Hi everyone, it's been several years since I've been on this site. I have since built, ruined, rebuilt, and ruined my credit since....I am once again, and hopefully for the last time, growing the hell up and doing it right so I can buy a house next year. I have already paid down my few current credit cards, and just completed a credit counseling repayment plan. My FICO scores have gone up about 20-30 points on each report so far in the last few weeks.
I have a few questions I need help with - I have tried some facebook groups, but they all seem to be run by a credit repair company, so either no one answers the questions, or they tell me to try one of their coaches :/ So hopefully, some of you can help me out.
#1) I just received two collection letters, each from different agencies. One is for a PayPal Working Capital loan for $2089. The letter/collection is brand new and did NOT hit my credit reports yet. I have about 15 days left to request verification if I want to. I actually have the $ to pay it in full, so I went into that PayPal account to pay it, but I called them as well to make sure if they were paid directly, the collection agency would not report it. The guy on the phone insisted they no longer have control of it, and that I must work with the collection agency now. This doesn't make sense to me - because the letter says "CURRENT CREDITOR: PayPal", and because I am still able to make payments directly in the online account. To me, that normally means the creditor still OWNS the debt. This guy insists they don't. Either way, what is my best option with this one? Should I send a verification/"dispute" letter first and just see if they send something back? In the meantime, if I send one, does that keep it from showing up on my reports yet? As of yet, it is not on them. Or should I just call them and offer to pay in full, if they don't report to the CRA's? If I should send a letter, do you have a good one that you've used that could help me?
#2) The second NEW collection letter is also for PayPal, but I have no clue what it is for, or which account it is associated with. I had two business and one personal, and from what I know, I only owed the Business Working Capital. It's for $318.66. Should I definitely just send a dispute letter on this one? Also, same question, if I send an initial dispute letter, will this keep it from hitting my report until it's resolved?
#3) I have one collection currently on my reports. It is from Enhanced Recovery Company for an old Sprint bill/phones from when I switched carriers. I have read a lot of people were able pay Sprint directly and have it easily removed from their reports. Anyone here had that done with them? I believe I did this same thing with T-Mobile several years ago and it worked. ALSO - should I first dispute this with the CRA's? I keep hearing these credit coaches saying everything should be disputed with the CRA's first....is that true? What do you think is the best option on this one?
#4) Late Payments - from being on that repayment plan with a credit counseling company, it actually DESTROYED my credit. Partially my fault. I had autopays coming out each month that were distributed to the creditors. There were 3 times during it that I had to pause my payment due to finances those months....two were in 2019 and the most recent one was during COVID. But each time, even though I would pick up the payments the following month, they were still marking me as past due because of that one missed month. So now there are tons of lates for at least 6 cards on the plan 
I am sure I could easily get the ones from COVID era removed and that is easier to explain, but I'm not sure what to say about the older ones. I have seen so many Goodwill letters going around, I'm not sure which one to use or how to word it. I also have a few lates from 2019 on my Capital One that I still have, so I'm going to try and ask for those to be removed too.
Anyway, those are my biggest issues to save/repair my credit right now. Any useful advice in getting these resolved in the best way that benefits my score, and in what order, will be very very much appreciated! I want to knock out the credit issues ASAP and work on savings, I want to be able to buy in exactly about a year from now, but the lates are killing me.
@new_earth wrote:Hi everyone, it's been several years since I've been on this site. I have since built, ruined, rebuilt, and ruined my credit since....I am once again, and hopefully for the last time, growing the hell up and doing it right so I can buy a house next year. I have already paid down my few current credit cards, and just completed a credit counseling repayment plan. My FICO scores have gone up about 20-30 points on each report so far in the last few weeks.
I have a few questions I need help with - I have tried some facebook groups, but they all seem to be run by a credit repair company, so either no one answers the questions, or they tell me to try one of their coaches :/ So hopefully, some of you can help me out.
#1) I just received two collection letters, each from different agencies. One is for a PayPal Working Capital loan for $2089. The letter/collection is brand new and did NOT hit my credit reports yet. I have about 15 days left to request verification if I want to. I actually have the $ to pay it in full, so I went into that PayPal account to pay it, but I called them as well to make sure if they were paid directly, the collection agency would not report it. The guy on the phone insisted they no longer have control of it, and that I must work with the collection agency now. This doesn't make sense to me - because the letter says "CURRENT CREDITOR: PayPal", and because I am still able to make payments directly in the online account. To me, that normally means the creditor still OWNS the debt. This guy insists they don't. Either way, what is my best option with this one? Should I send a verification/"dispute" letter first and just see if they send something back? In the meantime, if I send one, does that keep it from showing up on my reports yet? As of yet, it is not on them. Or should I just call them and offer to pay in full, if they don't report to the CRA's? If I should send a letter, do you have a good one that you've used that could help me? Check your real credit reports from annual credit report. Its free on a weekly basis for now. If there is a $0 balance then yes the CA owns it. If so pay it before it lands on your reports.
