My Road to Credit Recovery: Opinions Needed!

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone!
I’ve started my !!2ND!! road to credit recovery last year when I officially applied for a CapOne Secured CC. 7 months have passed since I’ve been obsessively and regularly lurking and now I am finally posting!

In these 7 months, I have gotten a car lease with GM financial with the help of my brother. Payments: 100% on time

I have acquired unsecured CCs:
Indigo - $300 (January of this year)
CapOne Platinum - $300 (May this year)

Been paying everything off but kept a small balance regularly on my CapOne Plat Secured.

Last month, my utilization went up to 50% because I carelessly missed my cut off date but then paid it off right after - Creditkarma told me my score went down.


Finally got my FICO 8:
Equifax 564
TS 572
EX 566

7 months ago, my lowest FAKO was 500. So, I’m pretty sure FICOs were even lower!

Baddies:
6 Collections
15 Inquiries

Any suggestions of what I can do to help boost my scores? Would asking my parents (who have stellar credit) to make me AU help? Should I get a store card or another secured card? Please advise! Thank you guys!

[FireMedic1]

List the collection agencies and amount owed. Then we can tackle those puppies. If they are from Midland or Portfolio they will delete them if they are older than 2 yrs old. In 3 months you can try the upgrade link to get your Plat turned into the QS and get cash back. For now lets get the collections worked on. Then your scores will go up and then with the higher scores. Better cards will be easier to get, Always fix whats broken first. Then go after the better cards.

[Anonymous]

Collections:

Original: SPRINT
Agency: Diversified Adjustment
Bal: $559
*My ex didn’t return the phone he was supposed to 😩

Original: First Access Card
Agency: Jefferson Capital Systems
Bal: $660
*When I was irresponsible handling CCs

Original: Prime Care Physicians
Agency: Phoenix Financial Services
Bal: $43
*This seems like a medical bill I have overseen some years ago

Original: Progressive
Agency: Credit Coll
Bal: $0
*I paid this off by settling when I started rebuilding initially but not researching information. So, it’s still there 😩

Original: Comcast
Agency: Enhanced Recovery
Bal: $276
*This was something that same ex left me without me knowing at the time. Few years later, I inquire about getting XFINITY internet and cable again and they said I had a balance. I paid that amount and got new services, but it’s still reporting delinquent from the collections agency.

Original: AT&T
Agency: IC Systems
Bal: $608
*This is the oldest on my CR dating 2014

Also, what do I do with charge offs and closed CC accounts that I messed up when I was absolutely young, dumb and broke?

[calyx]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Collections:

Original: SPRINT
Agency: Diversified Adjustment
Bal: $559
*My ex didn’t return the phone he was supposed to 😩

Original: First Access Card
Agency: Jefferson Capital Systems
Bal: $660
*When I was irresponsible handling CCs

Original: Prime Care Physicians
Agency: Phoenix Financial Services
Bal: $43
*This seems like a medical bill I have overseen some years ago

Original: Progressive
Agency: Credit Coll
Bal: $0
*I paid this off by settling when I started rebuilding initially but not researching information. So, it’s still there 😩

Original: Comcast
Agency: Enhanced Recovery
Bal: $276
*This was something that same ex left me without me knowing at the time. Few years later, I inquire about getting XFINITY internet and cable again and they said I had a balance. I paid that amount and got new services, but it’s still reporting delinquent from the collections agency.

Original: AT&T
Agency: IC Systems
Bal: $608
*This is the oldest on my CR dating 2014

Also, what do I do with charge offs and closed CC accounts that I messed up when I was absolutely young, dumb and broke?

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I believe I've read here that Jeffersion will entertain PFDs, but I can't swear to it.

As far as chargeoffs and closed CC acount that you messed up when young and dumb? - what you do is what the rest of us do -  pay them off so they stop updating reporting and wait for them to age off.   You can try to write letters for goodwill (I've had luck with this myself) for those that are paid off, and even go as far as the goodwill saturation technique for those you find to be more stubborn.   If the closed CCs are positive tradelines, that's good, you want them on your report.

For those left to pay:  You can contact the creditors and see if they will do a PFD, you can see if they will settle for a lesser amount, or you can just pay them.   Do you know the DOFD (date of first delinquency)?   Not that it's necessarily the most ethical thing, but if the DOFDs are close to 7 years, you can just wait for them to fall off of your credit report.

@gdale has a blurb for dealing with Medical collections.  It involves using something known as the HIPAA process, which you can google, but we cannot discuss on this forum (at the request of the person who developed it).

[Anonymous]

Thank you! There’s definitely a bunch to pay off! One question about that though, do these companies agree to payment arrangements or I have to agree to pay the whole/settled amount in full in order to get them deleted? Also, the ones I’ve already paid, can I dispute those?

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you! There’s definitely a bunch to pay off! One question about that though, do these companies agree to payment arrangements or I have to agree to pay the whole/settled amount in full in order to get them deleted? Also, the ones I’ve already paid, can I dispute those?

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Hi and welcome to the forums 

Some will only delete for full payment, others allow settlement prior to deletion. You'll have to contact them individually 

Disputing paid ones can result in account info being validated and further dropping your score. Your choice if you want to risk it.

JC does PFD

Here is one of the threads dealing with medical collections, post 3

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Paying-off-Collections-3-x-small-or-1-x-giant-better-for-score/m-p/5576799

Good luck 

[calyx]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you! There’s definitely a bunch to pay off! One question about that though, do these companies agree to payment arrangements or I have to agree to pay the whole/settled amount in full in order to get them deleted? Also, the ones I’ve already paid, can I dispute those?

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You'll have to speak with each company with regards to payment arrangements/settlements/etc.

And another thing:  If they agree to pay-for-deletes, that's something you will probably not get in writing.  It's against agreements with the credit bureaus to delete information, so it's not something they do (although some companies have that policy on their website).

I would not recommend disputing the ones that you've paid.    If the information comes back as valid, it could harm your credit score further, and you could be labeled as someone who frivolously disputes.     I would only dispute incorrect information.

(off too bookmark the post Remedios kindly provided so I don't have to look in the future and can actually supply the info  )