Hi everyone
I originally posted my questions in another section of the board, but it was suggested to me that I pick the brains of the folks on this section of the forums as well. 
It's long, but please bear with me as I do my best to paint my picture for you.....
So I currently pay $1,000/mo for rent in a place I've been in for ~8yrs. In looking at some houses online, and noticing that the calculators on the pages were advertising that homes at around $100.000 would have a payment of ~$450 (plus insurance ,taxes), I thought "if I can pay $1,000/mo for rent, surely I can pay $450 (even with a couple hundred bucks a month for taxes and insurance." That would be wonderful, and also seem to free some money to work on paying my student loan.
I make a little over $2,100/mo + $650/mo child support, and have been at my current job for ~4 years.
I have a little money from when my father passed away fairly recently that I've put in a separate account and tried to forget about, to save for my dream of a down payment of a house. There's about $15,000
In terms of debt, I only have one credit card-Lane Bryant. The balance is under $500 (more on its status to follow). My other piece of debt is a big ol Sallie Mae student loan of ~$38,000
My credit sucks thugh, as there's a bunch of derogatory stuff on it....
I've just started the process of learning about where my credit is, and how to fix it. So far the only credit report I've got is TransUnion, and I haven't pulled a FICO yet, but creditkarma estimated me at 554.... Here's why...
As per TransUnion report
I have a BK from 08.
I have a tax lien showing up for some reason too, but I know I paid that-I just can't remember if it was cash,debit, check, money order, or what, so I'm looking for evidence of payment of that
Under "Adverse Accounts"
I have 4 AES student loans entries. They were all included as consolidation in the big $38,000 Sallie Mae loan, though, so I don't understand why they are also still listed individually. They all say delinquency of 120 days in 06. Payment deferred in 07. And remarks of "acct closed due to refinance".
I also have a couple of cc's, a medical bill, a ticket, and a tow company showing up with their negativity-but all of those things were listed in my BK. So I don't really understand why they're also listed individually. But under "remarks" they say BK.
So my first question, I guess, is should these be listed out individually, if the random cc's, ticket, tow co, and med. bill were under the umbrella of the BK, and if the 4 AES loans were consolidated into the big student loan w Sallie Mae? Because it feels like a "double whammy"
My Sallie Mae is opened in 06, and I've never paid on it, so it shows all 120s for the last 48 months it says. But lists first 120 day delinquency in 07. It says estimated mo and yr it will be removed is 06/15. It's one of those accounts I've been afraid to do anything with, because I'm afraid they'll want a gazillion dollars a month that I don't have, and I'll have opened a big can of worms. Kind of hoping to fly under the radar on that, hoping that I'd be able to get a house with lower payments than what I pay now, and then have freed up money to pay on it. But I"m hearing that's not an option, to get a house with it in its current delinquent status. So what do I do? Would putting it into deferment increase my odds of getting a home loan? Or if I called them and set up some kind of income sensitive payment plan that I could afford, even though it's lower than what they'd prefer, would it increase my odds of getting a home loan?
For Lane Bryant account, I called last night, and they said I'm right on the fence before they consider my account a charge off. I opened it in 7/09, and was shown current until last Oct. I made a payment on Feb 29th, of $40, but I guess it wasn't high enough for them to reflect it on my credit report, because I don't see it there. The gal I spoke with at Lane Bryant last night told me that I can still pay on it until the 27th. At that point she said I'll go 6 months, and they'll charge it off. I have been reading a little on here, and learned about GW letters and PFD, but I wasn't sure if those are good options for me. First, I wasn't sure if they are viable options for accounts that are still open? I need to keep LB open, because it's the only card I have. I tried to ask about a PFD last night on the phone, and the rep said that of course they'd remove negative reporting for me when I paid them, because they're a bank, and want to help me have the best credit I can. When I asked about getting that in writing she just responded again with how it wasn't necessary, because that's just what they do, they want to help and always remove the negatives. Wasn't sure I can trust them on that. Thoughts on Lane Bryant situation??
