topic Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS! in Rebuilding Your Credit

Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 04:29:09 GMT

Hi, I'm new to this board (posting wise) but I have been doing extensive research on the steps I should take with rebuilding my credit.

I'm a 21 year old college student and I will be graduating May 2013. With "real life" approaching faster and faster I wanted to make sure everything was in place for a prosperous adulthood.

I first learned about my "awful" credit back in September of laster year when making a banking account with Wells Fargo. Like clockwork, a collections letter followed soon after. However, that did not stop me from digging my hole into debt much deeper. Within the last year I have managed to put 4 more negatives on my credit report (bummer). Now I find myself in this horrible position, looking for efficient and quick ways to get out.

My first negative on my credit report came from a Verizon Wireless phone that I didn't even have on for a full day. I was a stupid freshman, making a boneheaded mistake. Somehow, someway that bill is reporting on my credit to be a whopping $599. When I called Verizon to see which collections agency it was through they told me MRS Associates Inc. However, it is VZW reporting on my credit report. The guy I spoke to at Verizon told me to make arrangements to pay with the CA and to call back to Verizon and they will report it to the CRAs as "paid in full" or "settled". Now, a month or so ago I would have made this boneheaded mistake and paid VZW and have no impact to my credit score. But through countless hours roaming through these boards, I know better.

The second negative on my account comes from a Suntrust checkings account that was disputed by me but somehow its showing up. Long story short, I was scammed by some shoe company out of Roswell, GA for shoes costing $250 but with late fees and such it is reporting on my CR as $352. Less than a week ago I received a letter from NCO Financial trying to settle the debt for $211. This is my first time learning that this debt was even with collections. Go figure.

The third debt is also with NCO Financial for an AT&T Landlines bill that my mother had while I was off to school. This debt is for $136. No, I am not suing my mom. I'm sure I've did 10 times the damage to her credit. However, I do want this to go away.

Being a dumb stupid idiotic college student, I made the horrible mistake to move in with a girl who was extremely financially unstable. This was my first time moving out on my own (or with a roommate) into an apartment. Both of our names are on the contract, as well as her father who co-signed. August through April everything was satisfied bill wise. Mind you this complex does not accept partial payments. So at the beginning of May I sent my part of the rent, utilities, etc. Into the leasings office and the next morning it was returned to me because her half hadn't been paid. She was instead out in Las Vegas basking in the sun while my CR was taking a steep decline. My logic was what's the point in giving this APT money to hold that they can't process it until the other half is paid? ya know. School was out in May, but our lease wasn't up until the end of June. However, I wasn't living there and she still hadn't paid her rent for May or June. They end charged us partial rent for July -__- . Around the end of July I received a moveout statement saying that we owed nearly 4,000 bucks. SMH. That's utilities and all included. The collections agency this was sent to was National Credit Solutions. Sadly, I purchased the Comcast cable in my name, which I now owe 600+ dollars for plus 1200 more for equipment. The CA on this debt is Credit Protection Associates.

SIGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I really never thought I would be in such a tough position at a young age. I should be trying to build my credit, not in the process of restoring and the rebuilding. I've never even had a credit card and with this much on my report, I can cancel the idea of getting one anytime soon.

Through research upon research, I've been raking through forums trying to formulate the proper process in getting all of this GONE by the time I graduate. The question I have for you veterans is where to start. I know I need to send a DV letter ASAP (I am within 30 days of most of my negatives).

If that doesn't work, I will truly be stuck until 2019 with sucky credit. I'll never be approved for anything. Never be able to buy things on my own without a cosigner. It's just really frustrating. The first thing I'll be doing Monday morning is sending a DV letter to all of the CAs and then I'll wait patiently for 30 days and after that it gets rather tricky to me. If the CA ignores the letter and I receive nothing within the 30 days, then what?

I was planning on getting a secured credit card through Wells Fargo to counter the negatives on my report, but I really don't know if that's a bright idea.

Please guys, I need help, POSITIVE help. I need positive attitudes with success stories with companies such as NCO, CPA, MRS & NCS.

