topic Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding in Rebuilding Your Credit

Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 22:21:26 GMT

Hello All,

Back in 2016 when I was filing bankruptcy I was constantly browsing the forums to gain info to make my recovery from bankruptcy better. I started off decent but then fell into some stuff and unfortunately made more bad decisions and then just ignored it for a while. Well, I don't want to do that anymore so I'm here to get serious about rebuilding my credit.

I just signed up for monthly myfico again and here's where I'm at:

EXP - 598 1 inq

TU - 608 3 inq

EQ - 599 4 inq

AAoA -

AooA -

This is where the more bad decisions comes in. So here are the accounts I have. I've been carrying some high balances so my utilization is almost always maxed. I'm just dumb about paying the balance and then using again because I haven't been budgeting appropriately. I'm stopping that and working on paying my balances down.

Capital One Plat (Just upgraded it to QS1) - $393/$500 with another $100 pending for today. One 30 day late from 6/2019.

First Premiere - $178/$300

2nd First Premiere (I know...) - $620/$700 One 30 day late from 2/2019.

Merrick - $455/$550

Target RedCard - $127/$300 Two 30 day lates from 1/2019 and 2/2019. One 60 day late from 8/2017

Kohls Charge - $188/$300 One 30 day late from 7/2019

Care Credit - $0/$1000

FIFSG Auto Loan 26/56 payments made, never late. Current balance is $6,904.

Unfortunately, I have 2 collections accounts that I just learned about. Technically 3 but the third one is one that is reporting incorrectly with TU. It was IIB but was reporting as though it wasn't even though it reports to EXP correctly. I've disputed with TU. The two I have though.

Convergent Outsourcing - $522 This was a cox account I had at my parents house becuase they could not get it. Unfortunately, when they split and moved out they closed the account without paying and didn't tell me so I just found out about it. What's the best course of action here? It was placed for collection last year. Is it too late to call Cox and ask them to recall? Should I try for a PFD with Convergent?

Account Resolution Services - $220 An old doctor's bill from an ER visit. It's weird though because I feel like this should have been included in my bankrupcty. I think it's from a trip to the ER when I didn't have insurance back in 2015. However I filed bankruptcy in 2016. I'm going to have to do a DV on this. If it's supposed to be IIB what should I do? I can ask in the bankruptcy forum if need be.

I'm going to start attacking my balances and work on getting the collections accounts taken care. I'm hoping to add 30+ points at least to my scores by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

RSX — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 22:11:06 GMT

Good luck

i would just payoff the ARS one. Get it over with

then I would payoff the $300 CL First Prem and Close it

Try for a pFD with Convergent. Get it paid and over with

then the usual deal of.

1. not adding new debt

2 paying off lowest amount items, then shifting to the next.

I cannot guess your score increase number, but it will go up.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

FireMedic1 — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 23:36:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello All,

Back in 2016 when I was filing bankruptcy I was constantly browsing the forums to gain info to make my recovery from bankruptcy better. I started off decent but then fell into some stuff and unfortunately made more bad decisions and then just ignored it for a while. Well, I don't want to do that anymore so I'm here to get serious about rebuilding my credit.

I just signed up for monthly myfico again and here's where I'm at:
EXP - 598 1 inq
TU - 608 3 inq
EQ - 599 4 inq
AAoA -
AooA -

This is where the more bad decisions comes in. So here are the accounts I have. I've been carrying some high balances so my utilization is almost always maxed. I'm just dumb about paying the balance and then using again because I haven't been budgeting appropriately. I'm stopping that and working on paying my balances down.

Capital One Plat (Just upgraded it to QS1) - $393/$500 with another $100 pending for today. One 30 day late from 6/2019.
First Premiere - $178/$300
2nd First Premiere (I know...) - $620/$700 One 30 day late from 2/2019.
Merrick - $455/$550
Target RedCard - $127/$300 Two 30 day lates from 1/2019 and 2/2019. One 60 day late from 8/2017
Kohls Charge - $188/$300 One 30 day late from 7/2019
Care Credit - $0/$1000

FIFSG Auto Loan 26/56 payments made, never late. Current balance is $6,904.

Unfortunately, I have 2 collections accounts that I just learned about. Technically 3 but the third one is one that is reporting incorrectly with TU. It was IIB but was reporting as though it wasn't even though it reports to EXP correctly. I've disputed with TU. The two I have though.

