Finally asking for some guidance.

Anonymous · ‎12-22-2014

Hello everyone,

I’ve been digging through the boards for a while trying to collect as much information as possible towards my first steps in what I assume will be a long, painstakingly-difficult journey of credit repair. In my younger years, not knowing how to use or maintain credit, I let some accounts go sour. I decided to create this thread in order to ask a few questions and get some guidance to ensure I’m not going in the wrong direction.

Right now as it stands myFICO shows the following scores: Experian- 586 TransUnion- 582 Equifax- 590

I have 3 revolving accounts:

A secured CapitalOne card with a $750 limit reporting always <10% utilization.
A CO from HSBC reporting a $0 balance. (Debt sold and CA is MCM) DOFD is 09/2009 Original balance: $678 with Current Balance: $978
A CO from Capital One Platinum Card with a CL of $1021. Debit is still with CapitalOne as my revolving debt utilization reports at over 100% every month. DOFD 09/2009 and the amount has ballooned to $2591 over the past few years.

I recently applied for a CapitalOne QSO and was granted a $1000 limit (this isn’t listed as a revolving account yet on my CR). I only have 2 Inquiries on my report with 1 falling off this month.

I’m located in Texas so both CO’s are out of SOL. The first question I couldn’t get a clear answer on is how badly the CO from CapitalOne dinging my report every month as well as killing my Utilization affecting my credit score? The FICO simulator estimates that paying off my CC balance would increase my all the scores 60 points, but of course I’m not that optimistic due to the other baddies on my report that I’ll disclose next.

The lates I have reporting are:

Two 120 days late for two different Nelnet Student loans. These are almost 2 years old. I’ll try to GW.
Four 30 day late on a FMC auto loan in 2010. Will try to GW this as well.
One 90 day late from Sallie Mae; this will be removed due to inaccuracy (working on it now).

I have 2 collections reporting on EQ and EX, but 3 on TU:

$177 dollars for a Comcast account which was paid to OC: trying persuade the CA to remove since the OC took the debt back and isn't reporting. Do you think I will have any luck with this? I’m sending a CMRR letter telling them this debt was settled with the OC and they aren’t authorized to report.
I have two different CA’s on my TU report for the Comcast account, so I disputed the accuracy with TU in hopes to remove at least one of them.
MCM for the CO on a HSBC card for $978. I can try to PFD; from what I read on the boards this is quite impossible to achieve.

Out of all these issues, I feel the utilization from the CapitalOne CO is killing my score the most. I know settling with them would bring the balance down to $0, so is there any difference in offering to settle rather than PIF if it’s past SOL?

For MCM I will try to PFD. The other lates I can try to GW as much as possible.

My current auto loan is with Santander and of course the rate is leaving me a bit butt-sore. I’ve paid on time for the past 1.5 years. I’d like to refinance soon, however, I don’t want a pointless inquiry or a comparably, horrific rate. Also ready to purchase a home, but need to get my scores somewhat presentable before doing so.

Can anyone offer any insight to my situation as to what actions they would take first? I’m ready to start asap and just want to make sure I’m making the correct decisions.

Thanks guys!

Anonymous · ‎12-23-2014

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone,

I’ve been digging through the boards for a while trying to collect as much information as possible towards my first steps in what I assume will be a long, painstakingly-difficult journey of credit repair. In my younger years, not knowing how to use or maintain credit, I let some accounts go sour. I decided to create this thread in order to ask a few questions and get some guidance to ensure I’m not going in the wrong direction.

Right now as it stands myFICO shows the following scores: Experian- 586 TransUnion- 582 Equifax- 590

I have 3 revolving accounts:
A secured CapitalOne card with a $750 limit reporting always <10% utilization.
A CO from HSBC reporting a $0 balance. (Debt sold and CA is MCM) DOFD is 09/2009 Original balance: $678 with Current Balance: $978
A CO from Capital One Platinum Card with a CL of $1021. Debit is still with CapitalOne as my revolving debt utilization reports at over 100% every month. DOFD 09/2009 and the amount has ballooned to $2591 over the past few years.
I recently applied for a CapitalOne QSO and was granted a $1000 limit (this isn’t listed as a revolving account yet on my CR). I only have 2 Inquiries on my report with 1 falling off this month. I'm surprised they approved you with a current unpaid CO... Your scores are not much higher than mine, I think I may apply for a QSO account once My UTI reports low.

I’m located in Texas so both CO’s are out of SOL. The first question I couldn’t get a clear answer on is how badly the CO from CapitalOne dinging my report every month as well as killing my Utilization affecting my credit score? The FICO simulator estimates that paying off my CC balance would increase my all the scores 60 points, but of course I’m not that optimistic due to the other baddies on my report that I’ll disclose next. UTI is a large part of your score. The simulator is probably at least in the ballpark.

