New: My Progress Thread

[Anonymous]

New to the board and rebuilding! 

About me:

Age 40

Income 100k

Scores:

Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704

Discover FICO8- 672

Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans: 

A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments

B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months. 

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48

2 Credit Cards:

A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization. 

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival. 

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached. 

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home. 

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[sarge12]

@Anonymous 

      First and foremost, keep in mind that a good credit profile is built over time, lots of time. It will take 7 years from any delinquency to build a clean scorecard, so making all payments on time is imperitive. Credit card issuers have made this easy by having automatic payment options. Even if you always pay in full, and you should, you should still set up auto-pay of the minimum payment to prevent mistakes. You have taken a very important first step by joining this forum. There is a wealth of information available here, but do not take every single post as gospel either. Keep in mind it is just made up with members with varying degrees of knowledge, and sometimes errant info will be offered, usually followed by others correcting them. 

      There are however quite a few here that have had, and maintain very high scores, and most consider this forum as a primary aid in acheiving that goal. Do not let anyone convince you that credit can't be repaired, in time, it can. I have personally declared bankruptcy twice...ch.13, and later ch.7, and as you can see in my siggy, my scores are extremely high. They have been 800+ for a long time. Welcome to the forum, and like I said, joining this forum is a great first step in acheiving high credit scores, if that is your goal. It can also help prevent common mis-steps many have made, if you take advice, and learn from others mistakes. In my opinion, how we handle credit is a result of established credit habits, good or bad. Low scores are often due to bad credit habits, and high scores result from good credit habits. It gets much easier if you handle credit well, long enough to become a habit.

     Now let my cover some myths...Myth- You need to carry a balance on credit cards to raise scores...you don't, but you do need to wait to pay 1 card until it reports usage...Myth-  Credit repair companies can get bad debt removed, that you can't get removed without them...False! Every method used can be acheived without them. At the top of the pages is a Credit Education tab, I urge you to read that, and all sub-catagories. It will let you know what is, and is not, in your credit score. That brings up another myth...Myth- Income is included in the score...it's not. Lending decisions are very much based on income, and credit scores, but the score itself is not affected by income. Once again Welcome to the forum.

[FireMedic1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

New to the board and rebuilding! 

About me:

Age 40

Income 100k

Scores:

Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704

Discover FICO8- 672

Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans: 

A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments

B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months. 

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48 Didnt need this. You got 2 auto loans. FICO only needs 1 loan reporting. More loans dont help scores.

2 Credit Cards:

A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization. 

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival. 

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached. 

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home. 

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

---

Contact the med providers and ask if they will take payments in exchange to recall the debt. No letters. If the offices are nearby. Go there in person.

Also this is @gdale6 instructions on how to rid yourself of those med collections if the med providers wont do payments.

1. Call the OC and see if insurance can be billed, (or-rebilled), collections ultimately paid by insurance get removed per new rules that came from CRAs settlement with 22 state AGs. If not then
2. see if you qualify for Charity Care, if not then
3. ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
4. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
5. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help, this process cannot be discussed in any forum of myFico.

@sarge12Could you edit your post & place paragraphs. Some of us are on mobile at times.

[sarge12]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

New to the board and rebuilding! 

About me:

Age 40

Income 100k

Scores:

Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704

Discover FICO8- 672

Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans: 

A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments

B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months. 

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48 Didnt need this. You got 2 auto loans. FICO only needs 1 loan reporting. More loans dont help scores.

2 Credit Cards:

A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization. 

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival. 

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached. 

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home. 

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

---

Contact the med providers and ask if they will take payments in exchange to recall the debt. No letters. If the offices are nearby. Go there in person.

Also this is @gdale6 instructions on how to rid yourself of those med collections if the med providers wont do payments.

1. Call the OC and see if insurance can be billed, (or-rebilled), collections ultimately paid by insurance get removed per new rules that came from CRAs settlement with 22 state AGs. If not then
2. see if you qualify for Charity Care, if not then
3. ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
4. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
5. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help, this process cannot be discussed in any forum of myFico.

@sarge12Could you edit your post & place paragraphs. Some of us are on mobile at times.

---

That was harder than I would think it would be. I need to remember to do so as I type.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for info Medic and Sarge. 

I questioned myself after signing up for the Self lender as well. I needed improvement on my payment history so I figured adding a Self and a single new credit card would help. I do plan on adding a third credit card down the line but I didn't want too many new inquires In a short period of time. 

