After several years of burying my head in the sand and all around not taking responsibility for my financial choices, I decided to man up last summer and start taking control of my financial future, but didn't really get the ball rolling on that until January.
Long story short, I had an awful time from 2012-2014. Medical issues, got laid off, turned car in as a lemon and it got reported as a repo (still fighting that one), and just some bad decisions on my part. I got a well paying job in 2013 that allowed me to afford living without taking on new debt, but I didn't make much of an effort to pay off any debt I'd accrued in the 4 months I was unemployed, or any of the car and medical debt. It was ridiculously immature, but I just buried my head in the sand and didn't respond to any letters or calls from collectors or creditors. Fast forward to August 2014--I finally decided to start mending fences and digging myself out of the hole I'd dug for myself. Not because I was particularly innately motivated to do so, but because I applied for a business credit card for a side business I'd just started and the denial letter I got had about 10 lines of derogatory reasons for the denial. I got so wrapped up in the side business and my day job over the next few months that I didn't make much progress besides paying a pittance towards my current credit card balances. In January 2015, I decided to buckle down and start working at bringing everything under control.
With that said, here's where I stand on all my accounts, open/recently closed/collections/etc:
Current or Recent Negatives
- Cap 1 Bestbuy card: Closed, with $1733 charge off in September 2013 for TU and EX (oddly, listed as charged off in April 2014 for EQ). Currently owned by The Bureaus.
- The Bureaus: $1952 collection for the Bestbuy card. Listed as closed on EX and EQ with status dates of October '13 and April '15 respectively, and open on TU with status date of April '15. I sent a PFD offering to pay $1675 to The Bureaus two weeks ago and have not received a response yet.
- Kia Motors Finance: Charge off of $8128 with status date of January '15. Listed as closed on EX and EQ and open on TU. I had leased a Sorento in March 2012 and turned it in as a lemon in July 2012 due to it being in the shop for almost 40 days continuously, me having paid 2 lease payments for a car I didn't have in my posession, and no help from Kia corporate or the dealership on rental costs. Hadn't gotten any communication from Kia since August 2012 until January 2015. Since this popped back up in January, I'm trying to figure out why on earth it's showing up the way it is, but haven't made any headway. Fired off a PFD two weeks ago as a last resort, offering to pay $6500, but haven't heard anything back.
- Dept of Education Direct Loan Servicing student loans: Closed as of May 2013, with a total of ~$57,000 across 11 tradelines, all showing 30-60 day lates in April and May 2013, despite me having paid on time. These loans were transferred to FedLoan Servicing in June 2013, though I wasn't notified of the switch until December 2013. Very convoluted process, and I wrote a detailed post about it over here. I disputed the late payments last week and to date EX and TU have deleted all 11 TLs from my report.
- FedLoan Servicing student loans: Total of ~$57,000 across 11 tradelines from June 2013 through March 2014. They all show 180 day lates from June-December 2013. Long story short, I didn't receive notice from Direct Loans that the loans had been transferred till December 2013 and had been paying DLS via auto-debit for those 6 months. No idea how I fell through the cracks, but I have been unable to get in touch with DLS with multiple attempts since January. When I got notice of the loans being switched over, I had them in forbearance from January-March 2014, did a consolidation, then have been paying satisfactorily since then. I've tried disputing the late payments with all three bureaus, but haven't heard anything back yet. I just emailed FLS today and asked if it would be possible to retroactively backdate the forbearance to cover the time period of June 2013-March 2014, but haven't heard back. It's a long shot, but hey, won't know unless I try!
- Cap 1 Kohls card: Closed by grantor in March 2014, with paid in full balance of $564. A bunch of 30-120 day lates in 2012 and 2013 when I got laid off and was just irresponsible (11 on EX, 13 on TU, 8 on EQ). I haven't done anything with this one, since I figure there are too many lates to try to GW this one away.
- Synchrony Amazon card: Closed by grantor in October 2014, with paid in full balance of $1444. A handful of 30-120 day lates in 2012 and 2013, same scenario as the Kohls card. 8 lates shown by EX, 10 by TU, and 7 by EQ. Haven't done anything with this one, either, since I figure there are too many lates to GW away.
- Synchrony CareCredit: Open, current credit limit $2700 (down from a $4800 charge and limit in December 2011). Current balance is $1240, I plan to PIF in the next few weeks. Been current since December 2013, but there were a handful of 30-60 day lates in 2013 (3 on EX, 4 on TU, and 4 on EQ). I'm trying to decide if I'd have a shot at a GW for this one.
- Synchrony Paypal: Closed by grantor in September 2013 with PIF balance of $455. There was one 30 day late payment in March 2013 that shows up on EX and TU. I haven't gotten around to GWing this one yet.
- USAA $25,000 personal loan: PIF and closed August 2014 (opened August 2009). Handful of 30 day and one 60 day lates in 2012 and 2013 (9 on all three bureaus between July 2012 and August 2013). Trying to decide if there's anything I can do with this one.
- USAA Amex: $1500 limit, high balance $1575 (fees). Closed by grantor May 2013 (opened January 2009), finally PIF in February 2015. Two 30 day lates show up on my reports in April 2013 and August 2013, though I think there were some 30 day lates before then. Haven't decided if I should try GWing this one.
Current or recent positives (a lot fewer of these...) :-(
- USAA Secured Mastercard: $4500 limit, opened January 2015 (originally opened with $1500 limit and have added money since then). All current, no lates.
- USAA Platinum Mastercard: $2000 limit, opened January 2007. Stepped up from $1500 initial limit at some point in early 2008 and has stayed there since. Asked for CLI in February 2015 and was denied.
- FedLoan Servicing student loans: Consolidated 11 separate loans into two loans (one subsidized, the other unsubsidized) for approximately $57,000 in March 2014. All current, no lates. Monthly payment of $417. In June I'll be doubling the payment.
- NFCU CashRewards Visa: $10,000 limit, opened March 2015. All current, no lates.
- Capital One Spark Business: $1500 limit, opened in December 2014. Stepped up from $500 initial limit in March 2015. All current, no lates.
- Capital One Quicksilver One: $1500 limit, opened in July 2014. Stepped up from $500 initial limit in April 2015. All current, no lates.
- Capital One Quicksilver One: $1500 limit, opened in July 2014 (PCd from Platinum Mastercard). Stepped up from $500 initial limit in March 2015. All current, no lates.
- Springleaf Financial Personal Loan: $3500, opened in December 2014. Monthly payment of $166. All current, no lates. I'll be doubling the payment in June.
As of now, besides The Bureaus collection and the Kia thing, I've got three installment loans I'm paying off: FedLoan Servicing, Springleaf, and Carecredit (although that's going away in a few weeks). I used my tax refund in February to pay off the bulk of my outstanding debt, so I've just got the revolving credit card debt that I plan to PIF each month. As of 5/1, I have $27,300 of revolving credit and a 12% util rate. That will drop down to less than 5% by June 1st. I have a total of approximately $71,000 in debt outstanding, of which $57k is student loans and $8k is the wacko Kia charge.
My income has gone up substantially since all the crap happened from 2012 through early 2014. I'm making approximately $130k and will have the money to pay everything off but the student loans by August.
You can see my credit scores in my signature, and I'm hoping to have gotten enough baddies off my report through PFDs and GWs by July or so that I can get an auto loan at a decent rate and get a better business credit card for my side job.
I've made decent progress since January, but I've got a long way to go! Thank you to everyone on this forum--since I discovered it in February, this place has been a massive help and source of inspiration!
