My Turn!! Here we go, wrong turn with an agency, got started, and now what? *LONG*

[TanterBeans]

Here's my story...   ****I AM SO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG!!!!!!!**** ANY ADVICE OR SUGGESTIONS IS SO VERY APPRECIATED!!!!

Had excellent credit in my early 20's out of college.  I was always credit concious though and never really opened too many accounts.  What I did have was minimal and always paid on time.  Fast forward to late 20's.  Things starting falling apart.   XDH lost his job, things were late, not paid, etc.  A year or so later, in attempt to rebuild our credit from the mess I applied for a couple credit cards.  6 months later XDH left me and here we go again...not enough money to go around.  Got myself into a mess. 

Fastforward to today.  I'm remarried to a wonderful guy and trying desperately to repair and fix everything that I take FULL responsbility for.  I think about my credit score EVERY day.  Not a day goes by that I'm not obsessed with my score, but I have just begun this process.

Back in January 2011 I pulled my credit and realized how bad it was (500's and low 600's).  I started googling credit repair and came across a company called Sky Blue Credit.  I signed up with them in April 2011 (THIS WAS BEFORE I STUMBLED UPON MYFICO FORUMS ).  I signed up for a monthly fee for them to review my credit and fight all the deroggatory information for me.  I was dumb.  I know.  I know this now.  Officially I am still signed up with them and plan to cancel.  From what I've been told they sent out a round of letter to creditors about a month ago disputing late payments and some small collection accounts.  I do not know yet what the status is of this.

My question is:

1.  I signed up with Sky Blue because I feel so overwhelmed and clueless as to what to do to begin fixing my credit.  Where do I begin to even start on my own?  Do I dispute everything? Do I offer to settle everything? Do I pay everything in full? I'm so confused????

Here's what my current credit situation looks like and I will answer any other questions that you shoot my way.....

Accounts still open...

1.  GEMB/Walmart - $61 balance $1100 limit - opened 11/06     NEVER LATE   *TU PULLED 5/11*

2.  GEMB/JcPenney - $0 balance $4900 limit - opened 5/93   NEVER LATE   *TU PULLED 5/11*

3.  HSBC - Household Bank PlatinumVisa - $450 balance $750 limit   30 DAYS LATE 3 times (Jun 2010, Dec 2009, Aug 2009)  60 DAYS LATE 2 times (Jul 2010, Jan 2010)   *TU PULLED 5/11*

4.  Capitol One - $35 balance $300 limit - opened 1/11   NEVER LATE   *TU PULLED 5/11*

5.  Credit One - $50 balance $300 limit - opened 5/11 NEVER LATE ONLY MADE 1 PAYMENT SO FAR   *TU PULLED 5/11*

The Baddies AND Closed Accounts

1.  Dakota State Bank - $510 balance - closed 9/06 account closed by credit grantor - CHARGED OFF CREDIT CARD, VISA REWARDS 66 Credit Card *TU PULLED 5/11*

2.  First Bank of Delaware - $0 (Purchased by another lender) -  closed 2/08 - largest past due balance $656 - STATUS: charged off as bad debt   *TU PULLED 5/11*

3.  First Premier Bank - $0 (Purchased by another lender) -  closed 2/06 - largest past due balance $415 - STATUS: charged off as bad debt   *TU PULLED 5/11*

4. REPEAT OF CARD HSBC CARD ABOVE

    HSBC - Household Bank PlatinumVisa - $0 balance $750 limit   (CLOSED 3/11 DUE TO LOST CARD) 30 DAYS LATE 3 times (Jun 2010, Dec 2009, Aug 2009)  60 DAYS LATE 2 times (Jul 2010, Jan 2010)   *TU PULLED 5/11*

5. ANOTHER REPEAT OF HSBC CARD ABOVE???

 HSBC - Household Bank PlatinumVisa - $450 balance $750 limit   (CLOSED 4/08 DUE TO LOST CARD) NEVER LATE   *TU PULLED 5/11*

6. EFS Finance - Opened 6/97 closed 11/02 $0 Balance Account closed due to transfer (STUDENT LOAN) *paid or paying as agreed* is the status   *TU PULLED 5/11*

7.  EFS Finance - Opened 3/98 closed 11/02 $0 Balance Account closed due to transfer (STUDENT LOAN) *paid or paying as agreed* is the status   *TU PULLED 5/11*

Collection Accounts listed

1.  Midland Credit - $474 due from old Verizon Wireless bill assigned 10/08 *TU PULLED 5/11*

2.  Jeff Cap Sys - $602 due from old Visa Rewards 66 Dakota Bank assigned 10/08 *TU PULLED 5/11*

3.  Arrow Finan - $580 due from old Premier Bank Card assigned 1/09 *TU PULLED 5/11*

4. Cr Coll/USA - $190 due from old Medical Bill at an imaging clinic 12/08 *TU PULLED 5/11*

5. ContinFin - $656 due from ???? last activity 12/07  60 days past due and account old or transferred.  Industry "All Banks"??? "Bad debt or collection" .   I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS EVEN IS??  *exp PULLED 5/11*

 

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations

Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.

