly settled & you can feel good about yourself again.  I was able to negociate mine at about 20-25%, but that was for lump sum payments and I just went down the list as I saved up the money.

Also, try an Orchard Bank CC, I think I got one when my score was in the mid 550s range.

Good Luck & Best Wishes

Message Edited by QueenBean on 11-01-2009 08:39 AM