#2) The second NEW collection letter is also for PayPal, but I have no clue what it is for, or which account it is associated with. I had two business and one personal, and from what I know, I only owed the Business Working Capital. It's for $318.66. Should I definitely just send a dispute letter on this one? Also, same question, if I send an initial dispute letter, will this keep it from hitting my report until it's resolved? Again. Look at your reports and find that balance and then you'll know who it belongs to on which account. Dont dispute. It will poke the bear and make things worse. You got the $. Settle it or PIF.
#3) I have one collection currently on my reports. It is from Enhanced Recovery Company for an old Sprint bill/phones from when I switched carriers. I have read a lot of people were able pay Sprint directly and have it easily removed from their reports. Anyone here had that done with them? I believe I did this same thing with T-Mobile several years ago and it worked. ALSO - should I first dispute this with the CRA's? I keep hearing these credit coaches saying everything should be disputed with the CRA's first....is that true? What do you think is the best option on this one? Yes you can go by a Sprint/T-Mobile store and see if they will take payment in return of recalling the debt. Not enough info for now on how T-Mobile is handling Sprints past CA acccounts.
#4) Late Payments - from being on that repayment plan with a credit counseling company, it actually DESTROYED my credit. Partially my fault. I had autopays coming out each month that were distributed to the creditors. There were 3 times during it that I had to pause my payment due to finances those months....two were in 2019 and the most recent one was during COVID. But each time, even though I would pick up the payments the following month, they were still marking me as past due because of that one missed month. So now there are tons of lates for at least 6 cards on the plan
Anyway, those are my biggest issues to save/repair my credit right now. Any useful advice in getting these resolved in the best way that benefits my score, and in what order, will be very very much appreciated! I want to knock out the credit issues ASAP and work on savings, I want to be able to buy in exactly about a year from now, but the lates are killing me.
The lates you'll probably have to live with. Main thing is everything will need to be paid with past open debts for a mortgage.
@new_earth wrote:Hi everyone, it's been several years since I've been on this site. I have since built, ruined, rebuilt, and ruined my credit since....I am once again, and hopefully for the last time, growing the hell up and doing it right so I can buy a house next year. I have already paid down my few current credit cards, and just completed a credit counseling repayment plan. My FICO scores have gone up about 20-30 points on each report so far in the last few weeks.
I have a few questions I need help with - I have tried some facebook groups, but they all seem to be run by a credit repair company, so either no one answers the questions, or they tell me to try one of their coaches :/ So hopefully, some of you can help me out.
#1) I just received two collection letters, each from different agencies. One is for a PayPal Working Capital loan for $2089. The letter/collection is brand new and did NOT hit my credit reports yet. I have about 15 days left to request verification if I want to. I actually have the $ to pay it in full, so I went into that PayPal account to pay it, but I called them as well to make sure if they were paid directly, the collection agency would not report it. The guy on the phone insisted they no longer have control of it, and that I must work with the collection agency now. This doesn't make sense to me - because the letter says "CURRENT CREDITOR: PayPal", and because I am still able to make payments directly in the online account. To me, that normally means the creditor still OWNS the debt. This guy insists they don't. Either way, what is my best option with this one? Should I send a verification/"dispute" letter first and just see if they send something back? In the meantime, if I send one, does that keep it from showing up on my reports yet? As of yet, it is not on them. Or should I just call them and offer to pay in full, if they don't report to the CRA's? If I should send a letter, do you have a good one that you've used that could help me? DVing it wont stop it from reporting and since you know its yours I would take care of this one in exchange for it not reporting. While DV is your right within the first 30 days of a collection sometimes it can backfire.
#2) The second NEW collection letter is also for PayPal, but I have no clue what it is for, or which account it is associated with. I had two business and one personal, and from what I know, I only owed the Business Working Capital. It's for $318.66. Should I definitely just send a dispute letter on this one? Also, same question, if I send an initial dispute letter, will this keep it from hitting my report until it's resolved? I would DV this one and dispute it, could be ID theft and no a dispute letter will not stop it from reporting if they choose to do so.
#3) I have one collection currently on my reports. It is from Enhanced Recovery Company for an old Sprint bill/phones from when I switched carriers. I have read a lot of people were able pay Sprint directly and have it easily removed from their reports. Anyone here had that done with them? I believe I did this same thing with T-Mobile several years ago and it worked. ALSO - should I first dispute this with the CRA's? I keep hearing these credit coaches saying everything should be disputed with the CRA's first....is that true? What do you think is the best option on this one? No one can recommend a dispute on myFico of valid credit information it would be a violation of oour credit repair policies and those credit coaches dont know it all, a dispute can sometimes result in a major Fico score decrease especially if it hasnt updated in a while. I would call the OC and have them recall the collectors in exchange for payment.
