Rebuilding My Credit and Need Advice

[Johnny_Favorite]

Hello,

I am in the pit of despair and seeking help.

I am new here after researching ways to rebuild credit. For a little background, I have two positives on my credit report and 10 negatives. All 10 of those negatives are medical collections of which 6 of them drop off next year. 4 of them are recent medical collections in the neighborhood of $1200 dollars with a drop date of 2018 or something along those lines.

I want to do everything right to build my credit back up to eventually buy a home in about 2 to 4 years. Just today I applied for a Secured Credit card with a $300 limit. In addition, I have set aside $500 dollars to use towards paying off the 4 most recent collections (if that's my course of action). I am just wondering if I should just pay 2 of them outright (they are about 1.5 year old collections with a total balance of less than $500). And then arrange payments on the 3rd? Of course, I will try a pay for delete first but worried it won't work because they are all through Progressive Management Systems and my understanding is that they are not easy to work with. I was also thinking about the Hippa thing, but not sure about that quite yet.

In addition to clearing up these collections however, should I open any kind of revolving credit line such as at a furniture store or jewelry store. Most of those bargain basement places will pretty much let you walk out with a watch or dresser just for putting half down. I'm wondering if that will help my credit at all in the long run or if I just should stick with secured credit cards? I know for sure Daniels Jewelers reports as I had an account with them about 7 years ago and they still reflect as a good trade on my report.

Thanks so much in advance. Your site has given me some hope that eventually I will climb out of this pit of despair. I don't even know my credit score and I don't even know if I want to know. I'm sure it's the lowest score in the world.

Thanks,

John

[Anonymous]

Hello John. Welcome!

I think you are on the right track. First things first - don't despair. I promise there's always someone in a worse position. You'll want to pull your reports (Annualcreditreport.com is a good start) so you can see exactly where you are. It sounds like you have a pretty good handle on what's reporting, though.

Secured card is a good move. Your PFD idea is good; if it doesn't work, you could always pay and then try to GW the collection agency. Hard to say if it'll work, but it could be worth a shot. Talking about the HIPPA method is not allowed here, but you can google it up if you'd like to give it a go. I've heard mixed reviews, so I haven't tried myownself.

I hesitate to recommend a purchase on credit if you don't really need it. I can see where you're coming from, but honestly? I'd be more inclined to say you should save up and either use the extra cash to pay down debt or open another secured card. I too am hoping for a house in a few years so I figure a little card deposit until I'm ready might not be bad.

Keep your chin up. I'm pretty sure I have the lowest score ever, so it can't possibly be you. Plus - nowhere to go but up!

[JohnPTEX]

I began my rebuild about two and a half years ago with a score of well below 500 and only a secured card - after about a year and a half with the secured card and I started receiving the subprime credit card offers - got Orchard and Merrick - I've had those for over a year - got a Cap One that I've had for about 8 months - with just that my score has risen about 100 points - I didnt learn about PFD until January of this year and that raised my score another 100 points - some setbacks and some gains but over all I've never taken on more credit than needed or necessary and use the credit cards very sparingly - its tough to be patient but taking it slow and starting with just a secured card worked for me - hope this helps!

[Shogun]

Definitely try for PFDs. Medical baddies always seem easier to get deleted so don't dispair.

[jamie123]

Try for PFDs first. I would suggest trying for PFDs several times before paying and then writing good will letters.

Even having 1 collection on your report will drag your scores down.

Good luck!

[rootpooty]

I started with about 6 or 7 medical collections.  Only one accepted a PFD offer via mail and the others I got removed via GW after payment in full.  I think medical collections are easier to get removed.  It seems some CA's are a little more leniant when it comes to medical.  Your most recent collections are hurting your score most so if you attack those first and are successfull you would see a greater increase in score