Where should I start?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I've been observing the forums here for a while now and am hoping to get some assistance on what steps I should take. My Experian score is 586, ewww - and I'm including a breakdown of what's on my credit.

My husband and I are serious on buying a home. Our rent is $750, never late, and we could buy a home for 45,000-60,000 which would be half our rent even if it had a bad interest rate.

Sidenote - I am working on paying down my revolving accounts and get my utilization in better standing. I am not charging anything, and haven't for the last 2 months.

I own my debt, and am working on not letting my debt own me.

[Anonymous]

Caital One
 Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
Account Owner:    Individual Account.     High Credit:    $868  
Revolving    Credit Limit:    $750  
Date Opened:    06/2006      Balance:    $752  
Date Reported:    09/2010      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    09/2010      Actual Payment Amount:    $45  
Scheduled Payment Amount:    $19       Date of Last Activity:    09/2010

CBUSASEARS
 
Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
Account Owner:    Terminated     High Credit:    $650      
Date Opened:    08/2001      Balance:    
Date Reported:    06/2002      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:          Actual Payment Amount:    
Scheduled Payment Amount:          Date of Last Activity:    06/2002  

Childrens Place Card
Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
Account Owner:    Individual Account.     High Credit:    $182  
Credit Limit:    $150 
Date Opened:    05/2006      Balance:    $73  
Date Reported:    10/2010      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    10/2010      Actual Payment Amount:    
Scheduled Payment Amount:    $10       Date of Last Activity:    10/2010
    
GEMB/JC PENNEYS

Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
Account Owner:    Individual Account.     High Credit:    $926  
Credit Limit:    $1,100 
Date Opened:    11/2001      Balance:    $892  
Date Reported:    09/2010      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    09/2010      Actual Payment Amount:    $52  
Scheduled Payment Amount:    $44       Date of Last Activity:    09/2010
  
BENEFICIAL NATIONAL BANK

Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
Account Owner:    Individual Account.     High Credit:    $1,788  
Revolving    Credit Limit:    $0 
Date Opened:    05/2006      Balance:    $0  
Date Reported:    05/2009      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    04/2009      Actual Payment Amount:    
Scheduled Payment Amount:          Date of Last Activity:    04/2009

LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTER #38
Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
Account Owner:    Individual Account.     High Credit:    $593  
Revolving    Credit Limit:    $500     
Date Opened:    02/2003      Balance:    $140  
Date Reported:    09/2010      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    08/2010      Actual Payment Amount:    $180  
Scheduled Payment Amount:    $25       Date of Last Activity:    09/2010

   MACY'S/DSNB

Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
High Credit:          
Date Opened:    05/2001      Balance:    $129  
Date Reported:    09/2010      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    09/2010      Actual Payment Amount:    
Scheduled Payment Amount:    $5       Date of Last Activity:    09/2010

NORDSTROM FSB
Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED 

High Credit:    $540  
Revolving    Credit Limit:    $500  
Date Opened:    04/2006      Balance:    $458  
Date Reported:    09/2010      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    09/2010      Actual Payment Amount:    $32  
Scheduled Payment Amount:    $23       Date of Last Activity:    09/2010

WFFNB/LANE BRYANT
Current Status:    PAYS AS AGREED
High Credit:    $706  
Credit Limit:    $750 
Date Opened:    04/2006      Balance:    $705  
Date Reported:    09/2010      Amount Past Due:    
Date of Last Payment:    08/2010      Actual Payment Amount:    $35  
Scheduled Payment Amount:    $35       Date of Last Activity:    09/2010

COLLECTIONS

CBS COLLECTIONS
Date Reported:    07/2008
Date Assigned:    05/2007
Original Amount Owned:    $1,076
Date of 1 st Delinquency:    08/2006
Balance Date:    07/2008
Balance Owned:    $0
Last Payment Date :    12/06/2008
Status Date:    07/2008

BAY AREA CREDIT SERVICE
Date Reported:    07/2008
Date Assigned:    03/2008
Original Amount Owned:    $424
Date of 1 st Delinquency:    08/2006
Balance Date:    07/2008
Balance Owned:    $0
Last Payment Date :    30/06/2008
Status Date:    07/2008
Status:    P - Paid

VALLEY EMPIRE COLL CO

Date Reported:    06/2008
Date Assigned:    07/2007 
Original Amount Owned:    $334
Date of 1 st Delinquency:    09/2006
Balance Date:    06/2008
Balance Owned:    $0
Last Payment Date :    21/05/2008
Status Date:    06/2008
Status:    P - Paid
Comments:    Medical