#4) Late Payments - from being on that repayment plan with a credit counseling company, it actually DESTROYED my credit. Partially my fault. I had autopays coming out each month that were distributed to the creditors. There were 3 times during it that I had to pause my payment due to finances those months....two were in 2019 and the most recent one was during COVID. But each time, even though I would pick up the payments the following month, they were still marking me as past due because of that one missed month. So now there are tons of lates for at least 6 cards on the plan
Anyway, those are my biggest issues to save/repair my credit right now. Any useful advice in getting these resolved in the best way that benefits my score, and in what order, will be very very much appreciated! I want to knock out the credit issues ASAP and work on savings, I want to be able to buy in exactly about a year from now, but the lates are killing me.
@gdale6 wrote:
@new_earth wrote:Hi everyone, it's been several years since I've been on this site. I have since built, ruined, rebuilt, and ruined my credit since....I am once again, and hopefully for the last time, growing the hell up and doing it right so I can buy a house next year. I have already paid down my few current credit cards, and just completed a credit counseling repayment plan. My FICO scores have gone up about 20-30 points on each report so far in the last few weeks.
I have a few questions I need help with - I have tried some facebook groups, but they all seem to be run by a credit repair company, so either no one answers the questions, or they tell me to try one of their coaches :/ So hopefully, some of you can help me out.
#1) I just received two collection letters, each from different agencies. One is for a PayPal Working Capital loan for $2089. The letter/collection is brand new and did NOT hit my credit reports yet. I have about 15 days left to request verification if I want to. I actually have the $ to pay it in full, so I went into that PayPal account to pay it, but I called them as well to make sure if they were paid directly, the collection agency would not report it. The guy on the phone insisted they no longer have control of it, and that I must work with the collection agency now. This doesn't make sense to me - because the letter says "CURRENT CREDITOR: PayPal", and because I am still able to make payments directly in the online account. To me, that normally means the creditor still OWNS the debt. This guy insists they don't. Either way, what is my best option with this one? Should I send a verification/"dispute" letter first and just see if they send something back? In the meantime, if I send one, does that keep it from showing up on my reports yet? As of yet, it is not on them. Or should I just call them and offer to pay in full, if they don't report to the CRA's? If I should send a letter, do you have a good one that you've used that could help me? DVing it wont stop it from reporting and since you know its yours I would take care of this one in exchange for it not reporting. While DV is your right within the first 30 days of a collection sometimes it can backfire.
#2) The second NEW collection letter is also for PayPal, but I have no clue what it is for, or which account it is associated with. I had two business and one personal, and from what I know, I only owed the Business Working Capital. It's for $318.66. Should I definitely just send a dispute letter on this one? Also, same question, if I send an initial dispute letter, will this keep it from hitting my report until it's resolved? I would DV this one and dispute it, could be ID theft and no a dispute letter will not stop it from reporting if they choose to do so.
#3) I have one collection currently on my reports. It is from Enhanced Recovery Company for an old Sprint bill/phones from when I switched carriers. I have read a lot of people were able pay Sprint directly and have it easily removed from their reports. Anyone here had that done with them? I believe I did this same thing with T-Mobile several years ago and it worked. ALSO - should I first dispute this with the CRA's? I keep hearing these credit coaches saying everything should be disputed with the CRA's first....is that true? What do you think is the best option on this one? No one can recommend a dispute on myFico of valid credit information it would be a violation of oour credit repair policies and those credit coaches dont know it all, a dispute can sometimes result in a major Fico score decrease especially if it hasnt updated in a while. I would call the OC and have them recall the collectors in exchange for payment.
#4) Late Payments - from being on that repayment plan with a credit counseling company, it actually DESTROYED my credit. Partially my fault. I had autopays coming out each month that were distributed to the creditors. There were 3 times during it that I had to pause my payment due to finances those months....two were in 2019 and the most recent one was during COVID. But each time, even though I would pick up the payments the following month, they were still marking me as past due because of that one missed month. So now there are tons of lates for at least 6 cards on the plan
Anyway, those are my biggest issues to save/repair my credit right now. Any useful advice in getting these resolved in the best way that benefits my score, and in what order, will be very very much appreciated! I want to knock out the credit issues ASAP and work on savings, I want to be able to buy in exactly about a year from now, but the lates are killing me.
It seems that you can take care of the collections since you have the funds and you have received good advice from the first responses.
Those debt repayment programs generally let your accounts default and THEN work out a payment arrangement with creditors on your behalf. Hence the charge off. Just because it didn't go to collections doesn't mean it wasn't charged off.
Also, don't listen to credit repair agencies/coaches. They do more harm than good.
