As a novice in the area of credit rebuilding, I would greatly appreciate your advice about a serious problem regarding my daughter's credit situation. She is in her early twenties, living on her own, and has had two credit cards with Citibank for approximately two years each. Her payments on each card were timely until November 2010, after which she was unable to make payments for a few months. By the time she contacted Citibank in February to make payment, one card had a balance of almost $2800, was 120 days late, and had been charged-off/closed just 5 days before her call. She was offered a settlement of 65% which she accepted and paid on February 28. After we learned from this forum about the option of making GW/PFD requests as a means of rebuilding credit, she thought about sending a PFD letter to Citibank offering to pay the balance, or an acceptable portion thereof, if the account could be deleted from her credit files.
At the time of her call to Citibank in mid-February, the second card had a balance of about $1700 and was 92 days overdue. She immediately paid the total balance due on this account, but was told that it might still be subject to adverse action at some future time because it was already in pre-litigation (“in a liquidation portfolio in the escalation department”). Unfortunately, this account was closed by Citibank on March 4 and when she inquired about the reason, she was told it was mainly due to the delinquency of the other account that had been charged off.
Although the chance of having these two charge-offs removed from my daughter’s credit files is probably very slim, we would nevertheless like to attempt to do so over a period of time and need advice as to the best way to attempt this and in what sequence? As mentioned above, she had originally planned to send a PFD letter regarding the first charge-off for which she had paid the settlement. However, now that the second account has been closed due to the charge-off of the first, we have the following questions (BTW, she has no other credit cards, etc.):
1. Would it make more sense to initially send a GW letter requesting deletion of the second account, describing the personal reasons for the delay in payment and stressing the fact that the balance had been paid in full while the account was still active and only 92 days past due? If this letter were successful, how long should she wait and what else might she do before sending the PFD letter requesting deletion of the first account that was charged off?
2. Alternatively, would it be better to try to have the first account deleted prior to the second account? Or should she send one letter requesting consideration of both accounts at the same time?
3. Is it preferable to mail her GW or PFD letter to Citi Cards at the Sioux Falls address, or directly to the Vice President whose name appears on the letter we received confirming the terms of the settlement offer?
Thanks very much for any assistance you can provide in helping us navigate this unfamiliar territory!