TAX LEIN

Date Filed:     02/2010 
 
Amount:     $445 
Date Reported:     N/A
Lien Status:     
Date Released:     03/2010

[Anonymous]

ADDITIONAL SIDENOTE ON THE LIEN, ITS WITH UNEMPLOYMENT, THEY OVER PAID ME, WHICH THEY NOTED WAS NOT MY FAULT, BUT HAD TO PAY THEM BACK NONETHELESS. CALLED TO PIF WHEN WE GOT OUR TAX REFUND, SPOKE WITH NICE LADY TOLD HER I WAS PIF, SHE GAVE ME THE AMOUNT, AND SENT OFF CHECK. CALLED 5 DAYS LATER, THEY HAD RECEIVED THE CHECK AND POSTED THE PAYMENT.

FAST FORWARD TWO WEEKS, GET A LETTER IN THE MAIL FROM THEM - I'M THINKING ITS A RECEIPT, NO, ITS A BILL FOR $40FOR FILING IN COURT. THEY TOOK ME TO COURT. I WAS NEVER SERVED! I IMMEDIATELY CALLED THEM AND THEY SAID THAT PAPERS WERE SERVED TO SOMEONE NAMED JEREMY SOMETHING - WHICH IS OUR OLD NEIGHBOR AT OUR OLD APARTMENT COMPLEX. I TOLD THEM THEY DIDN'T SERVE IT TO ME, AND THAT IS NOT MY HUSBAND. THEY SAID THERE IS NOTHING THEY DID WRONG AND HUNG UP ON ME.

[RobertEG]

Hi, buttercupbass, and welcome to the forums!

You have done the right things in first steps at recovery!

In brief overview of what you have reported, outside ot the tax lien issue, your major hit on your credit score are the three collections.

It is great that each now seems to have been paid.  But the bad news is that a paid collection hurts your credit score just as much an unpaid collection.

FICO scores the occurance of the collection itself, and does not thereafter excuse it from scoring based on subsequent payment.  You need to get the CAs to agree to delete these from your CR.

From what you have said, my primary focus would be on getting good-will (GW) deltions of those collections from your credit report.

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much,

I will work on those, I've been looking through the threads to try and find a GW deletion letter to use.  I was rear ended by a 17 yr old girl named Phuc with no insurance, and couldn't work due to the fractured hip. Once the settlement was all done, and all the bills were paid, we had exactly $28 for my pain and suffering. I bought some Advil for the pain, and Godiva for the suffering and called it a day.

Anything else?

[RobertEG]

You wont see a lot of sample good-will letters becaues they are, by their nature, directed to your individual situation.They are not plain vanilla letters.

In my opinion, for what it is worth, a GW letter has two primary areas you can focus on.

First is just a  plain 'ole plea for sympathy.  Second is showng of how their GW deletion will benefit them in their future desire to want to keep your future business.

The more you plea woes for sympathy, the more it places, in my opinion, on you to also show that whatever prior personal woes you rely on have now been overcome.  Otherwise, it just paints you as a potential future risk. 

GWs are an art, and not a form letter.

[Anonymous]

Very true.

And since they're medical collections, I don't think my returning business is a real plea to stand on, lol.

I'll get over the writers block and get them finished.

Should I look into the option of having either my Sears or Best Buy re-opened? Is that a worthless feat? or would I just have to reapply all over again? I don't know if having them there is hurting me or helping me. The sears one I terminated myself, was never late. Best Buy, I was late, and they closed the account but I set up the payments to pay the full amount. (Wish I had known about this site then, might have had it deleted...oh well.)

[RobertEG]

Having an old account "reopened" will almost always, on the part of any creditor, want them to know your current credit status.

So it is almost like applying for a new account.

They will almost invariably pull your CR, and will probalby code it as a hard pull.

Closed accounts dont cause a loss of their age in your CR until, usually, 10 years from date of closing.  So re-opening wont immediately help your length of credit history.

What it would give you is the restored credit limit in your % util of revoviing credit calculation.  That is about it.

[Anonymous]

Meh, not really worth it then. Thinking back to what I've purchased on credit cards over the years, what I can remember buying, I don't even have half of what I bought anymore and I'm still paying on the crap.

I'll just focus my efforts on the baddies and go from there - Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Alright - 3 GW letters of deletion signed, sealed and sent!

Any idea on a time frame I could be looking at before I hear anything from anyone? Weeks? Months?

In case I don't hear from them, or I get refused, I might result to calling them multiple times a day, everday demanding they make something happen. What are they going to do? Tell me its rude to call someone repeatedly after being told the same thing each time? I'd like to see em try!

Kharma = making harassing repeated calls to creditors