The only things I have showing as "satisfactory accounts" are an old car loan from 07-08 that's paid in full/never late, and another 6 student loans (that are also all rolled into that big ol $38,000 Sallie Mae loan).
I know it's a challenge, and I appreciate everyone's thoughts/feedback.
This ain't gonna come out right but... why are you refusing to pay Lane Bryant and risking a $500 CO with $15K in the bank? Ill probably get blasted for asking but it just seems like you want things both ways. I get wanting to put the money towards a dream house but you could easily end up with a judgment and lose it all.
When I spoke with USAA about a mortgage, they pretty much said all student loans had to be current or with proof they'd be in deferral 1 year.
The student loan forum might offer some information about handing AES. Generally, the information tends to be more directed towards how to handle late payments on re-habbed loans, though. Somehow, I think dealing with Sallie will be difficult considering they've never been paid.
The BK forum should have ways to work on IIB stuff that may not be reporting correctly.
The mortgage forum has a lot of information on conditions banks/lenders had before people could qualify, zombie debt, and remaining opted out.
Good luck!
Over time, anything's doable but with recent lates (after already having gone BK once) you will probably have a lot of work to do.
Starting Score: 675And the only things that I have that are actually outstanding are the Lane Bryant (which will be paid by the end of the month, so it'll be gone as debt), and the big Sallie Mae loan.
Everything else is dated '06-'08, and was either included in the BK or consolidated into the big Sallie Mae loan. So it's not like I have a ton of creditors and just run around racking up debt with no intention of taking care of it.
All these other things are all in the past. Student loans happened when my daughter was young, and I was a stay-at-home mom, and my husband walked out on us, I had to quickly figure out what to do to keep a roof over our heads. So I got a job asap (though it was minimum wage), and went back to school for a teaching degree. Student loans were necessary to pay college expenses, as well as help with living expenses. So I amassed a lot of them, but I had to utilize student loans to keep us above water. The BK happened because during the time we were really struggling, my car broke down. So I was borrowing my dad's girlfriends' car one day, and got into an accident. Because I had just borrowed it, I didn't have it insured, and apparently neither did she. In the end I had to file the BK to save my drivers license (also where the ticket and tow bills came into play). At that point all I had was the 2 cc's (one for $200, and one for $350) and a small medical bill ($141), so no huge debt, but the lawyer said to put them in the BK too. So I did as the lawyer advised.
It's just a series of unfortunate circumstances, but none if it has ever been a result of me just not caring enough to pay my bills. Even Sallie Mae, it's not that I don't care, it's that when they sent out the payment stub book, the payments were crazy. And I just didn't have the extra money. Then since I stopped hearing from them for so long, I was scared to do anything, and hoping they'd just forget about me until I had money to send them (which is where my plan to make my monthly rent payments lower and free up money by getting a house came into existence).
I just thought if I could get a house that is so much cheaper than living here, I'd be killing two birds with one stone. I'd be getting a house, and since payments would be so much lower, I'd be freeing money up to pay on Sallie Mae (which will be the only oustanding debt I'll have by the end of the month).
Then I found this forum, and thought maybe some kind, knowledgeable people here would be able to help me get on the right track by offering their advice on how to best proceed.
Again, many thanks for any advice that you can offer
No one here is judging you, and everyone has their backstories which leads us to where we are today..
-scott
@rckstrscott wrote:No one here is judging you, and everyone has their backstories which leads us to where we are today..
-scott
Absolutely. I was in a similar situation like you not to long ago. Thankfully I found a decent paying job to catch everything up and now its time to repair the damage. Also my family issues aren't as frequent (for lack of a better term).
