Rebuilding Your Credit

[WhatzUrPlan]

Okay, so I got this offer from one of our favorite bad@$$es in the CA world ~ I was planning to DV them but they are coming at me fast & furious with letters & phone calls.

Then as I'm looking through the "stacks" I find this "offer" for the Emblem Mastercard "fresh start" program card. 

They're going to 'suspend' part of the post CO interest on amount due from 1400 down under 1000, then after 12 consecutive monthly payments totalling 300, they'll give me a "special credit" of 175 send me the Emblem card with a CL of 700 and a balace owed of 645, so I'll supposedly have available credit of 55 when I get the card and the BT will allegedly NEVER be subject to "finance charges" or "BT fees" and the interest rate is 19% with, of course, "very low" minimum payment.

Part of me says BAAAAAAD IDEA...another part is, at least, moderately intrigued...words of advice?

(now ducking behind an overturned table, preparing for onslaught from the myFICO veterans) 

[NikJ4]

How old is the debt?

[SHAI]

The emblem mastercard is good. I was just offered it and took it. They cleared my debt of $800 from my imagine mastercard and transferred the amount to emblem card. They deleted the bad debt from imagine off my credit report and now the emblem is showing on my report as paying on time. They let you build your credit and get rid of the original debt at the same time. I would say GO FOR IT. I've been getting items deleted and paying on 2 credit cards faithfully and can't wait to check my score in September FICO's as of 6/2008 TU-431, EX-429, EQ-423 I'm shooting for the 600 club by September.

[WhatzUrPlan]

The original account was opened in 2002, DOFD was, I believe, 2005 but the CA is showing "date opened" as 2007.  Either way, we are still waaaay inside of the 6-year SOL

[WhatzUrPlan]

Who was the CA offering it, if you don't mind my asking?

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SHAI wrote:
The emblem mastercard is good. I was just offered it and took it. They cleared my debt of $800 from my imagine mastercard and transferred the amount to emblem card. They deleted the bad debt from imagine off my credit report and now the emblem is showing on my report as paying on time. They let you build your credit and get rid of the original debt at the same time. I would say GO FOR IT. I've been getting items deleted and paying on 2 credit cards faithfully and can't wait to check my score in September FICO's as of 6/2008 TU-431, EX-429, EQ-423 I'm shooting for the 600 club by September.

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[NikJ4]

ok, what did you decide?

[WhatzUrPlan]

I decided to pull out the offer and REALLY READ the SUPER FINE PRINT with a magnifying glass and then decide...  hopefully I'll get to that tonight, as I've been so busy writing letters, I nearly forgot about it.    thanks for the reminder, Nik!

[makeynik]

i googled them and it is a company that seems to buy debt...

[WhatzUrPlan]

Thanks for checking!  I've done some research on them, too, but saw many mixed messages and decided this was the best place to ask about them & see what the concensus was...

I'm leary b/c they've been nailed by the FTC but there have also been those who've experienced success with them. 

PART of the bottom line is that this debt is mine, it is legit and I don't have the money to PFD or even settle, at the moment.  The other part is, I don't wanna get screwed by them, either. 

The way I look at it, depending on how the fine print reads:

best case scenario:  I settle the debt through a ridiculously high-rate card, but they forgive part of the debt and I end up with a starter card I can use for a couple of sodas occasionally until I'm in prime territory and the debt gets paid ultimately

worst case scenario:  they pull the bait & switch, try to screw me and, because I'm armed with a wealth of knowledge thanks to y'all on the forums, I haul their butts in to federal court and they have to PAY ME for the B.S. and aggravation

SEEMS like it could be a win-win for me. 

[NikJ4]

before you decide, find out when this debt comes off your credit. If it is something that will be off in the next year, it may not be worth taking on the headache. (IMOO) I just dont see why revive something that will be coming off your credit in next 6 months to a year.