Rebuild started a while ago, but time to go public.

[Bo_Knows]

HI,

Rebuild started a year ago after I lurked on the forums for a few months and I've made progress, but now I need some advice. 

    I started in the high 4's low 5's with my credit score in 2017/2018

Pay: $63,500/yr ; $420/mo non-taxed as a vehicle allowance, but can use however ; high5 to low 6-digit bonus in March

Debt:      -$43,308 student loans all from the government (varying percentages) all in good standing since rehabilitation program. Currently in Deferrment because I'm back in school to finish my degree (Mar 2020)

          -Capital One Auto Loan: $15,585 @9.79%  $405/month.  Recently Refinanced from ~18%  I often make extra principal only payments as well.

Credit Cards:

-Cap1 Platinum Secured: Limit $531, Opened: 10/31/18. I keep this card at $0. Wish I hadn't of opened because Cap1 won't Graduate or PC

-Cap1 Quicksilver1: Limit: $2k, Opened: 7/6/19. I use this a lot, but will now keep at under 10%util. Auto Graduate in Feb to $2500 after 5th payment. AF: $39 

-Cap1 Venture One: Limit: $500, Opened: 10/24/19. I used this a lot, but that's because I applied through a signup bonus link, but recently found out they won't give me the bonus. So not really sure what to do here. Will probably keep this card at $0 since there's no AF.   Edit: Will Auto Graduate to $750 after my 5 months of payments (still sooooo low)

-I never carry a balance on any of these cards. No matter how I've used it I always pay in full.

Delinquencies:

-Repossession: Equifax is the only report that shows this as a charge-off for $3,181. The bank never sent me anything on this so I didn't think I owed anything. Charged-Off in September of 2014.

-Discover Card: Settled 2/22/19. TU and EX show this as paid in full, EQ shows settled. 

-Equifax shows a student loan as closed and overdue, but with a balance of $0 and that it's been sold. Not sure how this is possible with the rehabilitation program that put everything in good standing

Credit Scores Using Experian tool:

-Experian (12/7/19): Fico8: 678

-Equifax (11/14/19): Fico8: 643

-Transunion (11/14/19): Fico8: 678

I have 19 hard inquiries according to Equifax and several more soft inquiries.

Looking to make the biggest improvements possible. Work will make me get a more capable vehicle soon (I have a ford fusion, think tacoma/4runner/F150) so want to be in a good position for that whenever the time comes and I'm also trying to be in a good position for a mortgage when that time comes.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, comments, and help!

[FireMedic1]

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@Bo_Knows wrote:

HI,

Rebuild started a year ago after I lurked on the forums for a few months and I've made progress, but now I need some advice. 

    I started in the high 4's low 5's with my credit score in 2017/2018

Pay: $63,500/yr ; $420/mo non-taxed as a vehicle allowance, but can use however ; high5 to low 6-digit bonus in March

Debt:      -$43,308 student loans all from the government (varying percentages) all in good standing since rehabilitation program. Currently in Deferrment because I'm back in school to finish my degree (Mar 2020)

          -Capital One Auto Loan: $15,585 @9.79%  $405/month.  Recently Refinanced from ~18%  I often make extra principal only payments as well.

Credit Cards:

-Cap1 Platinum Secured: Limit $531, Opened: 10/31/18. I keep this card at $0. Wish I hadn't of opened because Cap1 won't Graduate or PC

-Cap1 Quicksilver1: Limit: $2k, Opened: 7/6/19. I use this a lot, but will now keep at under 10%util. Auto Graduate in Feb to $2500 after 5th payment. AF: $39 

-Cap1 Venture One: Limit: $500, Opened: 10/24/19. I used this a lot, but that's because I applied through a signup bonus link, but recently found out they won't give me the bonus. So not really sure what to do here. Will probably keep this card at $0 since there's no AF.   Edit: Will Auto Graduate to $750 after my 5 months of payments (still sooooo low)

-I never carry a balance on any of these cards. No matter how I've used it I always pay in full. Always have 1 card report a balance come statement date of <8.9% of your dredit line. Paying all to 0% usage can cost on avg. 15-30Pts +/-.

Delinquencies:

-Repossession: Equifax is the only report that shows this as a charge-off for $3,181. The bank never sent me anything on this so I didn't think I owed anything. Charged-Off in September of 2014.

-Discover Card: Settled 2/22/19. TU and EX show this as paid in full, EQ shows settled. When was the DoFD on this account?

