Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forums, but I've been lurking around here for the past week. So it's a pleasure to meet you all, ton's of great info to digest and it's definitely motivated me to right the wrongs of my past. Although I'm still a bit lost and would welcome any of the advice you guys are willing to offer.
Let me first start by saying mine and my wifes credit reports are a mess (dumb mistakes from our youth). Both of our scores are in the 500s. Although here report is much worse, she has about $20,000 in civil judgments and wants to file bankrupcy...which leads me to my first question.
1. Multiple Civil Judgements vs Bankrupcty:
From what I've gathered, for her situation bankruptcy sounds like the best route. I'm just not sure if it's the best route for me? I currently have 3 civil judgments (default judments smdh), one of which is paid off (capital alliance), the other two I haven't paid on and owe about $5,000 all together on (midland funding and a credit union). I'm not sure how to handle these judgments, seem's impossible to vacate them and paying them off will have zero effect on my credit score? Should I just ignore them? Would I be better off including myself in my wifes bankruptcy and just starting with a clean slate?
2. Derogatory Information:
- 3 collections. 2 of them are from my old college (registrations fee's for $200), yet the collection agency has reported two seperate collections to the bureaus...both of them are $100? I called the collection agency, told them I'd pay the debt if they agreed to remove them from my credit report. They agree to over the phone, when I told them I wanted it in writing, they said they weren't allowed to do that (sounds fishy, so I never paid it). My 3rd collection is from a cable bill (credit management lp) I never paid. So far I'm planning on sending these collection agencies a letter asking them to validate the debt. Is this a good idea?
- 50,000 in student debt...I'm not sure exactly how this effects my score. My loans are currently in deferrment.
3. Rebuilding:
In my attempt to rebuild my credit, I applied for an unsecured capital one cc and was approved for 2 seperate cards (weird huh)...each with a $300 limit. From what I've gathered on here, having 3-4 credit cards is optimal. So my next plan is to get a secured credit card. Any recommendations? How much should I put on it? Also, since I have no auto loan I was considering a "credit rebuilder loan", so I can have both revolving and installment credit on my report.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post! Let me know if I'm on the right path and any advice will be appreciated 
bump 
@Seangar wrote:Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forums, but I've been lurking around here for the past week. So it's a pleasure to meet you all, ton's of great info to digest and it's definitely motivated me to right the wrongs of my past. Although I'm still a bit lost and would welcome any of the advice you guys are willing to offer.
Let me first start by saying mine and my wifes credit reports are a mess (dumb mistakes from our youth). Both of our scores are in the 500s. Although here report is much worse, she has about $20,000 in civil judgments and wants to file bankrupcy...which leads me to my first question.
1. Multiple Civil Judgements vs Bankrupcty:
From what I've gathered, for her situation bankruptcy sounds like the best route. I'm just not sure if it's the best route for me? I would not include yourself in the BK you dont have enough debt to do so IMO. dont think I would I currently have 3 civil judgments (default judments smdh), one of which is paid off, the other two I haven't paid on and owe about $5,000 all together on. I'm not sure how to handle these judgments, seem's impossible to vacate them and paying them off will have zero effect on my credit score? On manual review is where you get the benefit of paid judgments.On the one thats paid you need to find the procedure for getting it vacated on grounds that its been paid, so states wont allow this so all you can do is try. Should I just ignore them? No, I would be making offers to settle the judgments as you have cash available to do so. Would I be better off including myself in my wifes bankruptcy and just starting with a clean slate? No, not IMO.
