Credit Repair Gurus needed!

[Anonymous]

I have been reading these message boards for the last month..but I am still a little confused on what exactly to do to repair my credit. My DH has been handling our finances and I recently pulled my credit report and was sick when I saw my report. I am trying to clean up the damage. Will one of you wonderful wise credit repair gurus give me some advice on the info below? Thank you in advance for you help.

Credit Report:

• Capital One $3500 Charge Off
• 5 different medical bills that add up to $1200 that are all fromthe birth of my son that was a year ago.
• JcPenneys is reporting 3 different times. 2 say that it has been charged off and one says that it is in good standing. (It was charged off)

Questions:

• Should I ask Capital One if they would remove the item from the reports if Ipiad it in full?
• Can I ask the hospital to combine all the bills into one..so that it is only hitting my report one time? 
• Should JcPenneys only be reporting one time?
• Before I read all this info, I went online and disputed everything on my credit reports even if they were legitimat thinking that something might fall off..but nothing has happend. Is this going to hurt me? 

And..thank you..thank you...and thank you again!

[Anonymous]

It's me again....just hoping someone could give me some advice on the questions above! Gracias!

[marty56]

I dont dont know if combining your medical bills wil serve any purpose, in either FICO terms or payment terms.

As far as JCP, do you mean 3 different CRA's or the same CRA and the account is listed 3 times.

While some people here have had luck in removing negative information off their CR after paying the account off or after a fews years of on time payments, I dont think this happens very often.

I had a BofA account that was never late before I was in the DMP, due to a bad action on my part, VofA dropped me from the DMP and I didnt realize that it happend until the account was 120 days late for several months.  That was over 2 years ago and all my scores are above 700 now but it still haunts my CR and I failed to get BofA to remove it.

Time and paying bills on time is your best way to boost your score.

[LuvsRetro]

I'm not a guru, but, you can try GW letters.  That would be a great start.  How old are the chargeoffs.  

You definitely should dispute the Penneys with the credit bureaus.   If you only have/had 1 account with them, they should not be reporting 3. 

Maybe wait until the dispute answer comes back.  Then if it is verified, try PFD's or GW's.  Never hurts to try. 

[Anonymous]

Hi texasgirl, welcome to the forum. I am too! DFW area.

You have 7 near fatal baddies on your CR's. They need to be dealt with obviously.
There's a lot of people here who can offer some wonderful opinions/advice.

We, collectively will work on this together. You are NOT alone. We've all been there.

1. how old is the Cap1 charge off? What was your cl when it was charged off? How long did you have the cc before it was charged off?

2. The med collections can be handled separately. Firstly you need to find out who still actually owns the accounts...the hospital/dr. or the collection agancy. Often, an OC will actually sell a delinquent account to a CA. Hopefully the OC still owns it.

If they do and if you have the money, I'd suggest that you offer to PFD the OC. And get an original duplicate of the letter from the hospital instructing the CA to delete baddie(s) from all your CR's.

If Cap1 and Penny's is not hounding you, I'd say spend your efforts on the med collections first, then tackle the other 2.

You can always offer to PFD to Cap1 and Penny's. Sorry, but I don't have any experience with dealing with something like that.

I'm sure others will chime in today and offer their good opinions/advice.

Message Edited by Sylviatob on 11-30-2007 10:05 AM

Message Edited by Sylviatob on 11-30-2007 10:06 AM

[Anonymous]

Thank you to everyone that has been responding to my question.

Sylvia..thank you for the kind words "You are not alone". I have to admit that it is a very overwhelming feeling to sit down and figure all of this out. Those words really made me feel better.

In regards to your questions, we did not have the Capital One Card very long. It looks like my husband opened it up...charged it and then did not pay anything on it. In regards to the Medical bills, I believe it is with a collection agency. It was charge doff about a year ago.

About Texas...I did live in Austin..but we are now in OK...but I am still a Texas girl at heart. ha!

Thank you all for your kind words and for your help. It's so nice having a support system that you don't have to be embarassed in front of.

Texasgirl88

[Anonymous]

Honey, it's kind of like going to a therapist. She can't help you unless you bare your soul to her. Same here. Don't be ashamed. I've walked several miles in your shoes too. As a matter of fact, worn out a couple of pair of boots with all the walking! LOL.

And you've taken a first step toward credit recovery by coming here and asking questions.

RE: the med collections: It may be charged off and assigned to a collection agency, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the hospital still does not actually own the account.

I had 2 med collections from a hospital dating back 3 years....into collections. I did all my negotiating with the hospital by offering to pay in full with cashier's check if they'd remove the baddies from my cr. They agreed and they did remove them.

If the CA does in fact own them, then you have to negotiate with the CA. Offer to PFD, but DO NOT commit to anything just yet, unless of course they accept. They are very intimidating. It might help to give dates, amounts, and name the CA when talking about it here.

Cap1 might prove to be more of a challenge. Never dealt with them in such matters. Other here might have and will contribute their experiences.

[Anonymous]

Welcome "Texasgirl" ,

We're all here to support and share experiences and improve our FICO's.

PS. I was a Texas girl (unfortunately Houston) for many years but am in the windy city now. 

[Anonymous]

Well, wish you all were down here. I'm still going grocery shopping in shorts and t-shirt.

[Anonymous]

I'm extremely jealous ! I bet the Christmas lights are on the tropical trees too.

I was on cheapcaribbean.com earlier today shopping for a long weekend, warm getaway.

It's Cuddle-duds time here along with the bulky, winter coat, scarf, extreme gloves, earmuffs and hat. Even then I was wishing that I had my face mask this am when the winds were so strong.

The Canadian boots will come out tomorrow because we are in for sleet/snow for the rest of the weekend.