Where to Start, What to Do

[9kst]

I have a mess to clean up and do not know where to start.  I was given bad advice by 3 different bankruptcy attorneys concerning investment properties.  I was not on the note, deed or mortgage on 2.  One I was on the mortgage and deed but it appears never on the note.  No one bothered to think about that note but me.  I started to investigate and learned that I was not on that note.  Meanwhile, I followed a course for filing bankruptcy with the attorneys telling me to stop paying on my debt.  H was a very wealth real estate investor and our joint assets at one point was 2.5 million.  Needless to say, the big crash came and we never recovered.  We kept paying and paying for underwater buildings in an area that went from middle class to  the meth capitol of the state.

I had high medical expense even with insurance.  We tried not to default on the buildings but it was invevitable.  H now is filing bankruptcy, delayed by waiting for a final foreclosure to go through.  He has 2 `car leases in his name which will go in the bankruptcy.  They are both in bad shape with high mileage and gas guzzlers.  I need a car but only have paid cash in the past which are long gone.

I now find that I have 18 medical collections and a charge off from Citi going back to June 2012. Total debt is less than 10k but I do not want to pay anything that will harm me more.  I paid one collection for $50 4 years ago and it is still on my report and counted against me.

I had no credit cards and just the listed debt.  I did have an old Bloomingdales card from 18 years ago reporting as satifactory even though my limit is 0 and they say I would have to reapply.

My scores are ex. 515, eq. 584, tu 546.

I tried to buy a car and the 2 dealers I went pulled credit 12 times between them, I discover after the fact.  One wanted 25% interest and I declined.  The other tried a bait and switch.  I wanted a new car and they tried to qualify me for a 2 year old one for a high price.  I told them to forget it.

I managed to get a Cap. one with a $300 credit line.  I have been charging and paying almost daily.  I then got a second Cap one with a $500 limit a couple of days ago.

One month ago, I got accepted to NFCU thanks to a  relative of my late mother.  I openned checking and savings and got a securred $500 card from them.

Where do I start?  I tried Citi but it got sent to a collection agency.  I had had the card since 1986 and offered to catch it up if the would reinstate it.  I went into a Citi branch and got nowhere.

What should I do next?  Can I ever rebuild?

[guiness56]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Yes, rebuilding can be done.  It may take a lot of time and patience but can be done.

Just because a collection is paid does not automatically remove it from your report.

Are all of the collections with one CA or spread over several?  Has the SOL for medical debt expired?  What is the DoFD of these debts?

Even though the car search ran your credit that many times, FICO only scores them as one inquiry if they were done between 14 and 45 days, depending on the version used.

For the CC you do have, let all but one report a 0 balance and the other at 9% or below.  This will give you an optimal FICO score.

NFCU is a very good place to be.  They are very good with giving credit.

I would pay Citi and then reapply with them. That CO remark will be removed in 7 years then the account will possibly become positive again and stay for up to 10 years from date closed.

You are doing what you can do for now.  If you can get those collections paid and removed it will help your score considerably.

[9kst]

The medical collections are one agency.  I tried a PFD and they refused.  There is about 3 years left sol but I can file a counterclaim if they sue.  I did that with one creditor  not this agency and won.  The same with CitI.  They refused to a PFD and keep adding interest.  The CA is handling it even though they do not own it and Citi refuses to deal with me.  It is 4k which I think is 3 times what I might really owed at the  DoFD.   The DoFD on Citi is 6/12.

My mother went into a nursing home and one of the care agencies tried to make me pay her debt after her death.  I won.

[9kst]

Thank you for the welcome and help.  It is so overwhelming having lost so much and finding myself in this mess based on a bankruptcy that I never had to file from day one.

[guiness56]

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@9kst wrote:

The medical collections are one agency.  I tried a PFD and they refused.  There is about 3 years left sol but I can file a counterclaim if they sue.  I did that with one creditor  not this agency and won.  The same with CitI.  They refused to a PFD and keep adding interest.  The CA is handling it even though they do not own it and Citi refuses to deal with me.  It is 4k which I think is 3 times what I might really owed at the  DoFD.   The DoFD on Citi is 6/12.

My mother went into a nursing home and one of the care agencies tried to make me pay her debt after her death.  I won.

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Try contacting the OC for the medical collections.  They may accept payment and recall the debt from the CA.

If the DoFD for Citi was 6/12 and the debt with the CA is 3 times the amount, I would be asking the CA to show how they came to that amount.  Unless your agreement with Citi and your state laws allow, they cannot add interest or fees.