2. Derogatory Information:
- 3 collections. 2 of them are from my old college (registrations fee's for $200), yet the collection agency has reported two seperate collections to the bureaus...both of them are $100? I called the collection agency, told them I'd pay the debt if they agreed to remove them from my credit report. They agree to over the phone, when I told them I wanted it in writing, they said they weren't allowed to do that (sounds fishy, so I never paid it). My 3rd collection is from a cable bill I never paid. So far I'm planning on sending these collection agencies a letter asking them to validate the debt. Is this a good idea? Typically one needs to submit a DV within 30 days of initial contact by the CA for it to be timely but you can certainly try at this point as well. I would call back that CA that had verbally agreed to delete and see if you can get same deal, a lot of CAs wont put it in writing anymore as it is kind of frowned upon by the industry to remove accurate credit info, if they give you a verbal commitment and then renig you would simply file a BBB complaint for shoddy business practice in an attempt to enforce their agreement. Try to get PFDs with all the CAs if the DV fails to remove them.
- 50,000 in student debt...I'm not sure exactly how this effects my score. My loans are currently in deferrment. They are considered installment loans. These are not dischargeable in BK at any time unless they were private SLs.
3. Rebuilding:
In my attempt to rebuild my credit, I applied for an unsecured capital one cc and was approved for 2 seperate cards (weird huh)...each with a $300 limit. From what I've gathered on here, having 3-4 credit cards is optimal. So my next plan is to get a secured credit card. Any recommendations? St Dept FCU, its a sp to join, put the amount in savings you want as the CL plus the minimum amount to keep account open then CALL them to open the secured card it also will be a sp. The 4th account should be a store card that you will actually use, this can be delayed some, most important are the 3 revolving bankcards.
How much should I put on it? Your choice scoring is calculated the same on small limit cards as with big limit cards.
Also, since I have no auto loan I was considering a "credit rebuilder loan", so I can have both revolving and installment credit on my report. No, dont do this you have the SLs, Installment loans give you little in the Fico arena unless you default on one the biggest action is in revolving credit cards and that is the area you will be putting in the most effort.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post! Let me know if I'm on the right path and any advice will be appreciated
Welcome to the board and good luck
@Seangar wrote:Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post gDale. I just got my 3 scores from equifax's website, man is it depressing. EQ: 518, EX 535, TU 519....way lower than creditkarma 550, credit sesame 655, and myfico 545.
Anyhow, I had a few questions.
1. My 2 collections that orginated from a single debt of $200 and they reported it twice on my CR for $100 each...is that grounds for a dispute? You could try it if you have the proof it was 1 single debt.
How should I handle this? My worry is, that if I call the CA back and PFD over the phone...odds are they won't remove the collections from my CR, everything I've read on here say's to always get it in writing? Write a PFD offer to the CA and request confirmation of the delete. Some will give it to you others will not. There are times where you are just going to have to take the shot to get the result and if they renig then use the BBB to get them to fulfill what they verbally said they would do. Would me recording the phone call help? You need to look up the laws in your state of MI to see if you need to info them they are being recorded or not, most CAs will just hang up if you tell them they are being recorded.
2. My civil judgments are definitely my biggest obstical I feel like. If I can't vacate them or get them removed, is it even possible to get at 700+ credit score with them on my reports? Sure you get a 700+ these are PRs, I have a BK PR on TU and am near 720. They only stick around for 7 yrs from date of the judgment so the older they get the less on an impact they have on your Fico.
3. Concerning my student loans; apparently all my student loans were consolidated into one large loan automatically last year. Yet on my credit report I have 10 "negative account's", it shows all of the old loans that were consolidated. I never defaulted on these loans, but I did have late payments. It says they are closed and the status is "as agreed", $0 amount due. Can I get these old loans off my credit report seeing as they were all consolidated? I am not up on SLs and how to deal with them hopefully someone else will come along.
4. I live in Michigan...would I still be able to get a secured cc from St Dept FCU? Yes it is a National CU, you may have to join an organization to join but anyone in the US is eligible once they do, SDFCU is just one of many that operate on a Natl level, DCU, Pentagon FCU, NASA, Justice FCU, Ft Knox FCU are just a few others you could get into as well.
On equifax, it lists... "You have a low credit line on credit card account's" as something that's hurting my score. That's why I thought putting more on a SC would be better? This is a very minor ding on ones score and I would not even give credence to it. I get it occasionally with huge CLs and little balance on them.
