@dmc917 wrote:Apologies in advance for the lengthy post. I have been rebuilding for just over two years (husband out of work 2008-2011, everything in my name, foreclosure, repo, charge-offs, etc.). In August 2014, I engaged the services of Lexington Law (I know, I know). At that time, I had 63 negative items (combined) (or 20 accounts) reporting across all three bureaus -- I currently have 31 items (or 11 accounts). At this stage in my life, I have a little more money than time, so I am happy with LL's services to date, but plan to cut them loose this month.
After lurking all over myFico at great length over the past several weeks, I have decided that I need to speed up the process a bit by becoming more pro-active and actually dealing with my old debts (rather than waiting for LL to have them investigated and, hopefully, removed). So, I created a spreadsheet listing all of my negative/collection accounts, complete with CA names/phone numbers, account numbers, amounts owed, dates of first late, dates of last reporting and on which bureau report they appear. I then sorted the accounts by reverse chronological date order so that the newest accounts are at the top and the oldest ones closer to falling off are at the bottom. I did this so that I can start addressing each account individually and in some sort of logical fashion. (I get overwhelmed easily, so this was a MUST first step.) What I think I learned from this forum (and other credit boards) is that newer accounts = more damage than older accounts. So, the plan is to tackle the stuff on top and work my way down.
The purpose of this post is to confirm what I think I know (or, alternatively, for some much more knowledgeable person(s) than I to teach me something new) regarding my plan to hack away at the debt and get these negative items off my freaking credit reports once and for all! So here's the abbreviated version of my spreadsheet and rest of my story:
Collection Agency Amount Original Creditor Purpose First Late Last Reporting
First Premier Bank $ 593 First Premier Credit Card 11/2012 5/2020
Franklin $ 108 Solstas Lab Medical 8/2012 2/2020
Delmarva $ 46 Drs Emerg Svc Medical 12/2011 6/2019
National Recovery $1,474 Med1 Anesthesia Medical 12/2011 6/2019
Berks Credit & Coll. $ 416 Anne Arundel Urology Medical 12/2011 6/2019
Midland Funding $ 756 Credit One Bank Credit Card 9/2011 3/2019
Delmarva $ 145 Drs Emerg. Svc Medical 6/2011 3/2019
Delmarva $ 496 Drs Emerg. Svc Medical 1/2009 7/2016
Delmarva $ 496 Drs Emerg. Svc Medical 1/2009 7/2016
Innovative Credit $2,261 HSBC Credit Card 8/2008 2/2016
Jefferson Capital $1,276 Barclay’s Credit Card 8/2008 2/2016
For medical debt:
1. Call the OC and ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
2. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
3. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help
You are going to want to research the PFD it is going to beyour friend working on these derogs
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-PFD-Success-Stories/...
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/PFD-Example-Letter/td-p/4519
Also included in my negative items is a tax lien from 7/08 that was released in 11/09. It is only appearing on one report, but I would like to get rid of it before 2018 if at all possible. Just spoke with the county court clerk who had no idea how to remove it early. Anybody? You would have to get the lien withdrawn for it to be removed from your CRs early, you would contact the agency that filed it to begin with to ask for this.
In April 2011, I opened a secured Capital One with $1,000, then deposited an additional $1,000 in August 2014 for a $2,000 CL. Then, in March 2014, I opened a secured loan for $3,000 and a secured nRewards Visa with Navy Federal with a $5,000 CL.
I was reading about Navy Federal "graduating" its secured nRewards card to an unsecured card upon the 13th billing cycle, so I called them this week to see if that was true. For the record, I was told that they do not do that automatically anymore and I would have to apply for an unsecured card, which I did -- I am still awaiting a decision (although, I do not think that it will happen at this time). I was a little dumbfounded when the NavyFed rep told me this as I thought I did everything I was supposed to do over the past year – with both the card and loan (as well as payments for all my other accounts ) – and my scores have gone up since opening both with them. Oh well.
I am an authorized user on my husband's Capital One unsecured MC (but he was rebuilding as well and has only a $500 CL with them) and the Navy Federal cashRewards Signature Visa for $10,000 (that he was just approved for a couple of weeks ago - yayy!). This week, I was approved for a Capital One Quicksilver One for $500. (Note: I should not have waited almost four years to apply for an unsecured card with them – Capital One does not take loyalty and past history into consideration for unsecured credit.)
After reading about the "shopping cart trick" in the Credit Cards forum, I tried my luck and was approved by Overstock for $3,000 (then was approved for an increase of $300 by pressing the request button), JCrew for $500 (plus $300 by button) and Ann Taylor for $500 (still awaiting the results of my increase button request). That is where my luck stopped. I overdid it and now have hard pulls for the Total Rewards Visa, Chase Freedom Visa and Discover It (live and learn!). You have plenty of store cards I would only open accounts that you will actually be using, there are people on this board who have had remorse from using the SCT and ending up with a pocket full of store cards they will never use. You also want to maintain at least 3 open bankcards that are yours alone along with 1 store card (this is the minimum)...
Since my receiving my secured Capital One MC back in 2011, I have made perfect payments on everything, including my two high-interest rate car loans (first one in 2013 with Consumer Portfolio that I traded-in in July 2014, and the second with GM Financial).
Anyway, I am working hard to get to the top for no other reason than I’m too old to have these blasted credit issues (well, not that old!). My current scores are: EQ: 589; EX: 610; TU: 635. Goals are: 750 and better across the board. Note: My EQ just dropped 8 points for the hard pulls and new accounts.
Thanks for reading. Any words of wisdom, strategy or tips will be much appreciated!
Dana
Welcome to My Fico 
@dmc917 wrote:Thanks, gdale, for the advice and the welcome!
Question: Am I correct that I should start at the top of my list and work my way down? I would do it that way, newer debts first.
So, "withdrawn" is the key word I should focus on for the tax lien -- I think I have to go up the chain in the little county office, as the woman I spoke with had no clue how go about helping me. Yup, it has to be withdrawn (they may use other words that means the same thing in some states). Dismissing the lien would be an equivalent.
Once I was approved for the Overstock, Ann Taylor and JCrew cards, I sat here thinking "what in the world am I going to do with these?" I'm not really an Ann Taylor and JCrew kinda gal. We (that is,my husband -- I didn't qualify just yet) just bought a new house, so I think I can find a few good uses for Overstock!
