Seeking Advice

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

I am seeking advice on repairing my credit. Quick summary: 10+ years ago had amazing credit, then let it all go.  Quit paying credit cards, student loans ect.  Fast forward to 1.5 years ago-wages were being garnished from student loans.  Rehabbed loans and have been making payments on time for the last 7 months. About a month ago i got serious about repairing my credit and pulled my reports.  Here is what it showed:

Student loan-in good standing

Verizon Wireless South-listed under other loans. $343 closed. Remarks: Charged off as bad debt P&L Write Off. closed december 2016

Listed as collections:

Portfolio Recovery (x2) old cap 1 cards. 1@435 1@432. Both in collections. Opened 1 year 11 months ago

Source Rec. Managment-fmr sprint bill.  $211 opened 6 months ago

Ad Astera Recovery. $132. Payday Loan. Opened 3yrs 2 months ago

Caine&Weiner. $120. Progressive insurance. Opened 3years 4months ago.

What ive done so far this month:

  Opened Discover It Secured @200. 

  Got a $500 credit builder loan through my credit union.

  Paid Ad Astera Recovery in full. PFD

  Paid 1 of the Portfolio Recovery Accounts(settled $435 for $280) PFD

  Sent a PFD request to Source rec, have not heard back yet.

My credit karma tu score went up almost 40pts to 614.

I am going to call portfolio rec. and see if they will let me pfd the remaining acct.

My questions are in what order should i knock these out(biggest effect first) and any advice?  Is the Verizon acct. more important to pay as it is closed with a balance and reports as an "other loan"? Should the verizon be paid in full, or if possible, settled for less than the full balance? I plan on paying/settling all of these accounts as not to have and unpaid derogs.

Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated. I am trying to get my scores up quickly as to get a better rate on a vehicle loan.

Thanks in advance!

I should add that all of theses accounts are reporting monthly.

[Anonymous]

I'd only pay a collection if a deletion is included in the terms of the settlement.  If you just pay it off (depending on the collector), it will just become a Paid Charge Off which will actually reset the clock on when it can fall off your report.  Obviously, we want it gone gone...so first call the collector and ask to settle with a deletion as part of the terms...if they try to give you the dance, ask to escalated it up their chain to someone who can make that happen.  If they still try to get you to just pay, politely refuse and call back in a couple days.  Patience and a cool head are the keys to dealing with collectors...but accept nothing less than a deletion and make sure you get it in writing.

[Jnbmom]

Paying a charge off will not reset the reporting time, it is reporting 7 years , 180 days from the orginal deliquency date, this will not change paying it off. It is does not RESET the reporting clock!!

Of course it it always best to try and get PFD when at all possible.

Portfolio will delete for payment as well ( newer policy), I believe as long as it is atleast 2 years old

[DIYcredit]

As far as Fico score improvement when any credit account is settled and reported to your cr it is considered recent, which in your case probably will not lower your credit score,for as long as it s present on your cr it will hold down your credit score.In a perfect world every credit account/collections should be paid as agreed or paid in full.The balance from an collections will not be calculated into your credit score.You should use your secured cc and installment loans to build monthly on time payments,keep cc balance way below 10% and only open credit accounts as needed.GOOD LUCK...

[simplegirl]

Portfolio will delete 30 days after your payment has been processed successfully.