Also, can you recommend an easy to get store credit card? First I would note what major store chains you have in the area you live in, Kohls & Macys are good starts if they do business in your area, for ones outside your local area there is a list in the Credit Card Forum of accounts issued by Comenity Capital Bank, a lot of those cards can be had by pre approval through what is called the shopping cart trick.
A while back I was approved for a credit line with fingerhut, but I have yet to use it....not sure if I should or not. Personally I think they are overpriced but if you already have the account I would look for deals that they may be offering,
Thanks again, sorry for all the questions.
@Seangar wrote:Hello everyone!
I'm new to the forums, but I've been lurking around here for the past week. So it's a pleasure to meet you all, ton's of great info to digest and it's definitely motivated me to right the wrongs of my past. Although I'm still a bit lost and would welcome any of the advice you guys are willing to offer.
Let me first start by saying mine and my wifes credit reports are a mess (dumb mistakes from our youth). Both of our scores are in the 500s. Although here report is much worse, she has about $20,000 in civil judgments and wants to file bankrupcy...which leads me to my first question.
1. Multiple Civil Judgements vs Bankrupcty:
From what I've gathered, for her situation bankruptcy sounds like the best route. I'm just not sure if it's the best route for me? I currently have 3 civil judgments (default judments smdh), one of which is paid off (capital alliance), the other two I haven't paid on and owe about $5,000 all together on (midland funding and a credit union). I'm not sure how to handle these judgments, seem's impossible to vacate them and paying them off will have zero effect on my credit score? Should I just ignore them? Would I be better off including myself in my wifes bankruptcy and just starting with a clean slate?
2. Derogatory Information:
- 3 collections. 2 of them are from my old college (registrations fee's for $200), yet the collection agency has reported two seperate collections to the bureaus...both of them are $100? I called the collection agency, told them I'd pay the debt if they agreed to remove them from my credit report. They agree to over the phone, when I told them I wanted it in writing, they said they weren't allowed to do that (sounds fishy, so I never paid it). My 3rd collection is from a cable bill (credit management lp) I never paid. So far I'm planning on sending these collection agencies a letter asking them to validate the debt. Is this a good idea?
- 50,000 in student debt...I'm not sure exactly how this effects my score. My loans are currently in deferrment.
3. Rebuilding:
In my attempt to rebuild my credit, I applied for an unsecured capital one cc and was approved for 2 seperate cards (weird huh)...each with a $300 limit. From what I've gathered on here, having 3-4 credit cards is optimal. So my next plan is to get a secured credit card. Any recommendations? How much should I put on it? Also, since I have no auto loan I was considering a "credit rebuilder loan", so I can have both revolving and installment credit on my report.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post! Let me know if I'm on the right path and any advice will be appreciated
In your case, I don't think that you should file for bankruptcy. You don't have enough debt. However, I would handle those judgements ASAP! I'm not sure if you're aware or not, but they can garnish your wages or clean out your bank account over them. You just don't want to have those hanging over your head. Good job on getting the two Cap1 cards! If you would like a store card that's easy to obtain, I'd try Walmart or Target. I've read how easy both of those are to get. Although I think that you should wait until your new cards are about 6 months old before applying for them. Best of luck to you!
Starting Score: 601
@Seangar wrote:Nice, so my EQ score just went from 518 up to 554 and EX 535 up to 585...I'm not sure why. Maybe b/c of my new capital one cc's? What service do you guys use to monitor you're credit scores?
Most likely yes the addition of new open revovlers if you had none open would bump your score. You can only get a EQ Fico from Scorewatch here on MF all other monitoring services that you can pay for are FAKOs. If you are interested in just pulling credit and keeping track of changes while in the rebuild process Elimiinate ID Theft-MPM is a good one, they will give score for all 3 but they are the TU New Account model Fako. I have credit cards that give me free Ficos every month.