-Equifax shows a student loan as closed and overdue, but with a balance of $0 and that it's been sold. Not sure how this is possible with the rehabilitation program that put everything in good standing

Credit Scores Using Experian tool:

-Experian (12/7/19): Fico8: 678

-Equifax (11/14/19): Fico8: 643

-Transunion (11/14/19): Fico8: 678

I have 19 hard inquiries according to Equifax and several more soft inquiries. No more apps for at least a year.

Looking to make the biggest improvements possible. Work will make me get a more capable vehicle soon (I have a ford fusion, think tacoma/4runner/F150) so want to be in a good position for that whenever the time comes and I'm also trying to be in a good position for a mortgage when that time comes.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions, comments, and help!

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Welcome @Bo_Knows 

You got what it takes to have a fairly decent rebuild. Having all acccounts PIF each month does hurt your scores. I'm sure some of those 19 HP's are from when you got your car. If not. Please no more apps. That shows many denials. Your right at the good spot with 3 cards and a loan. Time will heal the baddies as they age and fall off. Not much more you can do for now. Those HP's have to go down. Remember FICO only holds them for 1 yr. But creditors can see them for 2yrs. Really time is your best friend for now. Let these accounts age and in time more will open up as the negs age also. Good Luck!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Hi,
First, congrats on your rehab. This is a great choice because it removed the default. However it does not remove anything else by right. Sometimes the lates and stuff will fall off automatically; this is clearly not the case with yours. There's another method. You can try disputing them and using the rehab completion letter as a supporting document. It has mixed results but definitely worth a try or two with each CB.
What you're probably seeing on your report is the account before it went into collections. That doesn't come off. You can either try to get it off or wait for it to age off.
What would be the reason for the deferment? While it might stop the interest on some loans, it will continue to accrue and capitalize on others. It also won't help your credit report because it won't report positive payment history. If you can afford it, it might be better to look into an Income-driven repayment plan such as REPAYE or IBR. You'd use your lowest possible pay period in the last 90(?) Days to certify instead of your taxes. That will get you a payment lower than your actual income possibly. The minimum payment will be good for the next 12 months.
Do you have any questions I may be able to help you with?

[Bo_Knows]

Thank you both. @FIREMEDIC1 Yes, the hard pulls were from the car and the two credit cards. No other hard pulls have been done.

        I'll definitely have one card reporting at that percentage now!      

@Sabii, thanks for the heads up. I went into deferrment because I didn't think it would affect my scores and I was in a weird spot with work. I'll definitely look into the income driven plans because I don't want it to just accrue more interest.

Do you think I should call the CU I had the repo with and pay the $3k balance? I never knew I owed anything and it's now showing up on one report. Otherwise, I think I'm good. I just need to sit back for a while and wait.

[FireMedic1]

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@Bo_Knows wrote:

Thank you both. @FIREMEDIC1 Yes, the hard pulls were from the car and the two credit cards. No other hard pulls have been done.

        I'll definitely have one card reporting at that percentage now!   Excellent on the util decision! And i figured the auto loan HP's nailed ya.

@Sabii, thanks for the heads up. I went into deferrment because I didn't think it would affect my scores and I was in a weird spot with work. I'll definitely look into the income driven plans because I don't want it to just accrue more interest.

Do you think I should call the CU I had the repo with and pay the $3k balance? I never knew I owed anything and it's now showing up on one report. Otherwise, I think I'm good. I just need to sit back for a while and wait.

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Your Welcome. Anything PIF and not owed is so much better for you. And future creditors will see you paid your debts. Once paid. Send some GW letters explaining why you didnt know there was a balance and see if they will delete the CO status and change it to paid and closed.

I'll page @Anonymous  for more info for you. Good Luck! Happy Holidays and keep us updated!

[Bo_Knows]

Edit:  Actually I think it's been charged off. Looks like they just updated December as another late payment. Nonetheless my question still remains.

Okay friends. So credit score is slowly climbing, but I just took a hit because the credit union I had the repo with just updated the account to a charge off. I don't mind paying it in full or at least setting up a pay-in-full payment plan, but is it recommended to try to go for a pay for delete? How would I approach this with the original lender? I feel I should move as quickly as possible before the debt gets sold off if it hasn't already.

Thanks.

[FireMedic1]

Charge offs are hard to get deleted for PIF. Its a internal write off bad debt type thing. You could PIF and that will look better as I said above. You could try GW letters for the lates that led up to the charge off and have the term charge off changed to paid/closed. But as one. That will be a tough nut to crack. Dont see it at all really. Good Luck!