The lates I have reporting are:
Two 120 days late for two different Nelnet Student loans. These are almost 2 years old. I’ll try to GW.
Four 30 day late on a FMC auto loan in 2010. Will try to GW this as well.
One 90 day late from Sallie Mae; this will be removed due to inaccuracy (working on it now).
I have 2 collections reporting on EQ and EX, but 3 on TU:
$177 dollars for a Comcast account which was paid to OC: trying persuade the CA to remove since the OC took the debt back and isn't reporting. Do you think I will have any luck with this? I’m sending a CMRR letter telling them this debt was settled with the OC and they aren’t authorized to report. Not likely to happen. They are authorized to report, because they still had collection authority when you paid the OC. In order for the CA to not be allowed to report, the OC needs to recall the debt BEFORE you pay it.

I have two different CA’s on my TU report for the Comcast account, so I disputed the accuracy with TU in hopes to remove at least one of them.
MCM for the CO on a HSBC card for $978. I can try to PFD; from what I read on the boards this is quite impossible to achieve. Some have had success with Midland - you just have to convince them that its in their best interest to delete. Since its out of SOL, they cannot force you to pay anything. Use that against them - eventually SOMEONE there will get a clue and figure it out.
Out of all these issues, I feel the utilization from the CapitalOne CO is killing my score the most. I know settling with them would bring the balance down to $0, so is there any difference in offering to settle rather than PIF if it’s past SOL? The only difference is on a manual review for a mortgage - 'Settled' is less desireable than 'Paid'

For MCM I will try to PFD. The other lates I can try to GW as much as possible.

My current auto loan is with Santander and of course the rate is leaving me a bit butt-sore. I’ve paid on time for the past 1.5 years. I’d like to refinance soon, however, I don’t want a pointless inquiry or a comparably, horrific rate. Also ready to purchase a home, but need to get my scores somewhat presentable before doing so. Whats your current interest rate on the Auto loan and what was your score when you got it?

Can anyone offer any insight to my situation as to what actions they would take first? I’m ready to start asap and just want to make sure I’m making the correct decisions.

Thanks guys!

Anonymous · ‎12-23-2014

I recently applied for a CapitalOne QSO and was granted a $1000 limit (this isn’t listed as a revolving account yet on my CR). I only have 2 Inquiries on my report with 1 falling off this month. I'm surprised they approved you with a current unpaid CO... Your scores are not much higher than mine, I think I may apply for a QSO account once My UTI reports low. From what I read here it seems that CapitalOne is one of the few companys that doesn't blacklist you once they CO the account after a certain period of time. Perhaps also my Income had something to do with it as well :/.

I’m located in Texas so both CO’s are out of SOL. The first question I couldn’t get a clear answer on is how badly the CO from CapitalOne dinging my report every month as well as killing my Utilization affecting my credit score? The FICO simulator estimates that paying off my CC balance would increase my all the scores 60 points, but of course I’m not that optimistic due to the other baddies on my report that I’ll disclose next. UTI is a large part of your score. The simulator is probably at least in the ballpark. This is what i was figuring. I will try to settle with Capital One and hopefully this doesn't have a negative effect on my credit score since they are reporting FP monthly anyway.

I have 2 collections reporting on EQ and EX, but 3 on TU:

$177 dollars for a Comcast account which was paid to OC: trying persuade the CA to remove since the OC took the debt back and isn't reporting. Do you think I will have any luck with this? I’m sending a CMRR letter telling them this debt was settled with the OC and they aren’t authorized to report. Not likely to happen. They are authorized to report, because they still had collection authority when you paid the OC. In order for the CA to not be allowed to report, the OC needs to recall the debt BEFORE you pay it. I've actually read quite a few threads with people having success by paying the OC and then disputing Enchanced Recovery with the CB's. I'll try this. People have also had success with GW to Enhanced.

I have two different CA’s on my TU report for the Comcast account, so I disputed the accuracy with TU in hopes to remove at least one of them.
MCM for the CO on a HSBC card for $978. I can try to PFD; from what I read on the boards this is quite impossible to achieve. Some have had success with Midland - you just have to convince them that its in their best interest to delete. Since its out of SOL, they cannot force you to pay anything. Use that against them - eventually SOMEONE there will get a clue and figure it out. I will start PFDs to Midland since it's out of SOL.

Out of all these issues, I feel the utilization from the CapitalOne CO is killing my score the most. I know settling with them would bring the balance down to $0, so is there any difference in offering to settle rather than PIF if it’s past SOL? The only difference is on a manual review for a mortgage - 'Settled' is less desireable than 'Paid'

My current auto loan is with Santander and of course the rate is leaving me a bit butt-sore. I’ve paid on time for the past 1.5 years. I’d like to refinance soon, however, I don’t want a pointless inquiry or a comparably, horrific rate. Also ready to purchase a home, but need to get my scores somewhat presentable before doing so. Whats your current interest rate on the Auto loan and what was your score when you got it? Unfortunately it was 20.99% so this needs to be refinanced ASAP in my eyes. It's almost to the point where I'm upside down as the KBB trade in value is near my balance due.

Anonymous · ‎12-24-2014

You should be able to cut that auto loan interest rate nearly in half with scores near 600. Since you already have a Cap One account I would inquire with them for a Refi.