I'm sitting at 96% payment history right now. The Self Lender is only 12 months so hopefully I can let it run its course without too much of a negative effect. Lesson learned 

[FireMedic1]

---

@sarge12 wrote:

---

@FireMedic1 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

New to the board and rebuilding! 

About me:

Age 40

Income 100k

Scores:

Credit Karma TU- 685, EF- 704

Discover FICO8- 672

Credit Wise- 685

2 Auto loans: 

A: $16,500 balance. 57 months remaining. Zero late payments

B: $6,300 balance. 11 months remaining. 4, 30 day late payments. None in the last 33 months. 

1 Self Lender Loan. Just opened. 1st payment due 7/16. $48 Didnt need this. You got 2 auto loans. FICO only needs 1 loan reporting. More loans dont help scores.

2 Credit Cards:

A: Capital One Quicksilver. Just upgraded from a Capital Platinum that started as secured 36 months ago. Zero late payments. $1,500 limit / zero utilization. 

B: Discover it Secured. Recently opened and waiting on the card in the mail. $200 limit upon arrival. 

21 unpaid collections total showing accros the 3 major reporting agencies. Most are the same 6-7 accounts reporting across all 3. Mostly medical. Total in collection. $3,500

I'm attempting to negotiate a pay for deletion on all collections but haven't heard anything back yet. I mailed letters 3 weeks ago. I have the funds to pay all once aggrements have been reached. 

I've done well recently managing my loans and credit cards. I've made all my payments on time and kept little to no balance on my credit cards. My hope is to have all collections paid by Jan 2021 and get my credit score as close to 740 as I can by next summer so I can purshase a home. 

Any tips based on the info provided above would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

---

Contact the med providers and ask if they will take payments in exchange to recall the debt. No letters. If the offices are nearby. Go there in person.

Also this is @gdale6 instructions on how to rid yourself of those med collections if the med providers wont do payments.

1. Call the OC and see if insurance can be billed, (or-rebilled), collections ultimately paid by insurance get removed per new rules that came from CRAs settlement with 22 state AGs. If not then
2. see if you qualify for Charity Care, if not then
3. ask that they recall the collection in exchange for full payment
4. Send the reporting CA a PFD offer
5. Google the HIPAA Process and contact its creator for help, this process cannot be discussed in any forum of myFico.

@sarge12Could you edit your post & place paragraphs. Some of us are on mobile at times.

---

That was harder than I would think it would be. I need to remember to do so as I type.

---

LOL!!!!! Its all good @sarge12 . I'm scrolling and scrollin. When does it end!?!?!

[FireMedic1]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for info Medic and Sarge. 

I questioned myself after signing up for the Self lender as well. I needed improvement on my payment history so I figured adding a Self and a single new credit card would help. I do plan on adding a third credit card down the line but I didn't want too many new inquires In a short period of time. 

I'm sitting at 96% payment history right now. The Self Lender is only 12 months so hopefully I can let it run its course without too much of a negative effect. Lesson learned 

---

FICO doesnt go by %'s of on time payments. Thats CMS fluff. Either you pay on time or your late. Once lates age they hurt less. So you have a clean file with no negs or a dirty file with negs. Thats how FICO looks at it.

[Anonymous]

Vantage scores dropped 11 points when the Self Lender account showed up. After the first payment posted they went back up 1 point due to the balance reduction. 

I got my Discover it secured in the mail on Wednesday. $200 limit. I've used $80 so far. A couple of the purchases are still pending but hopefully clear tomorrow so I can pay the balance in full ASAP.

The Discover isn't showing up on my credit reports yet. I'm guessing it'll be a 10-15 point drop initially once it's added.

I'm ok with a few steps back to make strides for the future. I'm learning a lot on these forums. Thanks everyone! 

[Anonymous]

You can ignore the VantageScore numbers, they're essentially useless as almost no one uses them for lending. Go to www.creditchecktotal.com and pay a dollar to get your three FICO8 scores, and then cancel within the week to avoid enrollment in a $30/month subscription. Rinse and repeat as you feel like it. Those are the scores you need to watch.

[Anonymous]

I'm not super concerned about the "real scores" right now. I'm doing so much in regards to adding new CC's, getting PFD's on medical collections and such. My scores will be a roller coaster in the short term. 

I don't plan on getting a mortgage until mid 2021. Once I'm done adding accounts and settleing the collections, I fully plan on enrolling in the MyFico Premier up until I get the mortgage process completed. It'll probly 3-4 months before I enroll.