Time to get serious about rebuilding

[Anonymous]

Update: 

I've made some payments on some of my balances. Not a whole lot but enough to get a boost of a few points. I'm now at: 

EXP: 598

TU: 614

EQ: 603

I have a bonus coming at work as well as a raise in a couple months so that's going to help get all the balances down. Plus I filed my taxes and am expecting a large refund due to claiming my son so my balances will all be paid off with that. I'm not using any of my cards until that happens, with the exception of CareCredit as I need two crowns done. I will be paying that off too. Once the balances are all gone, I will then start responsibily using my Cap QS card and PIF each month as I want to get a CLI on that later this year. 

As for the collections accounts. I recently found out about WhyChat's HIPAA process so I'm going to follow that for the medical collections accounts that are currently on my report. As for convergent, I called Cox. It's from the service I had at my parent's house. I guess when they split and moved out they didn't pay it or return equipment so I'm stuck with $522. They offered me a settlement but I asked if I paid in full would they recall the collections? The agent I spoke to said if I paid in full then it's removed from collections within 24-48 hours. So, I'm going to pay that on Friday when I get paid. Hopefully that's true as that would be nice. 

I'm just going to keep at it and hopefully continue to raise my scores. If I can get all the collections accounts removed then the only other negatives on my report will be late payments, bankruptcy and a couple accounts that were included in bankruptcy but will fall off over the next year. 

[Anonymous]

I started the HIPAA process last Saturday for the medical collections. Hopefully if everything pans out, I can get those removed in the next few months by following that. As for the collections for Cox, when I went to pay them they changed their tune about removing it. So, now I'm going to call the CA on Monday and see if they'll agree to a PFD. If I can't get someone to help on the phone, I'll send a PFD letter. 

I'm going to be starting to tackle my credit card balances in force in March with a modified debt avalance plan. I want to get my Cap1 QS card paid off pronto as I plan to start heavily using that for all my everyday expenses and paying in full. I opened a Cap1 360 checking account so that every week I can transfer my balance amount from my primary checking to Cap 1 and then PIF. I will also be parking $500 in that account as an emergecy backup so that my Cap 1 card will automatically PIF in case I forget. 

Here's the current balances and my modified debt avalanche plan. Total minium payments on these accounts is $206, I'm rounding that up to $300. I'll be making an additional $500 payment in March and another additional $500 payment in May. That should get all balances to $0 by June.

Revolving Utilization Tracker
Account	Bal	Limit	Utilization %
First Premiere Bank 1	$    178.93	$       300.00	60%
First Premiere Bank 2	$    601.62	$       700.00	86%
Merrick Bank	$    405.73	$       750.00	54%
Capital One	$    472.59	$       500.00	95%
Target	$    127.27	$       300.00	42%
Kohl's	$    138.62	$       300.00	46%
Care Credit	$           -	$    1,000.00	0%
Total	$  1,924.76	$    3,850.00	50%

				Monthly Payments
No.	Month	Snowball	Additional	Capital One	First Premiere Bank 1	First Premiere Bank 2	Merrick Bank	Kohl's	Target
1	Mar-20	594.00	500.00	482.92	166.08	43.00	39.00	27.00	42.00
2	Apr-20	130.23		-	18.77	173.23	39.00	27.00	42.00
3	May-20	649.00	500.00	-	-	433.36	297.64	27.00	42.00
4	Jun-20	227.25		-	-	-	57.67	66.73	6.75

After the balances are paid off I'll be closing the $300 first premiere to avoid the AF. In 6 months, hopefully all the collections are gone and then I can try for the Discover IT card and close the other First Premiere too. I want to get rid of these crazy AF cards. 

[Anonymous]

Unexpected CLI from Merrick today. Only a modest $200 but still pretty cool! It dropped my utilization on that card down to 54% and overall down to 50%.

[AllZero]

Congratulations on your CLI!

[Anonymous]

Paid off Cap 1, will be using as my primary card from now on. Question, what date  do I need to ensure it's PIF by so it doesn't report to the CRAs a balance? My statements are usually the 12th-11th and due date is the 8th. Looking at CK Cap1 last reported on 2/11. Is it normal for them to report the same day the statement cycle ends? So I should ensure it's PIF and cleared by the 11th so it doesn't report a balance? 

Sent PFD letter to Convergent yesterday for the Cox collections. They should receive it tomorrow and I'm hoping to get a positive reponse from them.

