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I'm ready to turn my credit around and need some advice on where to start
equifax score is 618 and transunion is 589
i have 2 public records on all 3:
judgement $1101 03/2011
judgement $1715 02/2008
on equifax i have 2 collections:
on paid medical collection $100 01/2007
on unpiad medical collection $215 03/2007
on transunion i have 3 collections:
the same 2 collections
$1906 collection from the judgement from 2008 (don't know why the difference in amounts, maybe court fees?)
my only delinquincy is from a car loan I got back in 2007. On New Years of 2008 it was totaled in a car wreck. My insurance paid the car's value toward the loan. and the car company said they would get me a new car and attach the balance to that new car loan. Well after the insurance check cleared, the car company stopped responding to my phone calls and my sales manager was always "out to lunch" when I called. Eventually I just went else where. Now that i have pulled my credit report i see it's on there as a chargeoff for $2082. Is there anything I can do?
okay and as far as credit cards go, I am a credit card junkie:
i started off with a First Premier 12/2009 - 243/300CL ( paying off and closing next month)
Fingerhut: 03/2010 - 51/500CL
Orchard Bank: 10/2010 - 290/300CL
Capital One: 11/2010 - 543/500CL (hit by annual fee)
Jared/Kay Jeweler: 09/2011 - 245/2500 CL
Victoria Secret: 10/2011 - 86/250CL
The Limited: 10/2011 - 0/250CL
New York & Company: 10/2011- 0/250CL
Amazon store card: 11/2011 - 0/700
Indiana Finanace: 05/2011 $13,280 car loan
I know I need to get my utilization down, what else can i do to help my scores? Thanks for helping
@shaflow021211 wrote:I'm ready to turn my credit around and need some advice on where to start
equifax score is 618 and transunion is 589
i have 2 public records on all 3:
judgement $1101 03/2011
judgement $1715 02/2008
on equifax i have 2 collections:
on paid medical collection $100 01/2007
on unpiad medical collection $215 03/2007
on transunion i have 3 collections:
the same 2 collections
$1906 collection from the judgement from 2008 (don't know why the difference in amounts, maybe court fees?)
my only delinquincy is from a car loan I got back in 2007. On New Years of 2008 it was totaled in a car wreck. My insurance paid the car's value toward the loan. and the car company said they would get me a new car and attach the balance to that new car loan. Well after the insurance check cleared, the car company stopped responding to my phone calls and my sales manager was always "out to lunch" when I called. Eventually I just went else where. Now that i have pulled my credit report i see it's on there as a chargeoff. Is there anything I can do?
okay and as far as credit cards go, I am a credit card junkie:
i started off with a First Premier 12/2009 - 243/300CL ( paying off and closing next month)
Fingerhut: 03/2010 - 51/500CL
Orchard Bank: 10/2010 - 290/300CL
Capital One: 11/2010 - 543/500CL (hit by annual fee)
Jared/Kay Jeweler: 09/2011 - 245/2500 CL
Victoria Secret: 10/2011 - 86/250CL
The Limited: 10/2011 - 0/250CL
New York & Company: 10/2011- 0/250CL
Amazon store card: 11/2011 - 0/700
Indiana Finanace: 05/2011 $13,280 car loan
I know I need to get my utilization down, what else can i do to help my scores? Thanks for helping
You say you know about bringing your utilization down so I will reccommend paying the judgments. I would do one first then move to the next vs. doing all at once to get the satisfied/release date posted (just how I would do it though) and then pay the collections. Paying the judgment and collections however will not change your score so starting to pay down the CC will be your best as first step.
Thanks for replying! From reading the older post, I see utilization is important. So I will pay those cards down one by one. I hate that me paying the judgements and collections won't change my score My next question is when I pay the judgements will that start the 7yrs over or will it remain the same?
@shaflow021211 wrote:Thanks for replying! From reading the older post, I see utilization is important. So I will pay those cards down one by one. I hate that me paying the judgements and collections won't change my score My next question is when I pay the judgements will that start the 7yrs over or will it remain the same?
The 7 years start from the date the judgment is filed.
As far as the collections with CA's...........yes it's true paying them will not increase your CS, but deleting the CA's may increase your CS, it just depends on how old the collection is at the time it's deleted. Recent collections hurt a CS more then older ones.
