After many years of irresponsibility I've finally gotten above drowning last year and am trying to make big changes in 2014. My wife and I would like to buy a house at the end of 2014, so I've come up with an ambitious (in my book) plan for recovering my credit. Here's an overview of my stats and plan to deal with it:
I have a Chapter 7 bankruptcy from 2005/2006 on my credit.
5 Collections/Charge-Offs that will fall off between today and December 2014
5 MD Collections that I plan on paying in full with HIPPA process
8 Collections/Charge-Offs I play on Paying in Full trying for a Pay For Delete
1 Massive private student loan ($40k+) in collections I can't do anything about
Of the 8 collections/charge-offs three are Capital One credit cards, and one of those is also showing up as a collection from a collection agency (Portfolio Recovery). In my plan I was also considering opening a secured credit card, most likely from USAA.
Thank you in advance for any help, so here are my questions:
- What should take priority, opening the secured card or paying off collections? (What would make the most positive difference in the long run?)
- In the case of the CapOne credit card that is showing as a charged-off account and a collection, can/should I try PFD with CapOne or do I need to deal with Portfolio?
- A few of the medical collections show on both, my wife's, and my credit reports. Do we need separate letters? (Obviously we can't seperately pay...)
- Last but not least, if I pull off every part of this master plan, how much of a jump in scores could I expect?
Thanks!
Starting Score: TU 512 EX 498 EQ 522
It's a private student loan, and the servicer and initial collections said I had no choice but to come up with $3000 lump sum to start any rehab process, I have not spoken to the latest CA (Simm Associates)