Hi all,
TLDR: Skip to the questions area 
First time poster here. For years I avoided credit reports because I thought, "What's the point? I can't pay anything at the moment.". Well, I was a recent victim of fraud on my bank account and figure now would be a good time to use credit cards as a buffer, so in case of something fraudulent, it doesn't have a direct effect on my checking account. I've avoided credit cards for years ever since being sued by Credit One for not paying a $300 debt. That debt was paid long ago and now it's time to start rebuilding.
I pulled my scores and much to my surprise they were higher than I expected them to be:
TU 667
EQ 634
I know next to nothing about credit scores but according to the little colored graph TU is Fair and EQ is borderline Poor/Fair.
Questions:
1. I have recently applied and got accepted for Cap1 QS1 with a CL of $500. Would it be unwise to apply for other CC's from other places?
2. I have 3 active debts totalling about $850 in collections that show up in TU and EQ. 1 of them is a medical debt but the debt collector names do not match. TU shows WEST ASSET MGMT, EQ shows GRSI. Any way to tell who owns this debt so I can pay? Call both places I assume.. but what if both of them say they own the debt and to pay them?
3. I have a mortgage that does not show up on either of these reports. Would it be beneficial to have my mortgage on my credit reports?
4. I plan on using my Cap1 card for most purchases (bills, groceries, gas, Pokemon Lucky eggs etc) once I receive it. Since the CL is on the low side, would it be okay to use it and pay in full once those purchases it post to the card? Is it okay to do this multiple times in one month?
5. When using this card, am I correct to assume that it is suggested to have the balance $0 when its statement cuts? Will Cap1 report my payments in full monthly to the credit bureaus?
I think that's about it for the questions. Any other advice or tidbits of information would be helpful. Assume I know next to nothing about credit and rebuilding it because.. well, I don't.
TIA.
@Anonymous wrote:Hi all,
TLDR: Skip to the questions area
First time poster here. For years I avoided credit reports because I thought, "What's the point? I can't pay anything at the moment.". Well, I was a recent victim of fraud on my bank account and figure now would be a good time to use credit cards as a buffer, so in case of something fraudulent, it doesn't have a direct effect on my checking account. I've avoided credit cards for years ever since being sued by Credit One for not paying a $300 debt. That debt was paid long ago and now it's time to start rebuilding.
I pulled my scores and much to my surprise they were higher than I expected them to be:
TU 667
EQ 634
I know next to nothing about credit scores but according to the little colored graph TU is Fair and EQ is borderline Poor/Fair.
Questions:
1. I have recently applied and got accepted for Cap1 QS1 with a CL of $500. Would it be unwise to apply for other CC's from other places?
2. I have 3 active debts totalling about $850 in collections that show up in TU and EQ. 1 of them is a medical debt but the debt collector names do not match. TU shows WEST ASSET MGMT, EQ shows GRSI. Any way to tell who owns this debt so I can pay? Call both places I assume.. but what if both of them say they own the debt and to pay them?
3. I have a mortgage that does not show up on either of these reports. Would it be beneficial to have my mortgage on my credit reports?
4. I plan on using my Cap1 card for most purchases (bills, groceries, gas, Pokemon Lucky eggs etc) once I receive it. Since the CL is on the low side, would it be okay to use it and pay in full once those purchases it post to the card? Is it okay to do this multiple times in one month?
5. When using this card, am I correct to assume that it is suggested to have the balance $0 when its statement cuts? Will Cap1 report my payments in full monthly to the credit bureaus?
I think that's about it for the questions. Any other advice or tidbits of information would be helpful. Assume I know next to nothing about credit and rebuilding it because.. well, I don't.
TIA.
This game is also ruining my life.
@Anonymous wrote:Hi all,
TLDR: Skip to the questions area
First time poster here. For years I avoided credit reports because I thought, "What's the point? I can't pay anything at the moment.". Well, I was a recent victim of fraud on my bank account and figure now would be a good time to use credit cards as a buffer, so in case of something fraudulent, it doesn't have a direct effect on my checking account. I've avoided credit cards for years ever since being sued by Credit One for not paying a $300 debt. That debt was paid long ago and now it's time to start rebuilding.
I pulled my scores and much to my surprise they were higher than I expected them to be:
TU 667
EQ 634
I know next to nothing about credit scores but according to the little colored graph TU is Fair and EQ is borderline Poor/Fair.
Questions:
1. I have recently applied and got accepted for Cap1 QS1 with a CL of $500. Would it be unwise to apply for other CC's from other places? No, it would not be unwise, but you don't want to apply willy-nilly - you want to only apply where you are pretty sure you may be approved.
