topic Re: New in Rebuilding Your Credit

New: My Progress Thread

Anonymous — Mon, 24 May 2021 17:08:04 GMT

New to the board and rebuilding!

About me:

Age 40

Income 100k

Scores:

Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704

Discover FICO8- 672

Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans:

A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments

B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months.

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48

2 Credit Cards:

A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization.

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival.

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached.

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home.

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Re: New

sarge12 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 09:49:18 GMT

@Anonymous

First and foremost, keep in mind that a good credit profile is built over time, lots of time. It will take 7 years from any delinquency to build a clean scorecard, so making all payments on time is imperitive. Credit card issuers have made this easy by having automatic payment options. Even if you always pay in full, and you should, you should still set up auto-pay of the minimum payment to prevent mistakes. You have taken a very important first step by joining this forum. There is a wealth of information available here, but do not take every single post as gospel either. Keep in mind it is just made up with members with varying degrees of knowledge, and sometimes errant info will be offered, usually followed by others correcting them.

There are however quite a few here that have had, and maintain very high scores, and most consider this forum as a primary aid in acheiving that goal. Do not let anyone convince you that credit can't be repaired, in time, it can. I have personally declared bankruptcy twice...ch.13, and later ch.7, and as you can see in my siggy, my scores are extremely high. They have been 800+ for a long time. Welcome to the forum, and like I said, joining this forum is a great first step in acheiving high credit scores, if that is your goal. It can also help prevent common mis-steps many have made, if you take advice, and learn from others mistakes. In my opinion, how we handle credit is a result of established credit habits, good or bad. Low scores are often due to bad credit habits, and high scores result from good credit habits. It gets much easier if you handle credit well, long enough to become a habit.

Now let my cover some myths...Myth- You need to carry a balance on credit cards to raise scores...you don't, but you do need to wait to pay 1 card until it reports usage...Myth- Credit repair companies can get bad debt removed, that you can't get removed without them...False! Every method used can be acheived without them. At the top of the pages is a Credit Education tab, I urge you to read that, and all sub-catagories. It will let you know what is, and is not, in your credit score. That brings up another myth...Myth- Income is included in the score...it's not. Lending decisions are very much based on income, and credit scores, but the score itself is not affected by income. Once again Welcome to the forum.

Re: New

FireMedic1 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 09:29:55 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
New to the board and rebuilding!

About me:
Age 40
Income 100k

Scores:
Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704
Discover FICO8- 672
Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans:
A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments
B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months.

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48 Didnt need this. You got 2 auto loans. FICO only needs 1 loan reporting. More loans dont help scores.

2 Credit Cards:
A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization.

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival.

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached.

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home.

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Contact the med providers and ask if they will take payments in exchange to recall the debt. No letters. If the offices are nearby. Go there in person.

Also this is @gdale6 instructions on how to rid yourself of those med collections if the med providers wont do payments.

1. Call the OC and see if insurance can be billed, (or-rebilled), collections ultimately paid by insurance get removed per new rules that came from CRAs settlement with 22 state AGs. If not then
2. see if you qualify for Charity Care, if not then
3. ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
4. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
5. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help, this process cannot be discussed in any forum of myFico.

@sarge12Could you edit your post & place paragraphs. Some of us are on mobile at times.

Re: New

sarge12 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 09:50:57 GMT

@FireMedic1 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
New to the board and rebuilding!

About me:
Age 40
Income 100k

Scores:
Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704
Discover FICO8- 672
Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans:
A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments
B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months.

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48 Didnt need this. You got 2 auto loans. FICO only needs 1 loan reporting. More loans dont help scores.

2 Credit Cards:
A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization.

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival.

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached.

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home.

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Contact the med providers and ask if they will take payments in exchange to recall the debt. No letters. If the offices are nearby. Go there in person.

Also this is @gdale6 instructions on how to rid yourself of those med collections if the med providers wont do payments.
1. Call the OC and see if insurance can be billed, (or-rebilled), collections ultimately paid by insurance get removed per new rules that came from CRAs settlement with 22 state AGs. If not then
2. see if you qualify for Charity Care, if not then
3. ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
4. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
5. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help, this process cannot be discussed in any forum of myFico.

@sarge12Could you edit your post & place paragraphs. Some of us are on mobile at times.

That was harder than I would think it would be. I need to remember to do so as I type.

Re: New

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 10:26:13 GMT

Thanks for info Medic and Sarge.

I questioned myself after signing up for the Self lender as well. I needed improvement on my payment history so I figured adding a Self and a single new credit card would help. I do plan on adding a third credit card down the line but I didn't want too many new inquires In a short period of time.