Convergent Outsourcing - $522 This was a cox account I had at my parents house becuase they could not get it. Unfortunately, when they split and moved out they closed the account without paying and didn't tell me so I just found out about it. What's the best course of action here? It was placed for collection last year. Is it too late to call Cox and ask them to recall? Should I try for a PFD with Convergent?
Account Resolution Services - $220 An old doctor's bill from an ER visit. It's weird though because I feel like this should have been included in my bankrupcty. I think it's from a trip to the ER when I didn't have insurance back in 2015. However I filed bankruptcy in 2016. I'm going to have to do a DV on this. If it's supposed to be IIB what should I do? I can ask in the bankruptcy forum if need be.

I'm going to start attacking my balances and work on getting the collections accounts taken care. I'm hoping to add 30+ points at least to my scores by the end of the year. Wish me luck!

Well your on the right track. But no more lates. Its killing you. As i always say. Forget the calling. Go to a Cox store and ask them if you can pay it off in leui of removing the CA. Get the dates for the med collection right and send a copy of your BK DC to the CA. Even if you didnt list them. They have to abide by the BK laws and delete it. Mostly to reach your goal. If you cant pay it. Dont charge it. It isnt free money. Good Luck!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

AllZero — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 20:02:25 GMT

Good luck on your journey!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 20:30:50 GMT

Get your utilization under control, get current and stay current, and work on getting those collections taken care of. Can't say what your updated scores will be but if you at least follow this advice, you'll be that much better off. Good luck!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 22:14:32 GMT

Thank you all for the advice and wishes of luck. I plan to take this seriously. I've already started tackling my utilization. I'm going to see what I can do about the collections accouts as well.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 21:50:47 GMT

At the start of your rebuild before you start paying off random accounts make sure you have enough cash saved up to make minimum payments on all open accounts. Don't fall into the trap of paying hundreds or thousands on accounts just to miss a payment 6 months from now because of lack of a safety net. As people have mentioned higher up getting and staying current is your top priority. Fixing derogs is 2nd to that. Good luck!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 01:21:04 GMT

Yes, that's what I'm working on right now. Thanks for the info! I'm a little bummed as I just found out that my Target RedCard autopayments stopped and I was late for Jan. I was a couple days late for February too when I logged in and realized it. I just called and explained what happened hoping they won't report a 30 day late. They said they do those reportings to the CRAs on the 5th. I made the payment on the 4th to bring it current when I realized it hadn't come out automatically. I have yet to receive an alert of a new 30 day late for the account so maybe I saved it in time but it could be that they just haven't reported it yet. Not the kind of setback I want on this journey to get things right. I immeditely turned back on the autopay and I went and made sure to turn them on for all my cards for the minimum payment so that if I forget I at least won't get hit with a late payment.

I had stopped using all my cards except my CAP1 a couple months back so that I'm not charging them back up. Would it make sense to get a short-term consildation loan until I get my yearly bonus in April to pay off all my balances? Then when I get my bonus I can pay off that loan. I can get one from OneMain Financial, it'll be a ridiculous APR but I'm only looking at keeping it for a couple months.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

RSX — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 01:27:14 GMT

I wouldn't get a loan for 2 months. You will get an HP and a new account ding

just keep paying and use your bonus when it arrives.

I have the same scenario and am having to be patient to wait until March 15

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 01:56:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
...They said they do those reportings to the CRAs on the 5th. I made the payment on the 4th to bring it current when I realized it hadn't come out automatically. I have yet to receive an alert of a new 30 day late for the account so maybe I saved it in time but it could be that they just haven't reported it yet. Not the kind of setback I want on this journey to get things right...

Setup phone reminders for your due dates as well. Autopay is definitely always recommended but the issue is people set it and forget it. What happens if the linked account is low of funds and payments bounce. Happens all the time. By having phone reminders a few days before payments are due you can make sure everything is always good to go whether you have autopay or not.

Your late payment shouldn't show up on your report since you beat the 30 day mark. Late payments less than 30 days unfortunately still affect you internally when it comes to CLIs though.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Feb 2020 23:11:39 GMT

Update:

I've made some payments on some of my balances. Not a whole lot but enough to get a boost of a few points. I'm now at:

EXP: 598

TU: 614

EQ: 603

I have a bonus coming at work as well as a raise in a couple months so that's going to help get all the balances down. Plus I filed my taxes and am expecting a large refund due to claiming my son so my balances will all be paid off with that. I'm not using any of my cards until that happens, with the exception of CareCredit as I need two crowns done. I will be paying that off too. Once the balances are all gone, I will then start responsibily using my Cap QS card and PIF each month as I want to get a CLI on that later this year.