Success stories with DEBT VALIDATION LETTERS! Help with the correct process to go about. ANYTHING!

Thank to you guys in advance.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:05:17 GMT

Okay...Stop and take a deep breath!

Welcome to the forum!

It will all work out in the end. It may take a while but by taking action now your scores will get better.

First off you need to get all 3 of your free annual credit reports at annualcreditreport.com if you haven't already done so.

Then you need to find out where you stand. You need to get your scores. There are a few websites that track changes in your credit report, myFICO being the best of them. I would HIGHLY recommend signing up for Score Watch here at myFICO. It is the best credit monitoring service available IMHO. It is well worth the monthly cost and will provide you with the only TRUE FICO scores available. Sign up at least for the Equifax portion now.

Another highly regarded site on these forums is creditkarma.com. It's acronym on these forums is CK. This site produces a FAKO score that is not very accurate under most conditions but it has AWESOME resources for following your credit rebuilding journey. And it is FREE! Sign up for this NOW!

There are 2 other sites that are just so so with their abilities that you need to join eventually. They are creditsesame.com and quizzle.com.

You now have some work to do. Sign up at these websites so we can have your scores to work with. Everyone will be asking for your scores when they try and help you.

This is the first step in the marathon! You can do it!

We are here to help.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:14:53 GMT

Read up some more on these forums. start with http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Frequently-Requested-Threads/td-p/224981. Then move to the last link Other Frequently Requested Threads. After that go through the stickies in Bouncing Back from Credit Problems>Rebuilding Your Credit. Don't send DV letters until after you check your sol on these collections. Check quickly. Then maybe someone here that's more experienced can give you more advice. Also check the forum rules. They don't offer advice on removing accurate credit information. They will help you straighten things out. In the short run you might have to deal with some bad credit files for a bit but you can make them better. Also check on some PFD and GW letters. If you owe, you owe, but you can make that alone work for you. Good luck.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:27:33 GMT

There are 2 avenues to rebuiding credit and you should do them both at the same time. Remove the baddies and add GOOD credit.

We can get into the specifics of removing the baddies when you get back with your scores. You will need to have a LONG term plan and execute it starting at the beginning and making sure to follow through to the end.

We can get into the specifics of adding good credit when you get back with your scores. This also requires a LONG term plan. You just don't want to apply for credit when the odds of approval are low. You also don't want to apply for credit that you don't really need or won't use in the future. You will need 3 credit cards ASAP. We can discuss which ones fit you best when you return with your scores.

A couple of questions....

Are you currently employed?

How much money do you have on hand to rebuild your credit? How much per month?

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:39:02 GMT

Thanks for replying Jamie!

I'll have to get my actual score sometime next week, but I did do the FAKO account and it showed at a 579.

0 credit card utilization

100% of on time payments

Average age of open creidt lines (2 yrs & 5 months)

5 accts

1 hard inquiry

2 derogs

Don't know if theres much you can do with that information, but thats all i've got thus far.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:50:45 GMT

The first thing you need to address is ALL the issues regarding the apartment. That is a lot of money and they will take you to court to get their money. You definitely don't want to go down that road.

You need to find your roommate and ask (demand) her half of they money. If she refuses to pay her half, call her father. Is he aware of the situation? Do you have your half of the money to pay your share? You might have to set-up some type of payment arrangement if you do not. You also need to negotiate a pay for delete or else refuse to pay.

Same goes for the cable. Do you have the money to pay in full?

Now is the time to take care of both of these issues. Most creditors will be willing to negotiate at this early point in default.

DV letters really aren't proper for these 2 issues at this point.

When you stop back we can discuss this further.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 05:55:12 GMT

Read my posts and answer my questions about how much money we have to work with here.

Where did you get the FAKO score?

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 06:06:39 GMT

Yes, I have the money to pay for both, but paying for something I know I dont owe COMPLETELY is out of the question. Especially if its not going to come off of my CR.

