Journey to 700 in a year (from a dismal 540)

[blitz206]

Hey guys,

I am a 21 year old that had some debt issues in college (medical bills, poor money management), and I am proactively trying to get ahold of the situation now. 

STARTING SCORE: 540 (ugh)

SHORT TERM GOAL: 600 by September 2015

GOAL SCORE: 700 by April 2015

FACTORS:

Student Loans: roughly $6,000

Medical Bills: Two collection agencies @ 500 each

BOA Secured CC: $400 limit 

Paypal/MC CC: $200 (closed)

Let the journey begin....

[blitz206]

I am making a point of spending a small portion of my Tuesdays and Thursdays on dealing with my finances, specifically credit repair. For today:

1) I called up Bank of America to ask them for a GW adjustment in exchange for bringing my account current. Without hesitation, they said they would! Given my credit limit is very low, just paying this off will be pretty significant I believe. I will call next week to make sure the report has been removed (it was 60 days delinquent).

2) Ran my credit report on all three reporting bureaus. There isn't too much on there that I didn't know of, but there are some medical bills I realize I need to take care of. Two to be exact.

3) I called one collection agency for the medical bill to set up a monthly payment in exchange for removing stuff from my credit report. They said it will automatically happen after the bill is paid in full. Another small victory that makes things look a bit brighter

4) I have an old PP/MC account that I had issues with while in college. This has been resolved and closed, but it is still lingering on my report. I put together a goodwill letter and will be mailing it off shortly. Fingers crossed for this one...

So that wraps up the events so far. It's just nice to start getting this done, and isn't as scary of a process as I thought it was going to be. If I can successfully remove the PP issue, I might be able to climb faster than I had originally thought

[gdale6]

Grats to your success so far and good luck on your journey

One thing I will say is on medical CAs if a standard PFD doesnt work you can attempt the HIPAA Process, it cant be discussed on this board but you can Google it and check it out.

[Whitneyy]

Looks like you're on the right track! I look forward to following your journey!

[los_west]

Congrats on your progress so far.  

Your goal is definitely do-able.   It does take some tenacity and sometime pleading with the companies/agencies.  

I was able to bring it up from mid 500s to 699 (as of today) in just 1 year.  It was hard work, but it feels so good to be where I am now.  I still have a ways to go to get to my goal of a mortgage, but it's finally a closer reality!

[blitz206]

Thanks, I will definitely take a look around for this online and use it as a last resort! Have you had experience with this scenario before?

[blitz206]

@los_west: Thanks for the kind words, I look forward to the end results!

[Little_Lulu]

I'm not an expert but I would probably get it in writing that the collection agency is really going to delete after you pay it.

[Eyisila]

From my understanding virtually all will not put anything in writing.

Even though I was fortunate to get a written document/email and so was my DH.

OP wish you luck in your journey!!!!

[lavencedora]

Congratulations on tackling your report and doing it early in life. You are on the right track. Looking forward to hearing about some great progress in the year to come!