Any Advice Please and Ty (my story)

Anonymous · ‎07-25-2017

I filed bankruptcy January 2015, discharged july 2015 (took so long because i had a few deficiencies, I filed pro se). 2 months later i recieved 2 capital cards for 300 each. I had no job so in 2016 they were both charged off (ugh i know i know). I have 1 medical bill for 200 and a cable bill for 230 with no more then 5 inquires on any repory. Im now serious about rebuilding and i feel like i know a few things (business student) but you learn new things everyday. So to start my rebuild in May 2017 i opened an Opensky credit card ( whomever has problems with them probably are not timely people) My credit score was around 430-480 across the board. 9% utilization with a high balance of 50% I did this on purpose to let them know that i need a higher credit limit (opensky will raise your limit $100) I settled one of my capital one cc for %40 yesterday. I applied for a secured discover it card that i was approved for i plan on putting 200 on that today or tomorrow. I plan on growing with my discover card could be a forever thing. Ill be paying the rest of the bill when i have the money. Scores are 520 experian 560 Equifax and 573 transunion. 89% utilization with my capital one CO's reporting. Any advice??

gdale6 · ‎07-27-2017

Welcome to the board

The Cap-1s will have to report 0 balance if you settle with them, could take up to 60 days. With the cable bill if its the CA reporting call the company and ask them to recall it in exchange for full payment. If its the OC reporting see if they will give you the PFD (Pay for delete). On the medical

For unpaid medical debt that is reporting on your CR:

1. Call the OC and see if you qualify for Charity Care
2. If not then ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
3. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
4. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help

Looks like you have 2 open CCs now you need 1 more to drive your Fico to the best it can be at this point in time. It can be another secured card.

Anonymous · ‎07-27-2017

Okay great ill call about the medical and cable bill tomorrow. Question 1. Should i pay 200 to get my debt settled or put the 200 on a secured card. Question 2. I was approved for a 250 victoria secret credit card by doing the shopping cart trick. Is the 300 opensky cc and 250 victoria secret card enough to build my credit with my charge offs paid. And they said it would take 22 days to report 0 balance on my settled accounts...ugh. Why?

Anonymous · ‎07-28-2017

Start with the charge offs, it's the one thing I regret in my rebuild. I let months go by while paying off my collections and getting them removed (so no more negative payment history associated with them) and the co reported failed to pay for months which held down my scores.

Charge offs are a little tricky to get deleted, but the sooner they're settled or paid the sooner you can start a good will campaign to get them deleted from your reports!

Your 3 cards are the perfect amount to start off your rebuild, you want less than 50% of your revolving accounts to report a balance. If you're trying to maximize your scores have 2 of those cards post a 0 balance at statement cut and 1 report a balance between 1-9% utilization!

Welcome to the forums, lots of great advice on here 😁

gdale6 · ‎07-29-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Okay great ill call about the medical and cable bill tomorrow. Question 1. Should i pay 200 to get my debt settled or put the 200 on a secured card. Question 2. I was approved for a 250 victoria secret credit card by doing the shopping cart trick. Is the 300 opensky cc and 250 victoria secret card enough to build my credit with my charge offs paid. And they said it would take 22 days to report 0 balance on my settled accounts...ugh. Why?

You have enough cards to build with those additions. The companies only report once a month with the exception of Chase who will report as soon as you pay off the balance in full.