Looking for some help or advice!

[Anonymous]

First off lets start off with some details.

As of 5/14 my scores were Experian-460, TU- 466, Equifax-471

I had about 8 baddies on my record, 6 of which were medical bills, 1 cable bill and 1 ID fraud bank account which was not able to be resolved.

As of 6/14 I got a terrible car loan through (sigh) CNAC. I am about year into the loan, never missed a payment. I needed a car and presto there willing to rip me off, and I knew this.

Now, 4/15 my scores are Ex-495,TU-501,Eq-526

I paid off about 600$ worth of baddies, currently I stand on Eq and TU with 4 baddies, 2 medical bills which will fall off next year I think. 1 cable bill which is due to fall off, and the bank fraud which is gonna stay for awhile

As of right now I have a Fingerhut account with 200$, and Today got approved for VS angel card of 250$. How I got the angle card with a 526 is beyond me..

My questions are this. How long of a road am I in for until I see some good gains? In the last month it seems I am starting to slowly crawl gaining a fingerhut and VS card. Will those 2 alone plus my car loan speed this up this year? 

Should I try to pay off my baddies? Or just let them ride and fall off in 16 months or less? 

Should I go for a secured card? Or will I soon see the FH and VS cards start to work for me and skip the secured part?

[Anonymous]

3 Cards is the ideal number for improving/raising credit scores.

If you feel that you cannot get another unsecured card ( or it would risk getting a HP and still getting denied ) I would suggest getting a Secured Card. 

If you want to ensure quick results, performing a PFD on open collection accounts ( or a few ) should increase your score.

If there is any paid collections already that were not arranged for PFD, make sure you begin sending out goodwill letters to each of these OC's or CA's.

Also, remember, you can request credit bureaus removed Negative Information early.. 

Transunion allows for a request up to 6 months early.

Experian/Equifax allows for a request 1-2 months early.

It's good that you have an Auto Loan ( Although I'm sure far from Ideal APR ), this with the 3 credit cards is a great mix of different forms of credit being reported.

I wish you the best of luck in regaining better credit scores and moving past the bad history!

[Anonymous]

When I last checked, the accounts that I paid off were removed, but the score didn't jump much. What is a PFD? I'm not real good with the acryos used here

I have about 9 inquiries on my account, 5 of which are due to fall off between august-december this year. I know they hurt credit but its so very little? I took some stupid chances and got denied obviously. 

I am afraid of doing another App, unless its possibly to find a bank that will pull from only Experian. only 5 inquires show up there, and the score is somehow a 571 updated today. My other scores are 501 and 526.. 

I assume VS pulled Experian and hence the reason I was approved? 

The shopping cart trick has failed me so far, tho I have been trying various sites every 3-7 days. VS was a hard pull, since I filled the app out on the site, I have only done 2 HP's this year, both went well. I am assuming FH was a HP. At any rate, I am hoping by this fall I can see myself on the verge of 600, I think Experian will make it, doubt TU will being at 501..

[gdale6]

PFD is Pay for delete, Welcome to My Fico

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-PFD-Success-Stories/...

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Example-Letter/td-p/4519

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Guide-To-Common-Abbreviations/m-p/224988?jump...

[Anonymous]

PFD means "Pay For Delete" -this is when you offer to pay off an account to a creditor/collector in exchange for them removing it from your reports. Use the search tab on this site and learn more about it. You also want to learn about "Goodwill Letters" -these are letters that you write to a creditor/collector for accounts that you've paid off, asking them to delete the account from your reports.

You should try to go after some bank credit cards and not worry too much about getting any more store cards. From what I understand, bank cards are better for you scoring/reports. I would suggest trying to get secured cards, try Capital One or OpenSky. Get at least one card if you can, but two would be better and that should really help get your score moving. As already mention above, don't forget about "Early Exclusion" for some of the older baddies on your reports as well.

FYI: whatever cards you decide to go after or any line of credit for that matter, make sure that the creditor reports to all three major credit bureaus regularly because not all do so.

[Pway]

You should check out Capital One and see what cards you are pre qualified for.

[Anonymous]

'PFD', Pay for Delete.
It is an arrangement made with whomever owns the debt to delete all information for an account from reporting.

It does appear that if you say that in which you paid was removed, you're doing it the right way.

Always make sure in any PFD scenarios, you contact the owner of the debt and ensure you get a written or electronic copy of their agreement to this arrangement. Collectors will say many things to get you to pay.

As with any account or inquiry; the longer they are appearing on your credit history, the less of an impact they have on your credit score.
So yes, it is possible if you arrange PFDs on some of your collections, you may not see a huge improvement to your store.
This is where you have to decide weither you should pay of these debts, or allow to fall off in time when SOL (Statue of Limitation) ends.
Although it always preferred to make good on all debts owed, as infact they are legit debts.

Inquiries, should no longer have an effect on your credit score past 12months, though too many on your active credit reports may prevent and hurt your chances of getting any additional lines of credit.

Also, do you have any lates reporting against you? You could also perform GW letters to have lates removed from reporting.

Also, most major credit companies offer prequalification, in which you can input some basic information about you and it will state if you are likely to recieve a card. This will result in only a softpull and can avoid you performing another hard pull, only to be denied.

[Anonymous]

I do have one that is reporting some lates, its my own fault tho, is that still a reason to submit a GW? Will they just remove things upon a request like that?

I have tried the prequalified offers and I get nothing in return. At this point I guess I have two options? 1 is let my two store cards and car loan do some work or "gardening" as you put it? Or just get a secured card, which is okay but I really hate that route. If I let these two store cards grow for 3-6 months, I think I might stand a chance at something more?

[Anonymous]

Doesn't ever hurt to try, you'll always have a 0% success rate if you don't try!

Shoot out GW letters to those who show lates, here is the myfico link on GW samples and FAQ's

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/GW-letter-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-GW-Success-Sto...

If you'd like, you can definately let your current credit options work their own magic, make sure that you try to keep only 1 credit card with a balance. 

Also ensure that this Credit Card is consistantly at a 9% utilization or under! 

With low utilization, longer AAoA (Average Age of Accounts), and good payment history, you're sure to see improvements on your credit scores!

Always keep an eye out from time to time on Pre-Qualify Offers, who knows, maybe in a month or two you might have better options on cards to apply for, with better success

[Anonymous]

I will work on a letter to send to the bank, see if they will knock a few lates off.

I guess I will garden and use the 2 I got and see how that works..

9%? thats awful low, considering my limits are 200 for FH (nothing there is cheap), right now I just buy 1 thing and pay it off full. but its always at least 50% of the limit

VS I have 250$, I just bought my fiancee a 46$ bra, thats all I am putting on that one, and going to pay it in full as well.

Rinse and repeat?