Hi, guys,
I am new to credit awareness and this board but I’ve found your comments tremendously educational and I’m ready to tackle my credit problems. Here’s my situation: I checked my credit report and scores for the first time two weeks ago and this is what I found:
Scores: 593; 632; 649.
Collections: Several medical bills from 2008 (six for around $200 each). I disputed them online and they were actually deleted! Whoa. It works. There is another collection for $1500 that wasn’t deleted and was updated last month. It’s from the same CA as the other smaller ones that were, so I’m not sure of my next step. I don’t want to do anything to cause them to re-add those other ones. Should I HIPAA the CRAs first or the CA?
Derogatory/Public Records: 1 IRS tax lien, satisfied in 2011. They now have a program where they will remove liens from public records and I applied for that last week. Fingers crossed. There’s also a default civil judgment from 2010 which I’ve also paid. Should I try a GW letter to the OC or their attorney? Or GW letter to the CRAs? I actually don’t remember being served this lawsuit (hence the default judgment) but I’m going to go the courthouse and check the record of how they served. Maybe they served a past address and maybe that would be grounds to have it vacated. It’s a long shot, I know.
That’s it for negatives. As for positives, I have one car loan that I got 2 ½ years ago. The interest rate is 17 percent but I wasn’t going to get a better offer and I needed a car as my old one had died. I wouldn’t be able to refinance because I owe less than $7,000 on the loan.
I hadn’t credit card in 10 years. I got used to paying in cash and thought that was good but I realize that I cannot opt-out of the credit-based society because it’s counting against me in so many ways. So I applied for a Capital One secured card two weeks ago and have a $350 limit. I had applied for a Barclays credit card but was declined. I am going to use the Capital One responsibly for four months and then try again for another credit card. Is it realistic of me to expect to get a real CC so soon with the judgment and single medical collection on my CR? I expect the lien will be removed.
Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I’ve learned so much reading your forums. Thanks!
