Taking advice and finally getting somewhere! Now what?

[Anonymous]

Hey guys! 

I started rebuilding October of last year with a secured card through Navy Federal. I was expecting it to graduate, as I use it all the time and pay it off weekly, but it hasn't yet. NFCU did finance a car for me in July- so they are treating me well! I'm just impatient. I jumped the gun earlier this month and applied for one of their unsecured cards and it was a no go. I have 3 baddies on my report for medical bills that total about $3500.

So my 13th statement just posted at 0 balance and my card did not graduate. This was my only card and I was feeling discouraged that nothing was happening with my scores and didn't know what else to do. I'm working towards paying off my debts but I can only do so much at a time. So I revisited your tips and applied for a Discover secured and locked that in for $200 limit and got a subprime Credit One Platinum unsecured for $400- which to me, is amazing! It was only a year ago discover wouldn't even offer me a secured card and I could forget about getting any line of credit unsecured so, I'm excited! I'm going to try the AZEO method for now and just keep trucking!

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS! You literally took me from discouraged and a feeling of being stuck right in the low 600's to feeling like I'm getting somewhere! NFCU will graduate me eventually!

I'm setting a goal to be at 650-675 by the end of the year! Is there anything else I should be doing? I've learned so much already- the biggest lesson being even if you pay your cards off weekly make sure your payments fall in line with your statement cut dates (how had no one EVER told me that lol). I just want to make sure I'm on the right path! I did a lot of damage and just want to get my stuff and credit together!

[Remedios]

You should do nothing for now other than trying to deal with your collections.
If they are older, you might be able to settle them for the fraction of the original amount, and in some cases even get a PFD.
You need to build positive history from here on.
Just dont apply for any more cards. Dont end up in toy limit hell.

Deal with collections, and down the road you may want to consider adding a loan but not right now
Your money would be better spent on getting rid of the debt
If those collections are paid, then consider a loan and at least one year of doing nothing other than paying on time and watching your utilization like a hawk.
Another thing, start emergency savings stash so you dont need to reach for cards every time life happens. That will be more helpful to you than any card at this point.
Your cards have low limits at the moment (nothing wrong with that) but that makes maxing them out pretty easy and that's how most trouble starts.
Good luck and congrats on your progress so far

[Anonymous]

Thank you! I definitely haven't maxed out my NFCU card on any statement. Usually under 30% but twice it was at 50%. I wish I had known what I was doing from the beginning but hey, you live and learn. I am hoping to have my negatives squared away by next year. They are all 3 newly added but from 3+ years ago so when they hit I was super confused I had insurance that should have covered them and I've disputed them but I keep getting the message that they are accurate so... I'm just going to bit the bullet on them.

[Remedios]

Do you have copies of explanation of benefits from your insurance?
Does your responsibility matches what's on EOBs?
Were claims paid at all?

[Anonymous]

On one of the claims were partially paid, but everything except the $125  copay should have been. For the other 2 nothing was paid by the insurance company. I have documentation proving I had that insurance, the coverage, and copays though. 

[ItsCASHual]

Do you mind sharing data points on NFCU auto loan? Was it new or used car or refinancing an existing vehicle loan? What was your FICO score at the time in July NFCU approved you? Which bureau did they pull for auto loan?

I've been with them (checking and savings only) for almost 2 yrs and I have not applied for any credit products with them yet. I'm holding out until I've paid off my last CO account with Capital One.

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

On one of the claims were partially paid, but everything except the $125  copay should have been. For the other 2 nothing was paid by the insurance company. I have documentation proving I had that insurance, the coverage, and copays though. 

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If your insurance did not properly pay the claims, that's not grounds for disputing with CRAs. That's something you should have addressed with the insurance company at the time. 

If it's been three years, and this was not Medicaid (I'm assuming it wasn't because of the copay), very little can be done now. 

If insurance paid, but payments were not properly applied by the hospital/provider, you might have grounds for dispute.

[Anonymous]

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@ItsCASHual wrote:

Do you mind sharing data points on NFCU auto loan? Was it new or used car or refinancing an existing vehicle loan? What was your FICO score at the time in July NFCU approved you? Which bureau did they pull for auto loan?

I've been with them (checking and savings only) for almost 2 yrs and I have not applied for any credit products with them yet. I'm holding out until I've paid off my last CO account with Capital One.

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My auto loan is for 10k. I put money down as well for a CPO, needed something more reliable because I had my daughter last year. My payments are $202/month for 72 months but I'm paying about $250-300 a month to pay the loan down faster. My scores at the time were TU-620 EX-605 and EQ-598. They pulled TU and I took a hit on it when I got it but felt it was warranted because I didn't have a loan at the time and needed a better car. My interest on it is only 9% which is crazy good for my credit profile though. I was astounded they approved me, let alone for less than 10% interest. 

I absolutely love them! My goal card with them is more rewards or flagship hopefully down the the line. not because I want to utilize that much credit, but to build my profile.

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

On one of the claims were partially paid, but everything except the $125  copay should have been. For the other 2 nothing was paid by the insurance company. I have documentation proving I had that insurance, the coverage, and copays though. 

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If your insurance did not properly pay the claims, that's not grounds for disputing with CRAs. That's something you should have addressed with the insurance company at the time. 

If it's been three years, and this was not Medicaid (I'm assuming it wasn't because of the copay), very little can be done now. 

If insurance paid, but payments were not properly applied by the hospital/provider, you might have grounds for dispute.

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That's what I was saying. I literally had no idea it wasn't taken care of until it popped up on my credit report in January -__-. It is what it is I guess.

[Anonymous]

Get your FICOs to 630 across the board by keeping reported utilization low and no matter what you do pay your navy secured in full each month or let it report a small balance under 8%. Keep paying higher than minimum for Navy auto loan and you should expect to receive a $10k-15k limit or more on a NEW navy card once scores hit 630. Other people have banked with Navy for ~9 months in similar situation as you and received those limits. Navy is your best bet at a real credit card in the shortest time IMO. 

For safest bet app for a new navy card once your secured graduates. But once scores are at 630 I think you should app for a new card with them no matter what. You've been with them long enough. After receiving a second card from Navy with much higher limit I'd consider getting rid of credit one account and gardening for a while.