topic Re: Quick question in Rebuilding Your Credit

Quick question

Egaffne2 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 02:57:06 GMT

I have multiple collections and wondering which ones to pay first. I want to start with the ones that will result in the highest point gains. I know older collections have less and less weight as time goes on so is it best to attack the newest ones? Or is it better to get rid of the ones with the highest balances? What is the general formula for deciding which collections are hurting my score most?

Re: Quick question

Remedios — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 04:44:14 GMT

@Egaffne2 wrote:
I have multiple collections and wondering which ones to pay first. I want to start with the ones that will result in the highest point gains. I know older collections have less and less weight as time goes on so is it best to attack the newest ones? Or is it better to get rid of the ones with the highest balances? What is the general formula for deciding which collections are hurting my score most?

Collections has same "weight" as long as they remain unpaid, and there is no scoring gain till the last one is paid/settled/deleted.

Impact of collections does not lessen over time.

Start by listing collection agencies, amounts owed and date placed for collection. Also, include unpaid charge offs if you have any

Re: Quick question

RobertEG — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 06:05:47 GMT

Collections that remain unpaid do not lose scoring impact as they grow older.

The period since initial delinquency increases, and similar to a delinquent debt moving from 60 to 90-days late, for example, the scoring impact becomes more negative.

Once a collection is paid, however, that freezes the period of overall delinquency as the time from date of first delinquency up to the date paid, and thereafter, the collection begins to age in negative impact.

For unpaid collections, the issue is more one of avoiding further negative impact than obtaining a "point gain."

If a debt collector is not reporting regular updates, then the period of overall delinquency is not being updated, and paying can even result in a score decrease once the debt collector reports the required update to show paid, closed, $0 balance.

A secondary factor is whether or not the debt is still within SOL, and thus whether the owner may file a civil action seeking a judgment.

Once outside of SOL, that is no longer a factor.

A third factor is whether the debt collector will accept a pay for deletion, which will remove the collection entirely once paid....

Re: Quick question

Egaffne2 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 22:19:19 GMT

Charge offs...
Webbank - sold off Aug 2015
Sterling jewelers - sold off june 2015
Key bank NA - charged off may 2015
This account was not sold to collections so balance is $1035 and original credit line was $750
Now the collections...
Midland - $599 Dec 2017
Portfolio - $445 sep 2016
Security credit service - $2,400 Dec 2015
Portfolio - $773 Aug 2015
Portfolio - $6,827 Jun 2015

These are all my neg accounts. Every collection account is automatic PFD except the security credit services, I'm not sure about that one yet. I also have 2 student loan accounts that I am currently rehabilitating. I guess my question is how do I go about attacking these and in what order? What's a good game plan? I don't have a lot of money so I can't
Pay the big ones yet. I can pay one of the smaller accounts right now and then it will be a few months before I can pay another, so which one should I pay first? Thanks for the help!

Re: Quick question

Remedios — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 22:30:33 GMT

@Egaffne2 wrote:
Charge offs...
Webbank - sold off Aug 2015
Sterling jewelers - sold off june 2015
Key bank NA - charged off may 2015
This account was not sold to collections so balance is $1035 and original credit line was $750
Now the collections...
Midland - $599 Dec 2017
Portfolio - $445 sep 2016
Security credit service - $2,400 Dec 2015
Portfolio - $773 Aug 2015
Portfolio - $6,827 Jun 2015

These are all my neg accounts. Every collection account is automatic PFD except the security credit services, I'm not sure about that one yet. I also have 2 student loan accounts that I am currently rehabilitating. I guess my question is how do I go about attacking these and in what order? What's a good game plan? I don't have a lot of money so I can't
Pay the big ones yet. I can pay one of the smaller accounts right now and then it will be a few months before I can pay another, so which one should I pay first? Thanks for the help!

Before making a plan, I would call and try negotiating a settlement amounts first, especially the ones that will delete after pay off. Also, you can ask for payment plans, so your finances are less impacted.