On another note, not directly related to my rebuild but can impact it, my cars transmission went out yesterday. There's a recall for a specific transmission issue so I've towed it to the dealership and hope they cover the repair. If not, I can't trade it in because I still owe $6800 on it and it's not even worth that, I would be real upside down with an even higher payment than I already have, plus I wouldn't qualify for a good rate anyways. So if that happens I plan to park it and continue to pay it and then buy a car for like $1500. That will have a big impact on my rebuild and set me back a few months. Fingers crossed they cover the repair. 

[Beilin]

If you are actively using a card and want it to report to a 0 balance you should pay it by the due date and then not use it until after the statement cuts. If you pay by the due date and then make a purchase within the few days before the statement cuts, CRA will show on time payment but will reflect balance. Also, I would cut down on spending and start putting money aside in anticipation for repairs or to have to get a new car. Hopefully they will cover it but if not, at least you'll be prepared. There are finance options out there but they more than likely won't have favorable terms. Hope that helps, good luck on your rebuild journey!

[Anonymous]

---

@Beilin wrote:

If you are actively using a card and want it to report to a 0 balance you should pay it by the due date and then not use it until after the statement cuts. If you pay by the due date and then make a purchase within the few days before the statement cuts, CRA will show on time payment but will reflect balance. Also, I would cut down on spending and start putting money aside in anticipation for repairs or to have to get a new car. Hopefully they will cover it but if not, at least you'll be prepared. There are finance options out there but they more than likely won't have favorable terms. Hope that helps, good luck on your rebuild journey!

---

Thanks for the info. I'm already on a budget as it is, with some money going to savings and some going to paying down debt. When I'm talking about using my card, I'm basically going to use it for all my normal expenses, not extra things that aren't in the budget. I figure it's better to use my Cap1 card, get some cash back and show them I use a lot in hopes of getting a higher limit. 

I have some money to get a cheap car, but I don't plan on purchasing a new car until next year. If they won't repair it, then it's gonna sit and I'll continue to pay it off. 

[Anonymous]

I am appreciative of you being active and updating! I have a collection with Convergent. Please update as soon as you can 

[Anonymous]

March Update. Scores are as follows: 

EXP: 620

TU: 616

EQ: 631

Managed to gets some point bumps. I've been working on paying down balances. I may have to hold off on being as aggressive as I want with my car issues I'm currently going through. We'll see how that works out. 

I've also been working on getting collections accounts removed. I've been successfull with a couple, working through the HIPAA process with a few others and a PFD sent on one. 

Revsolve, Inc -$726 Reports as open collection on TU with balance but as IIB on Experian with no balance. Weird. Still working on this one. Plan to send some letters on Monday. 

ARS Account Resolution Services - $220, repoting as an open collection on EQ still. Got deleted from TU and EXP, still waiting for a reponse from EQ. 

Convergent Outsourcing, Inc - $422, still reporting to all 3 as open collection. PFD letter sent last week, waiting for a response. 

HCI, Healthcare Collections, LLC - $199, deleted from EXP which was only CRA it was reporting too. 

I'm going to keep working on those and eventually I will start doing some GW for some late payments. 1 on Cap 1 (7/19), 1 on first premiere (7/19) and 4 with Target(2 in 2018 and 2 in 2019). Don't have much hope but will definitely try! All accounts are setup for autopay so no worries about that happening again. 

Overall, things are going pretty decent. Hoping my car doesn't derail things but will just keep putting in the work regardless. I'm on here everyday reading and learning and getting encouragement so thank you every one!

[Anonymous]

April Update. Scores are:

EQ: 638

TU: 643

EX: 640

Still working on getting the 2 medical collections removed via the HIPAA letter process. I did not receive a response from Convergent on the PFD request so still figuring that one out. 

I've continued to pay down my CC debts. The only one I've been using is the Capital One QS but I pay that in full each week. Should have the rest paid off by June. 

Revolving Utilization Tracker
Account	Bal	Limit	Utilization %
First Premiere Bank 1	$           -	$       300.00	0%
First Premiere Bank 2	$    459.44	$       700.00	66%
Merrick Bank	$    585.80	$       750.00	78%
Capital One	$           -	$       500.00	0%
Target	$      89.39	$       300.00	30%
Kohl's	$      90.87	$       300.00	30%
Care Credit	$           -	$    1,000.00	0%
Total	$  1,225.50	$    3,850.00	32%

I was very pleased to see I now get the pre-qual for the Discover IT card. I don't plan on applying though right now as I'm trying to age my recently open account some. 

Hopefully if all goes well, the plan is to buy a house in the next year.