@Anonymouswrote:Hello MyFico Fam,
Have been reading forums here for awhile and trying to slide into posts that are most relevant to me but figured I'd post here and see what the greatest advice I can get. So basically, when I was born (or when I turned 18) my dad put an Amex under my social as an authorized user to build my credit. I had around a 730 in 2013, signed up for the amazon visa ($600 cl) and bank of america card ($2500 cl). I was really irresponsible and let both of them go into a c/o (120+ days no payments). The amazon is sitting with a collection agency and the BoA is just charged off. In 2016, I wanted to turn my credit situation around, I signed up for a bunch of really terrible high APR sub prime credit cards:
First National (Legacy) $600
Opened: July, 2016
First Savings $750
Opened: May, 2016
Credit One Bank (Visa) $500
Opened: August, 2015
Credit One Bank (Mastercard) $600
Opened: September, 2016
Walmart Store Card $690 / $900
Opened: June, 2016
Merrick Bank (Visa) $1348 / $1400
Opened: July, 2016
All of these are near max currently
I also have a $15k auto loan from Santander Bank with a 19% APR.
Charge/Offs include: $860 (Amazon plus Interest), $2355 (Bank of America plus interest)
Current Collections: $600 (AT&T), Private College (Non-Financial Aid) Bill $485, PayPal Credit $3,522
Soon To Be In Collections: College Equipment Box $3,805
I paid off a collection which was $800 (Verizon Wireless)
Paid Off Collection: Capital One ($850)
Paid off First Premier in Good Standing and Closed July 2016
Paid off Fingerhut in Good Standing ($1200 CL) and Closed in 2016 (should I reopen this one?)
Current Credit Card Utilization (according to CreditKarma): 95% Balance: $4,382 (Limit: $4,620)
Current Score: 589 (Transunion) 560 (Equifax)
My payment history is 99% (I have 3 late payments)
Credit History Age: 3yrs 3mos
16 Hard Inquires (within the last year)
and 49 total accounts and a $42k student debt load.
So with the above data, my income is starting to come in more plentiful but not alot as I'm still in college. Where do I start? Should i pay off current sub prime credit cards and close them? Should I pay them off and keep them open and wait for a better opportunity for let's say a JetBlue card? My main goal is to get away from these terrible sub prime credit cards and be able to apply for a normal credit card without those terrible 30% APRs and $8.95/mo fees also with a decent CL.
P.S. If I pay off that Amazon Credit Card collection, would I pay be able to re-apply to them again once my credit score is back in the 700s?
I'll have $2900 to put towards debts, which one to start with first?
I don't really know where to start and any help would be super appreciated.
My advise is to start with your credit cards. Pay off as many as you can. You can close the ones with fees to avoid those fees if you like. That will boost your credit scores. Then you can employ AZERO. (Look it up on here) that’s what will help the quickest. Then you can work on paying off collections one by one when you save up. You can offer pay for delete. Or pay less as paid in full. Whatever the best a collection company will offer for you. Then I’d just garden and use the cards you have left and PIF. Time and pay off slowly as you can will heal your credit. Remember all negatives fall off after 7 years from DOFD. You can do this. Take a deep breathe and before you know it your scores will rise and better cards in the future. Just make sure you garden for a year or two. Don’t apply for any more cards while you tackle the accounts. Over time you I’ll be apple to reapply to banks again. Each one has a different time frame. And there are many articles in here on averages.
@Anonymouswrote:I took the sound advice of Fico members here and paid in full a big chunk of these credit cards. I was accepted for Discover It Secured Card for $200 (Pre-Qualified). I'm hoping that at some point I can start paying down the other sub prime credit card and then start attacking the collections and charge offs. When you garden, does that mean buy something and pay it off in full to keep the cards active?
Gardening is referring to not applying for new lines if credit (no hard pulls), but asking for CLI through soft pulls are encouraged. The purpose is to age accounts, grow credit lines and pay off debt (if you have it). http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Garden-Club-March-2018/td-p/5177338
