How to Manage Cap One Lates (post BK)

kaybean22 · ‎07-17-2017

I was discharged from BK in March 2016. I opened a Cap One card in May 2016 while still married, under pressure from the ex husband for some availalbe credit because I let my ex continue to drain us finacially (we are now divorced, finances were a big reason.) I maxed it out pretty fast and have been pretty bad about paying it on time. I have a Discover card too (opened at same time) and it's also maxed out but I've never been late.

Cap One is only account that is now showing late, but is really ugly because it's just showing constant 30 or 60 days late.

I get paid once a month towards the end of the month and could almost pay the card off, then use half that amount for rent (I pay online) and gently use it, but it would take me awhile to pay it down completely. Every few months would be a few hundred off the balance, however, at the least.

Is that a good idea? Is there a better way to clean up this mess (even if it involved closing the card?)

kaybean22 · ‎07-18-2017

A better question: What would happen if I closed the card entirely? I can make payments on it, but I won't get the balance down very fast (it's at 3k right now, maxed out.)

Thanks for the help!

Revelate · ‎07-18-2017

Closing isn't likely to help actually, a closed account that is still late can still be marked late.

Your best bet is to keep it open and bring it current as quickly as possible even if that means missing the next month's payment frankly if that's an option. You get a 30 day period if you miss a payment before it gets reported to the bureaus, you still get assessed a fee but current / miss / current / miss looks like a non-event credit wise whereas current / miss / miss - 30D / miss - 60D / etc gets ugly in a hurry. Make nothing but minimum payments on the discover card if that'll help, basically anything you can do to get that account trued up for just one statement short of taking a 30D elsewhere and you'll be way ahead.

Opened vs. closed doesn't matter for FICO scoring when it comes to late, but open does matter for everything else so even with the lates showing I'd keep it open personally.

kaybean22 · ‎07-18-2017

Thank you, that makes sense. The "current / miss / miss - 30D / miss - 60D" is where I'm at right now and the card is only a year old. I'm 3k under with this... one of the only options I can think of is to throw all of my income on the card (except what's used to pay off other debt) and use it as my daily card. This would mean I pay the card just before the statement cuts, right - then pay my bills, so it looks like the balance is always lower?

Revelate · ‎07-18-2017

I don't think it matters much whether the balance is lower month to month, the critical thing is bringing it current.

In your shoes I'd make minimum payments everywhere else if it meant I could bring the account up to current which means paying the oustanding debt... and actually I'd run my life through the discover card until I caught the Cap 1 card up.

Have you done a budgetting exercise yet? Worth cutting back what you can for some period to get caught up, depending what your income and other expenses are, 3K in credit card debt might be manageable fairly easily.

pizza1 · ‎07-18-2017

Just so you know, lates AFTER BK, is .....bad! It looks worse than the BK itself. Id try to GW the lates explaining your situaiton, and get your accounts current, and those balances paid down.

I find it unlikely that you would get any new credit at this point with those lates showing (post BK), and cards maxed out. Try to get that under control.

kaybean22 · ‎07-19-2017

@Revelate wrote:
I don't think it matters much whether the balance is lower month to month, the critical thing is bringing it current.

In your shoes I'd make minimum payments everywhere else if it meant I could bring the account up to current which means paying the oustanding debt... and actually I'd run my life through the discover card until I caught the Cap 1 card up.

Have you done a budgetting exercise yet? Worth cutting back what you can for some period to get caught up, depending what your income and other expenses are, 3K in credit card debt might be manageable fairly easily.

Oh, I haven't though of using the Discover Card. It's not accepted everywhere yet - I guess just balance that with my debit when needed?

Also, I'm on an extremely tight budget - one of the reasons for so many lates. I just haven't haven't had the income to pay the bill every month... the card was opened (and maxed out) when I was married, divorce happened, etc. The card was in my name only so I couldn't peg him with paying it off, even though I didn't have a job. Sigh.

kaybean22 · ‎07-19-2017

@pizza1 wrote:
Just so you know, lates AFTER BK, is .....bad! It looks worse than the BK itself. Id try to GW the lates explaining your situaiton, and get your accounts current, and those balances paid down.

I find it unlikely that you would get any new credit at this point with those lates showing (post BK), and cards maxed out. Try to get that under control.

Ugh I know. It wasn't by choice, or all my fault, but I have to manage it from here. And FWIW I'm not actively seeking more credit right now - just hoping to slowly clean things up so I can down the road, this is my starting point. And I know, it's ugly. And so frustrating!