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Question- My Rebuild Journey

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Shawn19AL
Frequent Contributor

Question- My Rebuild Journey

Hello, Im in the rebuilding stage.  Fairly new and this is my first post.

 

I lost ( severance) my job back in 2015 and found a job later in the year that was drastically lower in pay.  I had to let all of my credit cards go as a result.  I have about $9000 left in collections.  Total of 8-9 cards with Comenity. Porfolio recovery has them.

 

I've paid off two collections and will be paying 3 off in the next 4 months. The lowest amounts first. 

 

I started rebuilding in Nov 2018. My FICO 8 scores were 

 

Experian 525

Equifax 491

TransUnion 503

 

Today they updated and are currently

 

Experian 611

Equifax  628

TransUnion 619

 

I'm a Veteran so I bank with NFCU. I have a secured card ($1000)through them. I also just applied for DCU and have a creditbuilder loan for $500 with them. I have a Discover Chrome Secured Card $200. Jewelers Club $5000 ,  Fingerhut $300,  and 2 other cards that I dont use ( First Progress/ First Access ).

I'd like to break into the 640s before winter.  Should I pay the little collections first or 2 big ones? The little ones are under $500 a piece. The bigger ones are over $1000 each.

Message 1 of 42
41 REPLIES 41
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question

have you contacted them with a PFD offer or request ? are you fluid enough to make those offers on the small collections ?

Message 2 of 42
Shawn19AL
Frequent Contributor

Re: Question

I can pay the small ones, one a month. The larger ones will take me 3 months to probably pay one.
Message 3 of 42
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question

i would contact Porfolio by Email and snail with a PFD offer on the ones you can pay cash on,, dont hurt to try and the removals will have the biggest impact on your score.

Message 4 of 42
FireMedic1
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: Question

Portfolio will delete the accounts if they are older than 2 yrs. Its their policy now. You could call and ask for a settlement on all at once or tackle each one separately. Once PIF or settled for less. They will remove the collection account from your credit file. So if they are all from Port. You'd be collections free and a nice score boost will occur. Make sure they pass the 2yr mark. Good Luck!


Message 5 of 42
Shawn19AL
Frequent Contributor

Re: Question

I did the PFD with the first 2 collections I paid off.  

Message 6 of 42
Shawn19AL
Frequent Contributor

Re: Question

I guess what I want to know if how do I determine which will have the greater impact.

 

Do I pay the smaller ones that are under $500 a piece for a total of $1500  or do I pay one big one for around $1200 which will take me 3 months verus the smaller ones, one at a time?

Message 7 of 42
gdale6
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Question



@Shawn19AL wrote:

I guess what I want to know if how do I determine which will have the greater impact.

 

Do I pay the smaller ones that are under $500 a piece for a total of $1500  or do I pay one big one for around $1200 which will take me 3 months verus the smaller ones, one at a time?


You would start with anything updating monthly, if its all of them then it really doesnt matter which you go after first but I personally would do the smaller as you can get rid of 3 over 1.

Message 8 of 42
simplegirl
Valued Contributor

Re: Question

Yes i agree anything reporting monthly needs to be paid and as for portfolio i have dealt with them recently and the age of the accounts don’t matter you just pay them and they process your payment for 30 days and then send deletion to the bureaus. No need to ask so its good the collection are with them because they are the easiest to work with.








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Message 9 of 42
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question

It won’t matter all that much in terms of score which you pay first. Any time you pay off a collection and it is removed, you’re likely to see a bump up in score, but it’s negligible as long as you have other negatives on there. You’ll see a big jump once you clear the last derog though.

If it were me, I’d probably pay off all the smaller ones first just to have tangible progress. If I had say, 8 collections and could clear 5 small by the end of summer vs 2 large ones, I’d do it that way to see only 3 remaining instead of 6. Just my opinion but I like seeing results and to my mind, I’d rather see fewer collections remain at a given time.
Message 10 of 42
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