I'm sitting at 96% payment history right now. The Self Lender is only 12 months so hopefully I can let it run its course without too much of a negative effect. Lesson learned

Re: New

FireMedic1 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 13:24:53 GMT

@sarge12 wrote:
@FireMedic1 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
New to the board and rebuilding!

About me:
Age 40
Income 100k

Scores:
Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704
Discover FICO8- 672
Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans:
A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments
B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months.

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48 Didnt need this. You got 2 auto loans. FICO only needs 1 loan reporting. More loans dont help scores.

2 Credit Cards:
A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization.

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival.

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached.

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home.

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Contact the med providers and ask if they will take payments in exchange to recall the debt. No letters. If the offices are nearby. Go there in person.

Also this is @gdale6 instructions on how to rid yourself of those med collections if the med providers wont do payments.
1. Call the OC and see if insurance can be billed, (or-rebilled), collections ultimately paid by insurance get removed per new rules that came from CRAs settlement with 22 state AGs. If not then
2. see if you qualify for Charity Care, if not then
3. ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
4. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
5. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help, this process cannot be discussed in any forum of myFico.

@sarge12Could you edit your post & place paragraphs. Some of us are on mobile at times.
That was harder than I would think it would be. I need to remember to do so as I type.

LOL!!!!! Its all good @sarge12 . I'm scrolling and scrollin. When does it end!?!?!

Re: New

FireMedic1 — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 13:27:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for info Medic and Sarge.

I questioned myself after signing up for the Self lender as well. I needed improvement on my payment history so I figured adding a Self and a single new credit card would help. I do plan on adding a third credit card down the line but I didn't want too many new inquires In a short period of time.

I'm sitting at 96% payment history right now. The Self Lender is only 12 months so hopefully I can let it run its course without too much of a negative effect. Lesson learned

FICO doesnt go by %'s of on time payments. Thats CMS fluff. Either you pay on time or your late. Once lates age they hurt less. So you have a clean file with no negs or a dirty file with negs. Thats how FICO looks at it.

Re: New

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 02:42:46 GMT

Vantage scores dropped 11 points when the Self Lender account showed up. After the first payment posted they went back up 1 point due to the balance reduction.

I got my Discover it secured in the mail on Wednesday. $200 limit. I've used $80 so far. A couple of the purchases are still pending but hopefully clear tomorrow so I can pay the balance in full ASAP.

The Discover isn't showing up on my credit reports yet. I'm guessing it'll be a 10-15 point drop initially once it's added.

I'm ok with a few steps back to make strides for the future. I'm learning a lot on these forums. Thanks everyone!

Re: New

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 03:25:04 GMT

You can ignore the VantageScore numbers, they're essentially useless as almost no one uses them for lending. Go to www.creditchecktotal.com and pay a dollar to get your three FICO8 scores, and then cancel within the week to avoid enrollment in a $30/month subscription. Rinse and repeat as you feel like it. Those are the scores you need to watch.

Re: New

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 03:35:27 GMT

I'm not super concerned about the "real scores" right now. I'm doing so much in regards to adding new CC's, getting PFD's on medical collections and such. My scores will be a roller coaster in the short term.

I don't plan on getting a mortgage until mid 2021. Once I'm done adding accounts and settleing the collections, I fully plan on enrolling in the MyFico Premier up until I get the mortgage process completed. It'll probly 3-4 months before I enroll.

Re: New

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 03:47:54 GMT

On 6/16/20 I mail my first round of PFD letters to the collection accounts I believe to be accurate. The same day I also sent validation letters to some that I don't think are legit.

As of today I've yet to get any replies in the mail. I did take advantage of the free annual credit report Covid-19 offering of another pull from the 3 credit bureaus. I compared them to were I was in late May and didn't see any changes. Hopefully I'll get some kind of feedback soon.

Re: New

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 01:34:44 GMT

Welcome to the forums! You seem to have a great attitude. Congrats on the pc to the Quicksilver and the new Discover approval! I was also going to mention that you didnt need the self lender.

The lates and collections are going to depress your scores until they are handled. The lates will improve with age. It is very likely that your mortgage lender will request that you at the very least pay off any collections that you have before they lend to you.

You seem to be taking the right approach with the collections, I know the general consensus here is to send letters via certified mail in the hopes of getting a response but my experience with medical collections was different. I was able to dv them using snail mail but they never responded to my pfd letters via snail mail. I had better success contacting them via phone and finding out their policy (CBCS was my medical collections and they pfd not all medical collections do).