As for the collections accounts. I recently found out about WhyChat's HIPAA process so I'm going to follow that for the medical collections accounts that are currently on my report. As for convergent, I called Cox. It's from the service I had at my parent's house. I guess when they split and moved out they didn't pay it or return equipment so I'm stuck with $522. They offered me a settlement but I asked if I paid in full would they recall the collections? The agent I spoke to said if I paid in full then it's removed from collections within 24-48 hours. So, I'm going to pay that on Friday when I get paid. Hopefully that's true as that would be nice.

I'm just going to keep at it and hopefully continue to raise my scores. If I can get all the collections accounts removed then the only other negatives on my report will be late payments, bankruptcy and a couple accounts that were included in bankruptcy but will fall off over the next year.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 04:16:51 GMT

I started the HIPAA process last Saturday for the medical collections. Hopefully if everything pans out, I can get those removed in the next few months by following that. As for the collections for Cox, when I went to pay them they changed their tune about removing it. So, now I'm going to call the CA on Monday and see if they'll agree to a PFD. If I can't get someone to help on the phone, I'll send a PFD letter.

I'm going to be starting to tackle my credit card balances in force in March with a modified debt avalance plan. I want to get my Cap1 QS card paid off pronto as I plan to start heavily using that for all my everyday expenses and paying in full. I opened a Cap1 360 checking account so that every week I can transfer my balance amount from my primary checking to Cap 1 and then PIF. I will also be parking $500 in that account as an emergecy backup so that my Cap 1 card will automatically PIF in case I forget.

Here's the current balances and my modified debt avalanche plan. Total minium payments on these accounts is $206, I'm rounding that up to $300. I'll be making an additional $500 payment in March and another additional $500 payment in May. That should get all balances to $0 by June.

Revolving Utilization Tracker
Account	Bal	Limit	Utilization %
First Premiere Bank 1	$ 178.93	$ 300.00	60%
First Premiere Bank 2	$ 601.62	$ 700.00	86%
Merrick Bank	$ 405.73	$ 750.00	54%
Capital One	$ 472.59	$ 500.00	95%
Target	$ 127.27	$ 300.00	42%
Kohl's	$ 138.62	$ 300.00	46%
Care Credit	$ -	$ 1,000.00	0%
Total	$ 1,924.76	$ 3,850.00	50%

				Monthly Payments
No.	Month	Snowball	Additional	Capital One	First Premiere Bank 1	First Premiere Bank 2	Merrick Bank	Kohl's	Target
1	Mar-20	594.00	500.00	482.92	166.08	43.00	39.00	27.00	42.00
2	Apr-20	130.23		-	18.77	173.23	39.00	27.00	42.00
3	May-20	649.00	500.00	-	-	433.36	297.64	27.00	42.00
4	Jun-20	227.25		-	-	-	57.67	66.73	6.75

After the balances are paid off I'll be closing the $300 first premiere to avoid the AF. In 6 months, hopefully all the collections are gone and then I can try for the Discover IT card and close the other First Premiere too. I want to get rid of these crazy AF cards.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 04:17:32 GMT

Unexpected CLI from Merrick today. Only a modest $200 but still pretty cool! It dropped my utilization on that card down to 54% and overall down to 50%.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

AllZero — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 04:44:50 GMT

Congratulations on your CLI!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:30:44 GMT

Paid off Cap 1, will be using as my primary card from now on. Question, what date do I need to ensure it's PIF by so it doesn't report to the CRAs a balance? My statements are usually the 12th-11th and due date is the 8th. Looking at CK Cap1 last reported on 2/11. Is it normal for them to report the same day the statement cycle ends? So I should ensure it's PIF and cleared by the 11th so it doesn't report a balance?

Sent PFD letter to Convergent yesterday for the Cox collections. They should receive it tomorrow and I'm hoping to get a positive reponse from them.