Send GW letters to paid CA and use PFD on unpaid CA.
My finances looked like yours in the beginning. We made a list of income,expenses and all of the debts not being paid.
DH and I didn't change our spending habits and our CR's went from bad to worse (15 baddies,$15k in debt).
The first thing we did was stop using CC's.Paying interest is a waste of money, that money could've been used to pay another debt.
We made a plan.....to repay the debts,and the expenses,we cut some down and some cut out completely. Also worked more hours to increase income. Started eating at home more and only go out if had a coupon or there was a special at the restaurant.
The most important thing we did was start an emergency fund. We made a budget for it, put in X amount every week.
So if an emergency came up, we would use the money from the emergency fund instead of using a CC and paying the high interest. It doesn't made sense paying more for something then you have to.
Now when we use CC's, we make sure it's paid for by the end of the month
And lastly DH and I get together once a week for about an hour or so, to make sure we are on track with our finances. That way there is no auguring about money, we both know where the money is going. This is what works for us. Find a plan that works for you and stick to it and before you know it, you'll have your debts paid for,have money in your emergency fund and maybe even a saving account. You'll also have a big smile on your face. Good Luck to you. You can do this.
While your utilization definately needs addressing, utilization is the easiest thing to overcome in the future (provided you have the $$ to throw at it) as utilization has no historical memory, and you are the only one in charge of its impact.
The same is not true of the prior derogs. They have major scoring impact, and their removal is not within your control. I would begin by making attempts to get those deleted from your CR.
Judgments can often be deleted based on payment of the debt. Many courts wiill entertain a motion to vacate once the debt is paid. Check with the clerk of the judgment court and have a chat with them. They can most likley tell you of the court's past policy in this regard, and give you some pointers.
Are the collections paid? If not, once again, if you can throw some $$ at them, you can pursue PFD offers.
If paid, begin sending GW letters.
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate all the encouraging words and tips! Yesterday I shredded 2 of my CC so I will work on paying those two first. Lightnin, adding an emergency fund to a budget is an EXCELLENT idea. So today my project is going to be to create a budget and make a payoff chart for the judgements and collections. I have been living too loosely with me money for too long and I'm ready for a change! Its very inspiring to see someone that was in the same boat as me overcome their situation so thank you for sharing! RobertEG for the most recent judgement i pay $200 a month as a part of an agreement with the courts. Do you think it is too late for me to ask them about vacating the judgement?
No, it's not too late to incorporate vacating the judgment into the deal. Maybe you can sweaten the pot by paying larger payments, or even maybe coming up with the full amount owed in exchange for them agreeing to vacate. obviously you need to offer to pay any/all court costs involved in getting it vacated. it's up to them, remember, so try very hard and very sweetly. Get it in writing, too.
Good Luck!!
I'd like to chime in about judgements, liens any public record. The irs and the courts DO NOT report to credit bureaus. If you pay your judgement you recieve a release and you send it to the cb's. The cb's hire vendors to troll court records. The cb's put this info on your reports. Now here's the best part. Since the cb's put the info on the reports they have now become info furnishers and are legally bound by the same regs. They don't follow the same regs because they think they can dance longer than you can. You want the liens and judgements removed? Did they send a 30 day notice to you about the possibility of the negative hitting your reports? I doubt it. Violation! Are they updating the info? Doubt that too. Violation! Call them, write them, fax them! Tell them that as far as FCRA is concerned they are 'credit info furnishers' they are accountable for the info they put on your reports. Tell them that these are 1000.00 per violations plus pain and suffering. The pain and suffering is because nothing looks worse than a lien or judgement on a report. They owe you the money either way but I doubt they'll keep paying vendors to update this info so I think they'll delete. If they don't delete file in small claims court. I hope this helps. It took me a year to get someone from exp. to cough this up. Good luck.
Thanks for the responses. I know the judgements are really dragging my score down so I want to get them taken care of ASAP. I was thinking of going to the attorneys office and asking them about vacating. Would it be better if I just sent a letter through the mail and had them send their response back. Also regarding my chargeoff of $2082, the finance company has not tried to reach me via telephone or mail. Should i reach out to them?