From what I've read a DV letter is always worth a try and it is very lawful to demand one. Maybe i'll luck up, who knows.

I went to creditkarma.com to get my FAKO score.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 06:13:38 GMT

This is the wrong time for a DV letter.

I may have missed something. What exactly are you disputing that you owe?

If you clarify that we can attack that issue first.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 06:16:24 GMT

When is the right time for a DV letter?

From my understand a DV letter is to validate that the correct agency is collecting the proper amount, not necessarily disputing.

I need proof of what I owe and why I owe it. I also need advice on what to do on a joint account.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 06:51:14 GMT

At this point you should be calling these people and negotiating nicely with them. I mean I don't feel it is in your best interest at this point to verify EXACTLY how much you owe and put it in writing. Now, you will have to call and negotiate that figure down.

This can go 1 of 2 ways. You call them with your best SUNNY personality showing and graciously negotiate the money amount down along with a pay for delete.

Or...You play hardball with them, they play hardball with you. They take you to court and win a judgment against you and you then REALLY lose.

I FEEL your pain. You are in a bad situation. Your roommate screwed you over! You need to get over it and come to a solution that is best for your future.

Unfortunately you both are on the hook equally when it comes to a joint account. You can't just pay half.

You have 3 options here:

1. You pay it and chalk the loss of your roommates portion to a very expensive lesson in Life Course 101. Your credit survives practically unscathed.

2. You don't pay it on principal and they sue you and your roommate and win a judgment. They will then come after you and get their money even if they have to garnish your wages. Your credit will be toast for a very long time.

3. You pay it. Take your roommate to Small Claims Court and win a judgment against her. Then you have to collect the money from her which will be very difficult. Although you could have the judgment placed on her credit report. (Spite, I love it! Karma!)

You need to be on the phone at this point. Call your roommate every day just like creditors will be doing to you soon. Don't take no for an answer! Call her father. Its a lot of money, what's your time worth?

Call the creditors and ALWAYS be nice and polite! Start the negotiations. Don't expect this to be solved in one 5 minute phone call.

Your thoughts?

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 07:49:09 GMT

@jamie123 wrote:
At this point you should be calling these people and negotiating nicely with them. I mean I don't feel it is in your best interest at this point to verify EXACTLY how much you owe and put it in writing. Now, you will have to call and negotiate that figure down.

This can go 1 of 2 ways. You call them with your best SUNNY personality showing and graciously negotiate the money amount down along with a pay for delete.

Or...You play hardball with them, they play hardball with you. They take you to court and win a judgment against you and you then REALLY lose.

I FEEL your pain. You are in a bad situation. Your roommate screwed you over! You need to get over it and come to a solution that is best for your future.

Unfortunately you both are on the hook equally when it comes to a joint account. You can't just pay half.

You have 3 options here:

1. You pay it and chalk the loss of your roommates portion to a very expensive lesson in Life Course 101. Your credit survives practically unscathed.

2. You don't pay it on principal and they sue you and your roommate and win a judgment. They will then come after you and get their money even if they have to garnish your wages. Your credit will be toast for a very long time.

3. You pay it. Take your roommate to Small Claims Court and win a judgment against her. Then you have to collect the money from her which will be very difficult. Although you could have the judgment placed on her credit report. (Spite, I love it! Karma!)

You need to be on the phone at this point. Call your roommate every day just like creditors will be doing to you soon. Don't take no for an answer! Call her father. Its a lot of money, what's your time worth?

Call the creditors and ALWAYS be nice and polite! Start the negotiations. Don't expect this to be solved in one 5 minute phone call.

Your thoughts?

+1 excellent advise and I def recommend #3

while we wait for you to post back one thing i will recommend is building while fixing your derogs. Dont just use all your time fixing your derogs then when you have a good-great report your back to square one with no credit history. you could do capital one secured then i would recommend you check out a local credit union and see if they will offer a secured loan and a secured credit card heres why:

you fund the secured loan say 1,000 for example then you take the loan and open a secured cc that way you have one revolving and one installment account right then and there. even if you just wanted to open up just the cc's thats fine too

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 13:40:07 GMT

Thanks Jamie!