As far as advice, I would try to pay the LB card down. Its critical to have that stay open on your TL's. A CO is one of the worst things that can happen at this point. Now I'm not to sure about the student loans (even though I have them) but I would see where I was at with them currently and see if they can get you into a rehab program. I didn't do this because I would pay my account once every 3-4 months so I didn't qualify (although I wish I had because now Im GW'ing like crazy)
Unfortunately I know nothing about BK so Im going to have to recommend you read the BK threads.
Good luck though. I know its a tough journey but well worth it in the end... Especially when you get that dream home 
-edited for spelling - too early in the morning lol
@rckstrscott wrote:No one here is judging you, and everyone has their backstories which leads us to where we are today..
-scott
Thanks Scott. I was feeling a little judged when the only reply I had gotten so far was saying I seemed to "want it both ways" and wondering why I don't just pay my LB when I have the money (but like I explained, rough day yesterday, so I could've been a lilttle sensitive-he did acknowledge it wasn't going to come out right before he said it). So I wanted to clarify things, because I was thinking maybe everyone else had the same thoughts.
Still wondering whether to ask LB for removal of lates in writing, or just pay it and be done with it, and have those 6 negative payment status' stay on there??
@Anonymous wrote:
@rckstrscott wrote:No one here is judging you, and everyone has their backstories which leads us to where we are today..
-scott
Thanks Scott. I was feeling a little judged when the only reply I had gotten so far was saying I seemed to "want it both ways" and wondering why I don't just pay my LB when I have the money (but like I explained, rough day yesterday, so I could've been a lilttle sensitive-he did acknowledge it wasn't going to come out right before he said it). So I wanted to clarify things, because I was thinking maybe everyone else had the same thoughts.
Still wondering whether to ask LB for removal of lates in writing, or just pay it and be done with it, and have those 6 negative payment status' stay on there??
Sorry. I really didn't understand that aspect of your post.
I get wanting to satisfy them in a way that lessens the damage of having paid late. I just struggle with the idea of intentionally letting it almost go to charge-off and hoping they'll forgive/delete that many late payments. For scoring purposes, there's no difference between paid and unpaid charge-off.
I wasn't trying to be harsh but wouldn't have learned anything without plainly asking.
In the bigger picture; we have a hard time parting with cash after a long struggle and come to see it as security. Cash is king, but we can't substitute it for peace of mind. Moving forward (towards a new home) means paying them and buying back a little peace of mind.
Heck hath no fury like Sallie-Mae scorned, LOL! If at all possible, find a way to deal with her before she deals with you. Last thing you want/need is a judgement, garnisment, lein, or to have no options. Some people have had good success with Income Based Repayment (IBR) plans.
I have no intention of letting it get further, the rep said I have till the end of this month, so I'll pay it by the end of the month. I just don't know enough about things like GW and PFD to know it they coulld help the situation or not. I just found this site and registered and posted yesterday, and have spent a bunch of time reading, but I don't know as much as the folks on here, so I thought I'd ask everyone's opinion on if I could do anything (in addition to paying) to soften that LB credit blow.
Sallie Mae sent me a letter/form recenty offering me a deferment, but I didn't know if I should just send that in, and put into deferment for the time being, and if having paid (and maybe removed a couple of lates from?) LB and having Sallie Mae in deferrment would help me to get a house sooner (maybe get into a place with low payments, then when it came out of deferrment in a year, I'd have more money to pay Sallie)? Or if it's better to be making IB payments on Sallie Mae?
I'm also curious since the AES aren't owing, they're consolodated into Sallie Mae, and they're due to be removed in a year, are those items that I can send a GW letter for? Because they're listed as closed due to refinance, are they hurting my score?
Can you GW the items that are reflected on my CR with the status of being included in the BK? One of those 2 ccs included in the BK was Fingerhut. I just noticed that they listed it twice with all of the same information (balance, dates, acct #, everything), but once it's listed as "CIT BANK/FINGERHUT" and it's listed again as "METABANK/FINGERHUT". Anything to be done about that?
Thanks