New guy here starting to do clean up duty. Please help.

[Anonymous]

First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Second, I would like to thank all of you who have posted on this forum and enlightened me as to how to clean up my credit score.

So, I am in the beginning stages of fixing my score. I have yet to pull two copies of my credit report (EX and EQ), purchasing scorewatch and my Fico score. This will all be taking place within the week. I have pulled one report from TU. This was just to inform me of the negative items listed. I really dreaded the entire thing but the ole adage states, "there is no time like the present", so I pulled it. I must say that for all of the worrying and the sleepless nights... my negative items are quite managable. I have a total of 6 negatives. One will be gone in a matter of days. I have one medical for a relatively small amt ($183.00) which I am willing to PIF. However, I would like to PFD this in order to get it off of my reports. There are two CC's from Chase ($1,671.00) and Citi ($3,408.00).  I also have two store cards which were from Dell ($1,291.00) and Beldens ($854.00).  I plan on tackling the larger amts one at a time. I will be PFDing Chase to see where I can get from there but for the Citi I have a question.

I was making monthly payments of 120.00 for this acct until I ran into a pinch with my truck so I had to skip the pmts. I've been receiving phone calls from them ever since I missed my 1st agreed upon pmt. My question is this: Should I send a PFD to Citi even AFTER I DV'ed the debt?

My theory is this, if I PFD all of my creditors and they don't agree to my terms of deleting these items off of my reports... then what is the sense in paying them at all? It will always show up on my reports until SOL, right?

I really would like to erase this debt so I can work on my student loans ($20,000) and also save up to purchase a house one day. I have some extra money coming in soon and it leaves me with some choices. I can pay off the rest of my truck pmt ($3500.00) or I can apply it to take a good chunk of this outstanding debt. There are advantages and disadvantages to both sides but I would like some opinions. Any insight would help out alot.

Thank you again for taking the time to read my post.

Sincerely,

Reuben

[Anonymous]

Rueben-- it would be easier to get some help if you put dates and CL on everything. How old is the medical collection? If it is less than 2 years I would just wait for it to fall off, unless you are trying to make a large purchase (ie. buy a home) sometime soon. If not, then PFD the CA (check your SOL!).

Have the two CC accounts gone to collections? If not, get current with them and STAY CURRENT. No more missing payments. Are all your CCs charge-offs? Do you have any positive tradelines? Are your student loan payments being deferred? If so, then do not worry about those for now, your CC interest rates are probably outrageous and you need to get those paid down or PFD'd ASAP!

Sorry I can't be more help, but you would probably get more responses with a little more info.

(ps. If you PFD and the account is still within the SOL and you DONT pay, the creditors can just sue you. Please be careful with PFD)

[Anonymous]

Hi Reuben, First the dates are very important to us. IMO medical bills should always be paid...BUT some states have no SOL on hospital bills but other medical is covered by SOL.

Is this medical reporting from the OC or a CA?  DOFD would go by the office visit.

If this is a CA....call the OC and see if they own the account. IF they do and are not reporting PIF them.

Just because baddies are only showing on 1 CR doesn't mean that it is or isn't on other 2 CRAs.

When it comes to CC   CO......when an account is  CO  it will drop from CR 7-7.5 years from DOFD or DOLA.

  IF you make payments after CO  your CRTP will not change.    When making payments at any time MAY change your SOL....most states go by DOLA.

IF the account was not a CO  and you became CURRENT with payments at any time...the CRTP has been reset.

IF it was not CO and you have been making payments but never became current the CRTP is the DOFD!!

First pull the other 2 CR.....see whats on them.

From what I can see you do not have any CAs  but you need to check. How and what you do matters who you are dealing with.

To keep from getting into trouble...don't touch anything on your CR  until you know what & who you are dealing with.

It is usually better to work with the OC then a CA.

Keep in mind that if you have been paying on a CO with the OC......the date it will drop will show on your CR from TU and EX......look for them.

Message Edited by HappyDays on 12-19-2007 02:56 PM

[Anonymous]

Ok here is some more information that I have:

The 1 medical bill is in collections as of 07/2007 and i've been contacted by a CA and not the OC.

The rest have been CO'ed as bad debt, these are the dates I have.

Citi ($3408) - CO'ed since 12/06, CL $3500, Date opened - 12/05, Date closed - 02/07, Collections **This acct I have made arrangements with but then missed pmts. It was originally $4508.**

Chase ($1671) - CO'ed since 1/07, CL $800, Date opened - 08/05, Date closed - 01/07, Collections

Dell ($1219) - CO'ed since 12/06, CL $1500. Date opened - 02/06, Date closed - 12/06, Collections

Beldens ($854) - CO'ed since 07/07, CL $1000, Date opened - 05/06, Date closed - 02/07, Collections

I've researched the SOL for my state and it's 6 years across the board. I do have a question about the SOL though, would it be for the state I opened all of these accts in or the state the company is headquartered in as the true SOL?

I've consolidated my student loans and have been current with it since my pmts began 4 months ago. It's a 15 yr payment option. I also have 5 other positive items that I am current in, so I believe that would help me out.

I will update my post when I pull my other 2 reports and get my FICO score. I just need a few days. Thanks for the help MeganML84 and HappyDays!!

-Reuben