Starting over again - Round 2 and not stopping!

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone

Im no stranger to this forum. Back in 2014-2016 I would roam through the forum for ways to improve my score and appreciated the knowledge here.

Little history - filed BK in 2016. Ultimately my fault, but co-signed for parent’s and oldest sibling personal loans had my own regular credit card debt (that was manageable), but ended up getting hit with old apartment rent debt from co-signing for family and it became too overwhelming to catch up.

After BK cleared and I was able to secure normal debt to rebuild credit, I was laid off a year later  after 7 years in management. I relocated out of state to be closer to another family member and lived off of savings to keep debt and vehicle current. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it out of the woods after struggling for a year with a petty salary and hourly jobs when I was salary for years. Vehicle was previously part of BK, but didn’t have to sign a reaffirmation agreement.

Fast forward to 2020 - stable career, vehicle. No late payments on those ever. I need to rebuild but know it’s a process and know it takes time. I have added roughly $7k in savings over the last few months.  I have 12 collection accounts totally about $10k and about $5k in derogatory accounts. - 0 inquiries. My plan is to tackle collections first and send PFD letters, but wondering about if they refuse, should my next option be to settle for less? Goal is to buy a home fairly soon when my credit allows. Some of the collection agencies on my credit have been known to accept PFD such as HP Sears and IC System.

Scores as of 12/19/20 are Eq-560 Transunion-582 and Exp-555. 

Any advice is appreciated!!

[mycreditscoreisfair]

If you're looking to buy a house, you're going to have to take care of all of the delinquent and collection accounts.

I would start with wherever you'd can get the most value. Contact the companies and see if they'll delete if you settle. If not, see if they'll delete if you pay in full. Then pay whatever gets you the biggest buck for your $7k (or however much of it you're willing to spend).

What's worked best for me is creating a budget and an excel sheet that tracks my income and expenses. When I get paid, I pay the bills the spresheet says but I know exactly what day everything will be paid off. And deleting debts from the spreadsheet and seeing myself getting closer to the day I'll be debt free has become a great motivator.

[Anonymous]

Welcome back OP, I'm sorry it's under these circumstances but as you know, you're in the right place.

We can best help you if you're willing to lay out your derogs. Amount, owner of debt, collector (if different), age of derog, and current status (chargeoff, 90-late, etc). Knowing amounts, parties involved, and age can help us help you set a plan to best handle them.

[Anonymous]

Hi - Thanks for the welcome! I am ready to get started, but understand that this is a slow process.

Definitely love anyone's feedback and suggestions. I figured I can knock out the first 4 or 5 on in collections and then work on clearing 1 or 2 every month. Would love to have a PFD, but I know with some it won't happen. Willing to use some of savings to get rid of this debt, but don't want to set myself up for another bad situation again

Here is what I currently have - hope this info helps a little

Creditor	Collection Agency	Opened or assigned
Accelerated Health Care	HP Sears	12/2016 - Included in BK but still showing as COL	$          78.00
Banfield Pet Hospital	IC System	10/1/2017	$        119.00
Fastmed AZ	Kls Financial	12/1/2018	$        147.00
Banfield Pet Hospital	IC System	7/1/2017	$        341.00
Norterra Hospital	Qualia Collection Service	7/1/2019	$        479.00
Emergency Svc of Tx	ARS Accounts Receivable	Assigned 4/1/2019 - but I believe created in 5/2017	$        482.00
Penn Foster	USCB	Assigned 1/2020 - but opened in 5/2017 approx.	$        615.00
Speedy Cash	National Credit Adjusters	Assigned 4/2020 - opened in 1/2018 approx.	$        926.00
Cox Cable	Convergent Outsourcing	Assigned 8/2020 - Last billed 12/2018	$        963.00
NCB Management Svc		5/1/2018	$    1,518.00
Lionloan	National Credit Adjusters	Assigned 12/2018 - opened in 1/2018	$    1,887.00
Education Program	Access Receivables	Assigned 7/2020 - opened in 12/2018	$    2,845.00
		TOTAL IN COLLECTIONS	$  10,400.00
Comenity - Express	No COL to my knowledge	First late 1/2018	$        520.00
First Premier	No COL to my knowledge	First late 1/2018	$    1,036.00
Comenity - VS	No COL to my knowledge	First late 1/2018	$    2,309.00
Kohl's Store  - Cap1	No COL to my knowledge	First late 1/2018	$    1,294.00
Total Owed in Collections and Derogatory			$  15,559.00