Also, anything that's updating monthly should be prioritized, or anything that's still incurring fees, so maybe that keybank account is a good place to start

Once you call all CAs and see if/ for how much they will settle, it will be easier to make a plan and it will help you knowing how to distribute available money.

Re: Quick question

Egaffne2 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 22:54:34 GMT

Ok will do. Keybank is not incurring fees but it is updating monthly and I will address that soon. But at this very moment I have enough money to PFD one of the smaller collection accounts. Either portfolio$773, portfolio$445 or midland$599. I have offers pending for 40 percent off on all three of these accounts. Which one should I pay first? Im gonna do it tonight I just have to pick one. Then I'm gonna attack keybank next. But right now I'm trying to find out which one to pay off tonight and I am wondering which one is hurting my score most. Should I pay the most recent one?

Re: Quick question

Remedios — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 23:07:03 GMT

@Egaffne2 wrote:
Ok will do. Keybank is not incurring fees but it is updating monthly and I will address that soon. But at this very moment I have enough money to PFD one of the smaller collection accounts. Either portfolio$773, portfolio$445 or midland$599. I have offers pending for 40 percent off on all three of these accounts. Which one should I pay first? Im gonna do it tonight I just have to pick one. Then I'm gonna attack keybank next. But right now I'm trying to find out which one to pay off tonight and I am wondering which one is hurting my score most. Should I pay the most recent one?

There is no difference, all are hurting equally and will continue to "hurt" till last one is paid/settled.

So, order really does not matter. Maybe deal with Midland, then when ready move on to Portfolio.

At least that way one CA is out of the way.

Re: Quick question

Egaffne2 — Thu, 25 Jul 2019 23:12:45 GMT

K thanks! I'm gonna PFD Midland tonight. If your curious I'll update u when it is removed from my report. I'll post if there are any point gains from it's removal. Theoretically I should see some rise in my score when it's gone, right?

Re: Quick question

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 00:51:33 GMT

Here's my two cents: since they all count the same & you wont get maximum point gain until they are all gone, pay the small ones first to get as many off as possible ASAP. Seeing more off your report sooner rather than later will also give you a motivational boost & the encouragement to keep attacking your debt. If things go sideways at least you have a good head start. Then start attacking the ones with higher balances. GL!

Re: Quick question

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 01:20:02 GMT

So, if you pay off/settle all of your collections. You gain points back?

How many can you expect to gain, once they all report paid/settled?

Re: Quick question

Remedios — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 01:24:59 GMT

You dont get any points back for paying them.
When all are paid, updates stop, time from negatives increases and scores can start recovering.
If COs and collections remain unpaid, score stays depressed significantly whole time they are on report.

Re: Quick question

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 02:02:39 GMT

Thank you for clarifying.

Re: Quick question

Remedios — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 02:43:49 GMT

You're welcome

Re: Quick question

Egaffne2 — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 19:53:21 GMT

Just a little update, Midland did follow through with the deletion! Pretty fast too considering I settled on July 25th but I guess they do report every 2 weeks. So far I've only seen my Experian report and fico score only jumped 5 points. Can't say for sure if that was the direct cause but the increase did happen the same day the Midland account was deleted. Now my "time since negative" as Experian calls it was pushed back to 3 years. So this should definitely continue to encourage my rebuild. Next I'm gonna tackle key bank. Hope this helps someone dealing with them and thanks all!

Re: Quick question

gdale6 — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 22:18:42 GMT

@Egaffne2 wrote:
Just a little update, Midland did follow through with the deletion! Pretty fast too considering I settled on July 25th but I guess they do report every 2 weeks. So far I've only seen my Experian report and fico score only jumped 5 points. Can't say for sure if that was the direct cause but the increase did happen the same day the Midland account was deleted. Now my "time since negative" as Experian calls it was pushed back to 3 years. So this should definitely continue to encourage my rebuild. Next I'm gonna tackle key bank. Hope this helps someone dealing with them and thanks all!

More than likely it came from time since last negative. You may see a few points here and there if there is an OC reporting a balance due and you settle it or PIF as its likely being included in your utlization calcs. Good luck on continuing your journey!