Starting credit rebuild

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2015

When I first started in april my scores where around 530... it is now the middle of june and I hope to break into the 600's soon, so far have 2 capital one cards a 400 secured and as of tonight i applied for a quick silver one got 500 CL. My debts are as follows, 500 atnt bill from my ex wife I was going to pay it but when I called up they said they cant collect because of statue of limitations, the next is 309 utility bill that is set to fall off next month. and student loans around 7,500(its salle mae so my understanding is that it wont fall off right)... fell on hard times after splitting from that hellish woman. fast forward a few years, a few years in the military and finally started earning enough that i don't have to live pay check to pay check.. any one can lend some good tips?

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2015

You're off to a good start with the cards you have as long as they stay in good standing. Is it a collection agency that's reporting the AT&T account? I'm a little confused by that. It's on your report, right? If not then I would just leave it. There's no need in my eyes to pay the utility bill if it's falling off next month....unless of course they update to keep trying to collect. (I'm still new so I'm repeating advice that I've seen on here so bare with me).

I'm not too sure about the Sallie Mae debt. You may want to open an account at a credit union and apply for a rewards credit card and maybe try for a couple of store cards but thats up to you. Good luck on your journey and do a lot of reading on here. Theres so much great advice.

Anonymous · ‎06-18-2015

I had every intention and ability to pay that debt, as it was under my name. The agency thats reporting the at&t is EOA CCA(set to fall off in december). I wanted at least 3 cards so I can rotate the 3 monthly but I'll wait a few months before I apply again (applied for the QS1 rewards and BoA but BoA gave me the whole "we will send a letter with our decision")... It's a shame that school systems don't really teach real world economics like this but when you fall flat on your face you either learn or keep falling.

Anonymous · ‎06-19-2015

I would contact the credit reporting agency for AT&T and BoA will probably offer you a secure card to get started. :-)

Anonymous · ‎06-19-2015

That's just it... I contacted the at&t collection agency, their exact words were "the account is showing closed $0 balance due to Statue of Limitations. We can no longer attempt to collect on this account due to the statue of limitations in NY, my question now is how feasible is it to have that account removed from my negative portion of the credit report ASAP? or do I have to wait until it reportedly falls off in Dec?

@Anonymous wrote:
I would contact the credit reporting agency for AT&T and BoA will probably offer you a secure card to get started. :-)

Anonymous · ‎06-19-2015

FYI to those who have the Cap1 secured card. I just got off the phone with a CSR initially asking if the quick silver one was in the step program (it was) but I was told that they don't do unsecured increases, and that soon you wont be able to deposit additional funds to up the limit. This card is serving its purpose in getting in the door, but looks like I'll be cutting it up sooner than later. Maybe I'll try the BoA secured card since it graduates after a year. Question though, does the BoA secured card increase limit and does it report as secured?

Dahlia77 · ‎06-19-2015

Not sure whether BOA does increases on the Secured Card but I can tell you that it does report as Secured on your credit report. From what I understand though, that really shouldn't make a difference in your rebuild. Fico and lenders will judge you on your handling of the accounts, usage and establishing a good payment history. Good luck!

Anonymous · ‎06-21-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
FYI to those who have the Cap1 secured card. I just got off the phone with a CSR initially asking if the quick silver one was in the step program (it was) but I was told that they don't do unsecured increases, and that soon you wont be able to deposit additional funds to up the limit. This card is serving its purpose in getting in the door, but looks like I'll be cutting it up sooner than later. Maybe I'll try the BoA secured card since it graduates after a year. Question though, does the BoA secured card increase limit and does it report as secured?

About the B of A Secured Card:

I did an app for the regular unsecured rewards visa and was not approved, but I got a 'counter offer' in the regular mail. They offered the 99/500 Secured Card with Rewards and I immediately accepted it. It does show as 'secured' in my CR and it usually graduates to Unsecured in 12 months, sometimes as soon as 5 or 6 months.

AFAIK, to get the 99/500 Secured Card, it is only by invitation, usually after you were denied for the unsecured CC.

I really wanted to get back in with B of A and was happy with the 99/500 offer even though I have several unsecured cards with others.

I understand when it graduates that it often does come with a CLI.

hth

ETA: I can also tell you first hand that the USAA Secured Card does not graduate.

Rebuilding69 · ‎06-21-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
That's just it... I contacted the at&t collection agency, their exact words were "the account is showing closed $0 balance due to Statue of Limitations. We can no longer attempt to collect on this account due to the statue of limitations in NY, my question now is how feasible is it to have that account removed from my negative portion of the credit report ASAP? or do I have to wait until it reportedly falls off in Dec?
@Anonymous wrote:
I would contact the credit reporting agency for AT&T and BoA will probably offer you a secure card to get started. :-)

You can always call up the bureaus this item is listed under & request an EE(Early Exclusion, basically asking them to remove the negative listing early). For TU, its up to 6 mos early, for EQ/EX its up to 3 mos early. If they pretend they dont know what EE is, call back & hopefully get someone helpful. Also, for the bureaus that list month/day/year on fall off dates, you may have to actually wait until that specific day of the month to call & request EE.