[simplegirl]

Unfortunately NCA or national credit adjusters is one of the worser ones meaning they are hard to getting settlement offers for and do not PFD so i would do those last. I had an account with them for $401 and it was due to fall off in 2021 or 2022 not sure so i tried to settle with them in 2019 but they would only settle for $380 and to me i felt i could just pay in full with an offer like that. I sent PFD letters to them and they just ignored them so i just ignored the collection. So unless someone else disagrees i would deal with them last.

[Anonymous]

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@simplegirl wrote:

Unfortunately NCA or national credit adjusters is one of the worser ones meaning they are hard to getting settlement offers for and do not PFD so i would do those last. I had an account with them for $401 and it was due to fall off in 2021 or 2022 not sure so i tried to settle with them in 2019 but they would only settle for $380 and to me i felt i could just pay in full with an offer like that. I sent PFD letters to them and they just ignored them so i just ignored the collection. So unless someone else disagrees i would deal with them last.

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That is good to know! Unfortunately I've sent PFD letters previously before my 2016 BK and I've NEVER gotten responses from any agencies, and the ones who verbally agreed to delete the record, would never agree to send a letter in stating so 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@simplegirl wrote:

Unfortunately NCA or national credit adjusters is one of the worser ones meaning they are hard to getting settlement offers for and do not PFD so i would do those last. I had an account with them for $401 and it was due to fall off in 2021 or 2022 not sure so i tried to settle with them in 2019 but they would only settle for $380 and to me i felt i could just pay in full with an offer like that. I sent PFD letters to them and they just ignored them so i just ignored the collection. So unless someone else disagrees i would deal with them last.

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That is good to know! Unfortunately I've sent PFD letters previously before my 2016 BK and I've NEVER gotten responses from any agencies, and the ones who verbally agreed to delete the record, would never agree to send a letter in stating so 

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You are probably going to have to take a leap of faith with the one's that are known to do it, but will not put it in writing.

IC Systems will negotiate for PFD.

As mentioned above, under no circumstance will NCA do PFD, sadly.

NCB will do PFD, but the front line CSRs will say they don't and will not negotiate it. You will have to run it up the management tree until you find someone willing to PFD. You will need to PIF for it.

I would work on paying the COs before they turn into CAs. It is next to unlikely to get an OC to do PFD. You will likely just need to pay/settle. You can go on a GW campaign after to see if any of the TLs can be removed. You may have luck with FP, they seem receptive to GW letter lately.

I would pull all 3 CRs from annual credit report for free and comb through them and those reports will spell out DoFD and age off dates to help guide your efforts ($).

Sorry you are here again and good luck!

[mycreditscoreisfair]

Convergent will also pay for delete. They mailed me a letter about a debt I had for about $650. They offered to settle for 50% if I paid within 60 days. I paid the settlement offer and it was removed from my credit report 7 days later. Could have just been good timing, but my experience with them was very good.

I would also suggest waiting until the end to pay the places who don't offer pay for deletes. You may get lucky and they may sell the debt or assign it to a company that will.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much everyone! My next question is - let's say they won't pay-for-delete and they either want full balance or settlement, will those "7-10 years" restart even though it's considered paid and resolved? 

[simplegirl]

No the 7.5 years never resets because your DOFD (Date of First delinquency) would always stay the same. So when every you first defaulted and never became current that is when the 7 years will start.