I would suggest waiting a month for a response by mail. If you dont get a response, follow up with the list that FireMedic1 posted. Even if you get a response, I suggest following that list. Also keep in mind that if you actually had insurance at the time, you could win those disputes.

The collections are holding you back the most right now, chip away at em one at a time or work on all of them at the same time. Try your best to fight for a pfd. You might notice a huge jump if you get all of them deleted.

Re: New

Anonymous — Sun, 26 Jul 2020 03:05:59 GMT

Thank you for the detailed reply.

The new Discover showed up on my Credit Karma yesterday. I paid the total balance of $71 a couple days ago but when it reported It showed a 31% utilization and my score went down 17 pts. I'm sure it'll tick back up some once the utilization reflects zero.

I also saw some impact of one of the validation letters I sent. One of my collections showed a decrease in the balance. It has to be related to the validation letter because I haven't paid any. I'll know more once I get something in the mail.

And another positive note. I should have around $20 dollars in cash back rewards coming from Quicksilver for using it in Gatlinburg the last 4 days. $500 of the balance I paid today and the rest I'll pay as soon as the transactions aren't pending anymore. Probably by Monday or Tuesday. I have close to 3 weeks before the reporting date so no worries there.

Re: New

Anonymous — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 01:52:19 GMT

I went ahead and signed up for Myfico Premier today.

Mortgage mid score - 628. I wasn't surprised it was low given the report shows 11 collections. With that many I was expecting lower.

I'm hopeful that removing some of the collections will make my score move into a better range.

Re: New

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:18:41 GMT

I paid off the balance on the Self Lender today. Doing so could lower my score even more than the 11 point hit I took when I opened it. Doesn't really matter. Just the thought of owing and paying on something for the next year that wasn't going to help my score was bothering me.

I do have one question for the group. I have 2 credit cards. Cap One opened 9/2017 and a Discover It opened this month. I would like to add a 3rd CC In 6 months or so but I worry about it effecting my chances of getting a mortgage next summer.

Should I wait a year until after I get the mortgage before adding the 3rd CC?

Thanks

Re: New

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:29:14 GMT

@Anonymous When exactly are you planning on starting the mortgage application process?

It would be preferable to open another card asap, since opening a new account will lower your average account age and age of youngest account.

To me you are in a good place right now with the Cap One and Discover. Let me know when exactly you plan to app for the mortgage.

Re: New

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2020 23:45:52 GMT

I'd like to get the mortgage as soon as possible but my main priority right now is rasing my scores by removing, paying and deleting the ridiculous amount of collections I have.

I'd also like to have around 20k saved for the home buying process. Enough to cover the DP, fees, inspection, and closing cost.

Based on my current savings progress that's going to take about 11-12 months.

Re: New

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 00:47:08 GMT

Thanks for the prompt reply. Tbh that sounds like a solid plan. I will let others chime in as well.

While I think your scores are good enough to get an unsecured card (after you get the discover utilization down), I do think your collection accounts and possibly the recent Discover addition might make that a little challenging right now.

I do think waiting three months for things to settle on your reports might help like you originally suggested, but I'm hesitant to suggest getting a cc at that time to avoid any changes to your credit report prior to apping for the mortgage.

You should be able to qualify for a secured card though. Do you bank with any credit unions? Does your bank offer a secured card?

To be perfectly honest, you can stick with what you have now so that you can funnel all funds towards getting rid of those collections.

Re: New

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 01:48:32 GMT

Thanks for all the advice.

The collections are going to be a burden for a while. What keeps me thinking positively is that my mortgage mid score is still 628 even with all those collections. The collections side can only get better from here. Of the 21 collections all but one are medical and all but two are showing as unpaid. Total collections is less than 4K.

Once I'm done cleaning everything that I can I'm going to pay what's left immediately and then at least they'll show as paid if nothing else. I've heard that if your score is decent they will possibly overlook some paid medical collections during approval. I'm sure that's not exactly true for everyone obviously.

Re: New

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 02:56:42 GMT

I highly highly recommend that you try those steps listed by Firemedic especially for any unpaid medical collections that you might have.

As for the paid medical collections, you can try goodwilling or following up with the rest of that list.

Try to let them know your situation in the hopes that you reach a person with a heart. Plenty have had success with goodwill letters. There are templates on here if you need a reference point.

I know it seems like a hassle but every deletion matters.

And that was another point I wanted to bring up. Some lenders will require that you settle any outstanding debts before they will approve you. So even if you can't get a deletion, its in your best interest to pay them (even if you have to settle for less).