You've been very helpful. Would I been negotiating with the apartment complex or NCS at this point? NCS is the agency that called and informed me.

I see there's really no loophole to dodging this apartment bullet without doing something I really don't want to do or having them do something I really don't want to be a part of.

What would you suggest to do about the other adverse accounts?

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 13:44:08 GMT

Thanks for the advice, RootPooty!

Are there a lot of companies that offer secured loans? I was thinking about getting a loan but wasn't sure if that was the correct step I wanted to take when rebuilding credit.

I was also looking into the Wells Fargo secured card. Would you suggest Capital 1 instead?

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:28:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the advice, RootPooty!

Are there a lot of companies that offer secured loans? I was thinking about getting a loan but wasn't sure if that was the correct step I wanted to take when rebuilding credit.

I was also looking into the Wells Fargo secured card. Would you suggest Capital 1 instead?

Most credit unions offer it. mostly all major banks are getting away from secured products. While building credit i would highly suggest looking into a local credit union. they are much easier to deal with especially after youve built some credit with them they would be more leniant to offer you say an auto loan or unsecured personal loan. Some credit unions are a little strict but for the most part they are the way to go. Are you eligible for navy federal credit union? Do you have any family in the military? Im wondering about your suntrust checking that you mentioned. Do you currently have a checking account now? Do you know if the account was entered into check systems?

Dont be so hard on yourself just because you ruined your credit temporary. Your still very young and this is fixable. Last Oct I had about 7-8 bad accounts with no possitive ones with about 5000 in collections. Now im down to one last bad account with 4 credit card accounts and I went from low 500 scores to high 600's. While dealing with the agencies and attempting a pay for delete keep in mind while this does happen not all agencies do it. Some will flat out refuse it. They would rather die than exchange payment for a delete lol. I will never understand it. Most of the collections I dealt with refused a pay for delete so I just paid them then sent them a good will letter asking them kindly to delete the bad account and they did it. Ive had more success doing things that way. Keep in mind a paid collection looks better than an unpaid one in a manual review. Scorewise there is no difference between a paid account and unpaid.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:48:48 GMT

Nope, no family in the military so I'm going to have to wing it on my own.

My plan after reading this entry is to try to get the apartment and comcast off first. (I dont think they have reported to CRA yet...still gottta get full report). My goal is to have this done by mid-september (possible?)

I am now in the pursuit of getting a loan, as you suggested, along with a secured CC so I can start building as I am repairing.

I've heard VZW is a pain to work with, so I will be sending them DV letters first thing tomorrow, along with the CA for Suntrust and AT&T.

I'm more than willing to negotiate a SETTLEMENT PFD with the apartment and comcast, but if it's not going to get deleted then I'm going to be touger to budge.

I know being patient is everything, but I am shooting for October to have all of this removed or in good standings. After reading this board, it is very possible.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 14:54:27 GMT

Oh yeah, as far as Suntrust is concerned I currently dont have an account with them. When I lost my dispute and my account went into the negatives I started using my savings account instead. I now think it has been closed because I havent used it since April. I also had a checkings and savings with Wells Fargo that I think has been closed. I really want to pay Suntrust off and continue service with them, but only if it is deleted from my report.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 17:09:43 GMT

Slooooow down!

We discuss one problem and here you are going off in hurray in the WRONG direction just because you want to get it done! Do you really want to keep digging a bigger hole?

You may have a LARGE problem you are not even aware of. Do you have a checking account? Do you have a savings account? What bank do you have them with?

When a bank closes someone's account for insufficient funds they report it to a company called ChexSystems. If your name appears on ChexSystems report it will become difficult if not impossible to open another checking account with a bank or credit union. Your name stays on ChexSystems for 5 years! You don't have this problem do you?

