Hello Everyone! I'm very excited to be a part of myFico and am requesting assistance and advice as to the next steps I should take in my credit repair journey.
Here's the abbreviated version of my background:
I was involved in a near-fatal car accident at the end of 2007 when I was 37 weeks pregnant with my first child. After a long stint in the ICU for both myself and my son (he survived : ), we were both in and out of the hospital for the better part of a year. I had extensive injuries which required multiple surgeries, rehab and physical therapy. It took the better part of two years, but I made a full recovery. My son has some neurological issues, but, he made it and we love him : )
Prior to the auto accident, I had pretty good credit. I had a Citi Diamond Preferred card, capital one, as well as several other retail credit trade lines. When I crashed my car, of course, that all went to hell. I tried, but as I was unable to work for nearly a year and a half, some of those cc accounts went to collections. Although, I had insurance, my family still incurred numerous medical bills above and beyond what insurance would pay. Most of those individuals were not willing to work with us on payment plans and went to collections, as well.
Here is where I'm at now (5 years later):
I've been working on rebuilding and started with a capital one secured card (300), a merrick bank cc (1200), legacy (600), show (550).
Just last week I went on an app spree and was APPROVED : ) for the following cards: Walmart, Kohls, JC Penney, Dell, Old Navy and a new capital one classic unsecured card. After five years of toiling in credit hell, I feel like I'm finally beginning to get somewhere. This made me very happy.
My first question is what to do about the medical collections. I have 13 collections on my credit report, all old (2008-2009) directly related to the accident). They will be falling off relatively soon, however, I'd be thrilled if I could get rid of some of them.
What's the best way to go about this. My family has (finally) recovered financially and I would like to propose PFDs to the COs that own my medical collections debt.
Most of it is with Professional Finance Company out of Greeley/Loveland, Colorado. I've been reading quite a bit on the forums and have noticed that some people have had luck with contacting PFC's CEO, explaining circumstances and obtaining PFDs. Good idea? Does anyone have any contact information (email, etc) for the CEO?
Any other ideas as to how I can accelerate this long and painful credit repair process?
Thanks for all your help and sorry for the long post : )
Scores: TU 624, EQ-?, EX-620-630ish
Yes, believe it or not, I had really good insurance. Between the two of us, our total medical bills were 2.5 mil. Insurance covered about 80 percent. We paid what we could and I took the hit on the rest.
I just had some success with the local hospital. They were awesome, offered my financial aid on the past due amounts. That dropped by balance to them by at least 1/2, however those accounts are still in collections (Professional Finance Company). I have the money to think about paying them now but at this point, as they are nearly five years old, that would be pretty much pointless unless they will PFD unless a paid collection is better on the score than an unpaid.
Don't have any idea about SOL for medical. Probably 7 years.
Yep, that's what I thought regarding paid vs. unpaid collections and how they are seen by FICO. Thank you for the information.
I guess my next step will be attempting to negotiate a PFD with Profesional Finance Company. If anyone has an email address for the CEO, would you please PM me with that information? I found his name and a telephone number online, but no fax or email contact information.
Thanks again!