New member, looking for some assistance

[bobstevens]

Hello everyone, 

I am a new member, I've been reading through posts for sometime, and have been a myFico member for almost a month. I have several bills that are in collections and I am wondering where to start. I have read several posts regarding DV's and PFD's but I am wondering about original creditors as well. I will list my bills and actions I have taken and perhaps someone out there can help steer me in the right direction. Thank you in advance for all your help.

I have a student loan, of which I owe about $5,000. It was originally granted by Great Lakes Education and Chase Bank. I'm not sure how behind I am, but I would like to get this caught up.

I owe Aurora Hospital $825.00 They (the original creditor) will let me pay them.

I owe TCF Bank $275.86 (Professional Account Management owns this debt)

I owe Progressive Insurance $222.04 (Credit Collection Services owns this debt)

I owe Sprint about $525. That is my most recent collection. When I log on to my account online, I do still have an option to pay the bill.

I owe Comcast $120.

Suntrust Bank $159.

My question is, probably a dumb one, where do I start? I don't have the money on hand to pay all of these today, but eventually I should be able to pay them all off. Do I deal with the CA, OC, or both? Just looking to finally get these taken care of and take some responsibility for my previous lack of financial discipline. All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read and help!

[Jutz]

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@bobstevens wrote:

Hello everyone, 

I am a new member, I've been reading through posts for sometime, and have been a myFico member for almost a month. I have several bills that are in collections and I am wondering where to start. I have read several posts regarding DV's and PFD's but I am wondering about original creditors as well. I will list my bills and actions I have taken and perhaps someone out there can help steer me in the right direction. Thank you in advance for all your help.

I have a student loan, of which I owe about $5,000. It was originally granted by Great Lakes Education and Chase Bank. I'm not sure how behind I am, but I would like to get this caught up.

You need to find out how much you are in arrears.  It's very important to establish this as a positive tradeline.  Do NOT let this default as it can be garnished from your wages if it is covered by government insurance

I owe Aurora Hospital $825.00 They (the original creditor) will let me pay them.

Paying the OC is always best case, but who is reporting this account?  Is it the OC listed, or is another CA listing it? Or are both listing it?  PFD should have a pretty good chance at working, since most medical collections are leniant.

I owe TCF Bank $275.86 (Professional Account Management owns this debt)

DV and then PFD when you have the funds available.  In what capacity do you owe TCF Bank?  Overdraft that wasn't paid?

I owe Progressive Insurance $222.04 (Credit Collection Services owns this debt)

Who is reporting?  Both the OC and CA or just the CA?  DV and then PFD when funds are available.

I owe Sprint about $525. That is my most recent collection. When I log on to my account online, I do still have an option to pay the bill.

This would be my number one priority outside the student loans.  If Sprint is allowing a payment that means they haven't sold the debt.  Raise these funds quickly and call/write Sprint and get someone to agree to a PFD.

I owe Comcast $120.

Who is reporting?  Comcast usually uses a CA and sells the debt I believe.  DV and then PFD when funds are available.

Suntrust Bank $159.

Same as the other bank, and the other collections, in what capacity do you owe the bank, who is reporting it.  DV, PFD, etc.

My question is, probably a dumb one, where do I start? I don't have the money on hand to pay all of these today, but eventually I should be able to pay them all off. Do I deal with the CA, OC, or both? Just looking to finally get these taken care of and take some responsibility for my previous lack of financial discipline. All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read and help!

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How much money do you have to work with?  It's pretty important to know that if you send a DV or PFD, you should be ready to pay it in full.  Payment plans rarely work when you're trying to delete a tradeline, and they tend to be messy.

[bobstevens]

Jutz,

Thanks so much for the reply. My student loan is actually only about $3,700. I'll have to check on the arrears amount. 

Aurora Hospital is the only one reporting this account. I had been sent a notice a while back by State Collection Agency, but on my CR only Aurora is reporting it.

TCF was an overdraft that wasn't paid. 

Progressive Insurance...only they are reporting on my CR

Comcast is actually not on my credit report. Which is strange because I heard they were pretty meticlous about reporting past due. I have received nothing from any other CA, and the debt is at least 2 years old.

Suntrust was an overdraft fee that I unsuccessfully fought with the bank, because it wasn't my fault and they wouldn't remove it. I let the account go negative, and they closed it. On my CR, NCO financial holds the debt on experian and equifax, but on TU, Suntrust holds the debt. 

I don't have a lot of savings to work with, but I do earn a pretty good wage, and should be able to knock out the small amounts relatively quickly. Comcast, Suntrust Bank could be one paycheck, while Sprint and the Student Loan may take me saving a couple of paychecks to knock them out.

Thanks again for all your help!

[Jutz]

1. Get the student loans out of arrears, this is super important because it's the only one listed that can actually be a positive account, plus there's a million other reasons that paying student loans are important
2. Get Sprint taken care of while you can.  It's newest, holds weight, and they are apparently still willing to play ball
3. Progressive, TCF should be straightforward.  DV and PFD as needed.  If PFD fails, move to the next item and PFD that. 
4. Suntrust.  I don't even know what to suggest.  You need to find out who owns this debt for real.  If there are multiple CAs reporting a balance, it may be assigned, but for a bank that might be odd for such a small amount.  Investigate this one, then follow the DV and PFD trail
5. Aurora. It's been on there awhile, medical collections are mildly easy to deal with, should be able to PFD this one
6. Comcast.  If it's not on there, you don't want to kick the beast without being ready to pay it.  I would leave it last, just because it's not technically affecting your score right now, but I would definitely pay it.  At two years old it's not likely to just show up out of the blue.  For this reason my first step before you do any of this would be to....

OPT OUT.

Collections agencies have a keen sense of when you're all of a sudden able and paying debt. Opting out means they won't be fed this information.  They still have the right to soft (and possibly hard) pull you, but it won't be automatic.

[bobstevens]

Awesome, thanks again for all your help! Greatly appreciated!!

[Shogun]

Nice advice there Jutz!

[KnewBee]

Great advice you have received so far! I would also just add that as newer accounts have the biggest impact on your score, you should generally work on the newest ones first and the oldest ones last. Additionally since money is an issue (but when is it not lol!) generally work on the smallest ones that you can pay in full first and while you are doing that save to pay off the bigger ones. 

Good luck to you! 

[bobstevens]

Again, thank you so much everyone for your help! Can I PFD OC's? I thought I had read somewhere that OC's don't have the power to delete. If I am mistaken please correct me. I suppose OC's do have the power to delete, since they have the power to report, but you know what assuming does.

[KnewBee]

PFDing OCs depends on the situation.  If an OC has sold an account to a collection agency PFDing the OC would not remove the collection TL. If the OC has merely assigned the account to a CA than PFDing them could work. It all depends on the specific situation, primarily whether the OC still owns and or controls the account or not.

[Jutz]

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@Shogun wrote:

Nice advice there Jutz!

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