@Anonymous wrote:Hi All,
This is my first time on the forum but I am in need of help repairing my credit. I've offically hit rock bottom and need to get on my own feet. I need to get a new car but am having trouble getting approved on a good loan and I would like to buy a house someday. I will list everything I find on my credit report below and let me know where I should start. I do work full time and am also a full time student AND mom. Where do I start? Also what should I do about the comenity/ulta charge off, I have no idea who the collection account holder is as it has not showed yet.
MyFico scores says : 608 Which CRA is this score? You can get free EX Discover scorecard.
Creditkarma : TU: 529
Equifax: 549
Accounts
CapOne Secure: $68 ( $600 limit, was at 98% uti, just paid waiting for update)
CapOne Unsecured: $100 ( $500 limit, was at 98% uti just paid waiting for update)
Discover Secure (NOT on report yet): $0 ( $200 , Just opened and waiting to arrive and be added to report)
Car/WellsFargoDealerServices: $12,953 (should be down another $200 once it updates)(Also important: I have 4 30-50 days late payments, loan is 2.5 years old)
DeptofED: $24,930 (Just started Paying $150/month while in school, second degree)
If I'm reading this correctly. You paid down all your accounts? If so. Thats great. You should see a nice boost from lowering your util. The lates are still kinda new to ask for GW. Maybe a little later down the road. But it doesnt hurt trying.
Collections:
Recievable Management/Progressive (Aug 2016) : $166 (Still owe)
CMRE finacial/Medical Bill (June 2015): $394 (PAID this a few days ago but was not able to get a PFD)
ComenityCapitalBank/Ulta (Feb 2018, last reported DEC 2018): balance may be up to $798 (Reporting $0 balance, closed, listed as CHARGE OFF/Purchased by another lender but collections not on report) Really unsure what to do about this one!!!!!!!! Call Ulta and see if they still have it and it hasnt hit a CA. If it hasnt been sold to a CA yet. Pay them off.
I do have ALOT of recent hard inquiries as I had no idea they had such an impact. I have 7 inquires on TU and 17 on Equifax. :0
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
The inq's. Well you know how to handle that. No apping till they fall off. Especially EQ. How many on EX?
It appears you doing the right thing for now. Paying all these debts down. Main thng is get your util under 8% total for all cards. And the same for any card. Dont have more than 33% of your total cardfs report a balance. Use them but pay them. I'm not a collections expert. Never had to deal with them. But I do know from being on here over 3 yrs. Paid is a whole lot better than owed. hen they'll stop reporting a balance. Maybe a few other can chime in. Good Luck and keep up the good job reducing your debts.
Hi BelugaMommaaa -- welcome to the forums!
Believe or not, you're not in too bad of shape --
First -- ignore credit karma scores during your rebuild as they will not respond to changes to your credit in the same manner as FICO -- and FICO is what lenders use to make credit decisions. Credit Karma is, however, very good for monitoring updates to your credit reports.
Also -- you say 'myFICO' score says 608 -- for which bureau? And what are the scores for the other two?
Your current accouts are good - great choices for your rebuild... keep your util low on those three cards and keep paying your auto loan on-time. You should start a goodwill campaign in attempt to have those late payments removed; they may very well reject your request numerous times but so what... keep trying.
Excellent move making payments on your student loans while your still in school.. keep that interest down.
As for the others stuff... It seems Goodwill letters are going to be your thing... read this thread for the most successfull goodwill technique: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/The-Saturation-Technique-Best-GW-adjustment-...
@Anonymous wrote:
Collections:
Recievable Management/Progressive (Aug 2016) : $166 (Still owe)
CMRE finacial/Medical Bill (June 2015): $394 (PAID this a few days ago but was not able to get a PFD)
ComenityCapitalBank/Ulta (Feb 2018, last reported DEC 2018): balance may be up to $798 (Reporting $0 balance, closed, listed as CHARGE OFF/Purchased by another lender but collections not on report) Really unsure what to do about this one!!!!!!!!
I do have ALOT of recent hard inquiries as I had no idea they had such an impact. I have 7 inquires on TU and 17 on Equifax. :0
The Charge-Off: Call the original creditor for that charge off and to find out who currently owns the debt. Then contact that debt collector and arrange to pay it - either in full or settle it. Do it before they have a chance to report their own collection tradeline so you don't end up with two negative tradelines for the same debt. Before you pay, try to get them to agree to accept payment in exchange for never reporting the tradeline. Odds are, if you pay it before it reports, it will never report -- but understand that they can report if they want, so you want to avoid that if possible by getting them to agree to those terms. Once you have the debt taken care of, begin a goodwill campaign with the original creditor to see if you can get it removed -- a goodwill may or may not be successful, but it's absolutely worth a shot. If you can't get it removed then you'll have to live with it but as it ages it will begin to hurt a bit less and your scores will begin to recover despite its presence -- tho it will hurt until it actually falls off upon reaching the 7 year reporting statute.
See if you can get a PFD for Recievable Management/Progressive. If not, then pay it and begin a Goodwill campaign. I suggest you pay it because the debt is fairly recent and you run the risk of having the debt collector update the tradeline during the time it remains unpaid on your reports. Each time they update, it makes the delinquency appear 'new' in the eyes of FICO, preventing your scores from recovering. Sometimes, they'll go months or years without updating and then BAM -- all of suden they update out of the blue and your scores drop -- deterring your progress. Once it's paid, whether it's ultimately removed or not, you won't have to worry about some random update dropping your scores in the future and as it ages, your scores will begin to rise.
Same with CMRE finacial/Medical Bill -- Google the "hipaa process" for medical collections to learn how to get this removed (we cannot discuss the process here per the creator's request).
As far as those inquiries -- yea, they're probably holding your scores down a good 15-20 points but there's nothing you can do about that now but wait - as they turn 12 months old, you'll regain the lost points. They will fall of your reports when they reach 24 months (25 months for Experian). In the meantime, don't app for anything else -- you need to 'Garden'. Take care of the accounts you have so they can grow.
If you take your Goodwill campaigning seriously and remain deligent -- you can be cleaned up quite nicely within the year. Good luck!!