2. I have 3 active debts totalling about $850 in collections that show up in TU and EQ. 1 of them is a medical debt but the debt collector names do not match. TU shows WEST ASSET MGMT, EQ shows GRSI. Any way to tell who owns this debt so I can pay? Call both places I assume.. but what if both of them say they own the debt and to pay them?
3. I have a mortgage that does not show up on either of these reports. Would it be beneficial to have my mortgage on my credit reports? Yes.
4. I plan on using my Cap1 card for most purchases (bills, groceries, gas, Pokemon Lucky eggs etc) once I receive it. Since the CL is on the low side, would it be okay to use it and pay in full once those purchases it post to the card? Is it okay to do this multiple times in one month? Yes, and Yes.
5. When using this card, am I correct to assume that it is suggested to have the balance $0 when its statement cuts? Yes Will Cap1 report my payments in full monthly to the credit bureaus? Yes. You will usually see them show up on your reports after the second statement.
I think that's about it for the questions. Any other advice or tidbits of information would be helpful. Assume I know next to nothing about credit and rebuilding it because.. well, I don't.
TIA.
Keep reading...
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
2. I have 3 active debts totalling about $850 in collections that show up in TU and EQ. 1 of them is a medical debt but the debt collector names do not match. TU shows WEST ASSET MGMT, EQ shows GRSI. Any way to tell who owns this debt so I can pay? Call both places I assume.. but what if both of them say they own the debt and to pay them?
Keep reading...
I have checked the dates and both say Last reported: Oct 24, 2011. They also have the same open date of Sep 05, 2011.
Thanks for the info and answering of the questions! Looks like this debt is the same company or something. I'll give them a call later this week.
@Anonymous wrote:Are your scores from Credit Karma? If you haven't already, go to annualcreditreport.com and pull your free reports from all three bureaus. They will show much more detail, although will not have FICO scores. For FICO scores, you can get them here, or cheaper at CreditCheckTotal (do the $1 trial).
West Asset mgmt will do a pay for delete, if you request that of them. (They delete the collection on your report in exchange for payment)
Call your lender for your mortgage and ask them to report to the 3 bureaus.
Your starting spot is much better than many of us, who have been rebuilding for quite some time!
Yes these scores are from Credit Karma. I went and got a detailed report from annuelcreditreport.com (thanks for that btw), but didn't get the score because they asked for payment for it. Don't feel like paying atm.
Good to know West asset mgmt will do a pay for delete. Thanks for explaining what it meant too!
This forum is awesome. 
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
2. I have 3 active debts totalling about $850 in collections that show up in TU and EQ. 1 of them is a medical debt but the debt collector names do not match. TU shows WEST ASSET MGMT, EQ shows GRSI. Any way to tell who owns this debt so I can pay? Call both places I assume.. but what if both of them say they own the debt and to pay them?
Keep reading...
I have checked the dates and both say Last reported: Oct 24, 2011. They also have the same open date of Sep 05, 2011.
Thanks for the info and answering of the questions! Looks like this debt is the same company or something. I'll give them a call later this week.
See if the contact numbers are the same.
West Asset Management has been known to be a bad actor in the past, having been fined $2.8 million by the FTC in 2011. Don't know how much they have cleaned up their act since then.
BTW - if they have not reported since 2011, I would not poke them, I would let them age off....
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
2. I have 3 active debts totalling about $850 in collections that show up in TU and EQ. 1 of them is a medical debt but the debt collector names do not match. TU shows WEST ASSET MGMT, EQ shows GRSI. Any way to tell who owns this debt so I can pay? Call both places I assume.. but what if both of them say they own the debt and to pay them?
Keep reading...
I have checked the dates and both say Last reported: Oct 24, 2011. They also have the same open date of Sep 05, 2011.
Thanks for the info and answering of the questions! Looks like this debt is the same company or something. I'll give them a call later this week.
See if the contact numbers are the same.
West Asset Management has been known to be a bad actor in the past, having been fined $2.8 million by the FTC in 2011. Don't know how much they have cleaned up their act since then.
BTW - if they have not reported since 2011, I would not poke them, I would let them age off....
Sorry, what does age off mean? At a certain amount of time will it just disappear from my credit report?
Right now I have 3 accounts in collection.
AFNI - $108 - Date last reported: Feb 28, 2016 - Internet bill that slipped through the cracks when switching ISPs
ERC - $150 - Date last reported: Nov 23, 2014 - Another Internet bill that slipped through the cracks when moving to AZ (from CA).
WEST ASSET MGMT/GRSI - $592 - Date last reported: Oct 24, 2011 - Medical bill
Should I just worry about getting the AFNI and ERC debts paid?
According to Experian credit report the WEST ASSET MGMT/GRSI will be "On record until June 2017". Does that mean it will completely fall off account?
Thanks for all this info! 