What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.

and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.

1) Before you begin, I recommend canceling services with that company first. There are best practices in rebuilding and some (well most) of the steps you'd take in here would be negated by Blue Sky's efforts. For example, you might send a GW letter to an OC asking them to delete this or that late. Blue Sky might come along and dispute it causing the entire TL to disappear, or in some cases, it might get verified and more lates could be added. That GW you sent would have been outdated and negated due to Blue Sky's practices. I'd suggest cancelling and waiting a bit to see what shakes out due to their actions, and then proceed from there. BTW, not to minimalize us, but we're free!

When you are ready, follow the steps above in the link with more info provided below. Don't dispute either! It's the worst advice out there (speaking from personal experience). Even if something is misreporting, disputing is one of the last things you'd ever do. Disputing can harm your credit too.

Wait until this service is done, then pull all 3 reports from annualcreditreport.com (for free once a year). These reports are critical for repair.

Open TLs:

IMO, don't open any more credit lines. I don't know what your goal is, but you can hit an 800 FICO with what you have (minus any derogs and given some time).

1, 2, 4, 5 ) Do nothing assuming EX and EQ report the same way.

3) Send a GW asking them to delete the lates.

For best results, get all of your CCs but one to $0 and get the other to report a balance of under 9% of the CL.

Baddies and closed:

Dakota - send a PFD.

First Bank - send a GW asking for deletion.

First Premier - send a GW asking for deletion

HSBC - see above. Do nothing to the closed one; that's reporting OK.

SLs - do nothing.

CAs:

Midland - send a DV. If they verify and you agree, then send a PFD. If they agree in writing, then pay it and they'll delete.

Jefferson - send a DV. If they verify and you agree then send a PFD.

Arrow - send a DV. If they verify and you agree then send a PFD.

Credit COllections - either 1) Pay the OC and then start the HIPAA process (google HIPAA process for more info) or 2) send a DV. If they verify and you agree then send a PFD.

---------

Continental Finance is a CC. They are the same as First Bank of Delaware above. Send a GW asking for deletion.

More info.....

Again, wait for Blue Sky to be done with their disputes and make sure you cancel before doing anything, including pulling new reports (the info on the report you pull now (or on 5/11) is already outdated due to that service's actions.

Watch out for your SOL. Creditors have a time frame to sue and that time frame is called SOL or statute of limitations. This SOL is set by state law and varies from state to state based on debt type. Whenever you dispute or send letters, you will wake them up and they'll take notice. Don't do anything to any given debt unless SOL expired or if you have the $$$$$ set aside to pay in full (if you had to to avert a judgment). SOL clock start ticking at the DOFD. You'd want to wait it out if either condition is not met. Unfortunately if Blue Sky initiated a dispute on any unpaid debt, then you'd want to save up all the money ASAP. You'll probably notice increased collection activity.

Per paying via a PFD, you can offer 100% or a settlement. The end result is the same...deletion. However, the more you offer, the greater your odds are of a PFD approval. Check others' experiences in here.

ETA...with regards to the CO'd OC accounts, you may not necessarily want them deleted. Send a GW asking for the lates or negative comments' removal. Bad OC accounts can actually help your score if they are old. I'd spare your top one or two oldest.

[TanterBeans]

Wow, llecs!!!!

Thank you so much for your detailed response.  I really appreciate you taking the time to read all of that.  I'm on my way out the door but was so anxious to check this for a response.  I'm going to call Blue Sky tomorrow and ask them to cancel the service and I can't wait to start this process on my own!!!  I'm determined, hopeful, and excited.  First, I just need to learn all these abbreviations

I can't wait to update and research!!!

[MarineVietVet]

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@TanterBeans wrote:

Wow, llecs!!!!

Thank you so much for your detailed response.  I really appreciate you taking the time to read all of that.  I'm on my way out the door but was so anxious to check this for a response.  I'm going to call Blue Sky tomorrow and ask them to cancel the service and I can't wait to start this process on my own!!!  I'm determined, hopeful, and excited.  First, I just need to learn all these abbreviations

I can't wait to update and research!!!

---

Few posters can explain things as well as llecs that's for sure.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".