On another note, not directly related to my rebuild but can impact it, my cars transmission went out yesterday. There's a recall for a specific transmission issue so I've towed it to the dealership and hope they cover the repair. If not, I can't trade it in because I still owe $6800 on it and it's not even worth that, I would be real upside down with an even higher payment than I already have, plus I wouldn't qualify for a good rate anyways. So if that happens I plan to park it and continue to pay it and then buy a car for like $1500. That will have a big impact on my rebuild and set me back a few months. Fingers crossed they cover the repair.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Beilin — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 03:28:38 GMT

If you are actively using a card and want it to report to a 0 balance you should pay it by the due date and then not use it until after the statement cuts. If you pay by the due date and then make a purchase within the few days before the statement cuts, CRA will show on time payment but will reflect balance. Also, I would cut down on spending and start putting money aside in anticipation for repairs or to have to get a new car. Hopefully they will cover it but if not, at least you'll be prepared. There are finance options out there but they more than likely won't have favorable terms. Hope that helps, good luck on your rebuild journey!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 06:30:15 GMT

@Beilin wrote:
If you are actively using a card and want it to report to a 0 balance you should pay it by the due date and then not use it until after the statement cuts. If you pay by the due date and then make a purchase within the few days before the statement cuts, CRA will show on time payment but will reflect balance. Also, I would cut down on spending and start putting money aside in anticipation for repairs or to have to get a new car. Hopefully they will cover it but if not, at least you'll be prepared. There are finance options out there but they more than likely won't have favorable terms. Hope that helps, good luck on your rebuild journey!

Thanks for the info. I'm already on a budget as it is, with some money going to savings and some going to paying down debt. When I'm talking about using my card, I'm basically going to use it for all my normal expenses, not extra things that aren't in the budget. I figure it's better to use my Cap1 card, get some cash back and show them I use a lot in hopes of getting a higher limit.

I have some money to get a cheap car, but I don't plan on purchasing a new car until next year. If they won't repair it, then it's gonna sit and I'll continue to pay it off.

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 22:49:30 GMT

I am appreciative of you being active and updating! I have a collection with Convergent. Please update as soon as you can

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 01:44:09 GMT

March Update. Scores are as follows:

EXP: 620

TU: 616

EQ: 631

Managed to gets some point bumps. I've been working on paying down balances. I may have to hold off on being as aggressive as I want with my car issues I'm currently going through. We'll see how that works out.

I've also been working on getting collections accounts removed. I've been successfull with a couple, working through the HIPAA process with a few others and a PFD sent on one.

Revsolve, Inc -$726 Reports as open collection on TU with balance but as IIB on Experian with no balance. Weird. Still working on this one. Plan to send some letters on Monday.

ARS Account Resolution Services - $220, repoting as an open collection on EQ still. Got deleted from TU and EXP, still waiting for a reponse from EQ.

Convergent Outsourcing, Inc - $422, still reporting to all 3 as open collection. PFD letter sent last week, waiting for a response.

HCI, Healthcare Collections, LLC - $199, deleted from EXP which was only CRA it was reporting too.

I'm going to keep working on those and eventually I will start doing some GW for some late payments. 1 on Cap 1 (7/19), 1 on first premiere (7/19) and 4 with Target(2 in 2018 and 2 in 2019). Don't have much hope but will definitely try! All accounts are setup for autopay so no worries about that happening again.

Overall, things are going pretty decent. Hoping my car doesn't derail things but will just keep putting in the work regardless. I'm on here everyday reading and learning and getting encouragement so thank you every one!

Re: Time to get serious about rebuilding

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 21:21:00 GMT

April Update. Scores are:

EQ: 638

TU: 643

EX: 640

Still working on getting the 2 medical collections removed via the HIPAA letter process. I did not receive a response from Convergent on the PFD request so still figuring that one out.

I've continued to pay down my CC debts. The only one I've been using is the Capital One QS but I pay that in full each week. Should have the rest paid off by June.

Revolving Utilization Tracker
Account	Bal	Limit	Utilization %
First Premiere Bank 1	$ -	$ 300.00	0%
First Premiere Bank 2	$ 459.44	$ 700.00	66%
Merrick Bank	$ 585.80	$ 750.00	78%
Capital One	$ -	$ 500.00	0%
Target	$ 89.39	$ 300.00	30%
Kohl's	$ 90.87	$ 300.00	30%
Care Credit	$ -	$ 1,000.00	0%
Total	$ 1,225.50	$ 3,850.00	32%

I was very pleased to see I now get the pre-qual for the Discover IT card. I don't plan on applying though right now as I'm trying to age my recently open account some.

Hopefully if all goes well, the plan is to buy a house in the next year.