You can't just asume your account is closed with Wells Fargo! C'mon now, you really need to slow down and take it 1 step at a time. Get in touch with Wells Fargo and find out if this account is still open. If it is still open you make sure you keep it open if you don't have another checking or savings account.

You can probably get this done by October but for it to work you need a plan first. Then you need to follow the plan.

Your largest problem is the apartment fiasco and the Comcast bill. Focus on them and make sure all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed. Get this behind you as quickly as possible and make sure they are removed from your report.

Please answer the questions I asked in this post.

I will be back with some advice on secured credit cards.

Why can't you access your reports at annualcreditreport.com? If you can post here you should be able to download your reports from there?

You also now need to ask Chex Systems for your report.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

Anonymous — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 17:53:56 GMT

LOL

Slowing...

I just went to the ChexSystems website and ordered a copy of my report, which should be here within the next week or so. Hopefully, the accounts are still open. I had money in both (Suntrust savings and Wells Fargo checking/savings) but what I'm saying is I havent used them in so long I don't know if theyre still open. I'll be contacting both banks Monday morning to see.

Which proper procedure would you suggest taking to have this gone in a timely manner? I'm not trying to rush it, because I have a year to build up my credit to the high 700s. However, I wanted the adverse accounts that are harming me gone asap.

The reason I can't access my reports via annualcreditreport.com is because I've already used my free trial on all 3, but Monday I planned on getting an official copy with this site.

Re: Help on rebuilding credit..PLS!

jamie123 — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 18:47:21 GMT

rootypooty gave you some really great advice about credit unions. At some point you will need to join a credit union but we have to find out if you have anything reported on ChexSystems first. I agree 100% with rootypooty that the best place to get auto loans and mortgages is your local credit union.

You need to get 2 secured credit cards now. These are my 3 bank suggestions. There are plusses and minuses concerning each creditor. You have read the forums so you should be aware of these issues. If it were me I would pick Bank of America first, (Because it is a prime bank and will go unsecured after 1 year of good credit behavior history.) and then choose between Cap1 or WF as the second card.

Pick any 2 of the 3:

Capital One

Bank of America

Wells Fargo

It will take approximately 3 to 4 weeks before you actually have these cards in hand. It takes forever for the creditors to process secured credit card applications. I don't know why that is, but it is that way.

Once you have these cards in hand and reporting, your scores should start to climb every month. You need to make sure you pay these cards in full several days before the due date each month. If you want to maximize your scores to the fullest read the forums about the less than 9% reporting on one card process.

When your scores rise above 640 and your first 2 CC have reported at least 3 months of payment history, you then want to apply for a Walmart card. You get a free TU FICO score each month!

DON'T APPLY FOR ANY MORE CREDIT CARDS UNTIL THESE 3 CARDS ARE 1 YEAR OLD!!!

You only really want to have credit cards from PRIME banks. Don't apply for any more store cards, you won't need them and they will be a detriment to you receiving PRIME bank credit cards with high credit lines. Prime banks won't lend to you until you have at LEAST 1 year of history with multiple CC. After your cards are 1 year old apply for 1 card each from 2 of these PRIME banks:

AMEX

CitiBank

Chase

Bank of America

Barclays

Discover

Wells Fargo

If you make 1 late payment in the next year, all bets are off and this plan falls apart. Pay in full, pay on time!

Concerning the other issues you might have on your report. The MOST important is the Suntrust and Wells Fargo accounts. If you learn one thing on this forum it should be this: NEVER SCREW UP A CHECKING OR SAVINGS ACCOUNT!!! There are many laws about proper use of checking accounts. If you write ONE bad check you could end up in prison! Not likely, but it does happen! Write a string of bad checks and the POLICE will be knocking on your door not just a creditor harassing you by phone.

Let's get your priorities in order:

1. The apartment fiasco.

2. Comcast bill.

3. Suntrust

4. Wells Fargo

All the rest of the derogatories are minor problems when compared to my list of 4. Don't worry, the other problems are important in there own way and we will work to have them removed. You need to work on the 4 major baddies first and apply for 2 secured credit cards.