lots of beginner questions...

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

Forgive me if I don't get all the jargon right as I've just joined the site and have only been lurking for about a week.  I'm hoping for some of collective wisdom as to how to get into a position to purchase a home quickest (I anticipate I can save about 10k a year toward a down payment so maybe 2 years toward no more than a 100k home, which is pretty nice in my neck of the woods, anyway).  I wish there was just a "step 1, step 2, step 3..." list of how to fix years of stupidity, but then again I expect many on here do too...are there t-shirts for this club?  Haha!!

So I have a student loan mess - 2 defaulted Sallie Mae/Navient private loans with current balances of 40k and 38k, both have been charged off with no activity since 6/2012.  Given other experiences, how might this turn out?  I've done some researching and given my income and how long it would take them to collect from me at my current salary I'm hoping to save up and settle these much like credit cards for maybe 10-20%....

I also have 2 public records, a state tax lein paid off in 11/2013 and a Capital One judgment paid off in 5/2013.  Is there anything that can be done about these on my CR or do I just have to wait it out?

Aside from that, I have 3 very small (>$1000) baddies and 1 4k baddie I'm not quite sure what to do with.

I also have about 45k in federal student loans that are all in good standing.  I've been working to get money under control for about 2 years now and haven't added anything and have actually paid down what I have and settled 2 other private student loans that still show on my CR. I have been busy this week getting some credit lines going so I can show some positive activity and have gotten a QS1 with a CL of $300, Fingerhut with a $500 CL (not Freshstart), and Discover It secured with a $200 CL that I plan to increase considerably.

My question is basically how should I attack my scores and get things cleaned up?  Currently: EQ 562, TU 583, EX 575

Thanks so much in advance!

[Anonymous]

I'm still learning how to tackle my baddies, so I'm not much help to you there. But as for your new credit cards, pay on time, more than the minimum payment, and try to keep your utilization at 10-20% when your statements are cut. This will have a nice impact on your scores. I started at 513, was at 586 in August, and as of today, I am at 598. And that is with all my baddies reporting. Good luck on your journey!

[OMW2_HighAcheiver]

Amazing when I see someone with lower credit scores and more debt approved for cards and I get denied. I guess I'm applying for all the wrong ish!

My EQ gained another 4 points today! Yay!

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forums!

About your PRs - state tax liens that have been paid can sometimes be removed early, varies by state, you'll have to check yours.  Often it is just submitting a form to the right place, but it pretty much has to be removed from the PR before it can be removed from your CRs.    A judgement for a CO has to be vacated by the court that issued it - again, varies by location so you need to check yours locally.  Often the info is accessible online on county website and what form to submit to where.

The amount of your secured card with Discover isnt important right now while you are in early rebuilding stages.  Just using the CCs and PIF even maybe multiple times in a month is good.  I would use the cash to pay off debts that are counting against you.

First step I would recommend is no new baddies and pay much more than minimum on the CCs. 

Organize the baddies and see if you can eliminate some.  If they are legit yours, maybe take on the smaller ones first to decrease the total of number of derog accounts reporting.  Example - you have 1k to fix credit this month.  Pay one at 1k or 5 at 200 each.  Pay 5 and get them reporting as paid is better than 1.

Try to get a PFD whenever possible.  If not, a PIF is good.  Then a 'settled for less than full' is better than not settled.

Many mortgage lenders require you to settle all obligations before approval.  Some allow you to have an approved repayment plan with at least 3 months payments to them.  The term 'approved' means an agreement with a CA that they agree to.  You cant just be sending in 10 a month on a 1.5k debt.

I would recommend getting things under control at least a couple months before you app for a mortgage.  And remember, before you app for it, do the 'opt out' of pre-screen offers at least a couple weeks before so the CAs will have less of a chance to come out of the shadows and ask for payment on an old debt, valid or not.

HTH

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much!  Definitely only positive additions to the CR from here forward!  And I'm still 18-24 months away from a mortgage app so hopefully I'll be able to have this all mostly behind me by then!

Some more questions:

• Do I have a good mix of CCs or should I add to my list with the 3 new TLs opened this week?  I'll definitely be using them and paying off so there's no more than a 10% balance on one at the reporting date.
• With my list of things wrong or maybe wrong with my CR, I have a Wells Fargo private student loan that was settled for less than full balance and EQ has the status as "charge-off", TU status says "payment after charge off/collection", and EX says "account legally paid in full for less than full balance".  Does this matter or is there anything I could/should do about it?  Especially the EQ still just saying "charge-off"?
• I'm currently researching having the state tax lien removed, but what about the Capital One CC judgment?  Is there anything I can do with this?  It was paid in full 05/2013.
• I have my list compiled of errors and things to work on including hoping for some PFDs on the baddies...
• My 4k baddie is from an apartment complex and I seem to remember something about not DVing these debts because they often can validate...I truly dispute owing anything after I was told by management (not in writing - I know...) that they'd keep my security deposit for the last month's rent and we'd be square.  Should I wake this bear when I have the money to do so?  Will they settle typically?

[Anonymous]

On the apartment, there are a lot of variables. Was it an eviction, or a lease break? How much is attorney fees. That sort of thing. I never had any luck battling apartments. I had one eviction, and one court sanctioned lease break. Still got garnished for over $5000, but I reported it to the housing authority, and they ended up being fined considerably more, Ordered to reimbursse me. So they sold the complex and filed bankruptcy. So I will never get that back. I own the eviction, though. It was legit. They did remove the public record once it was pif though.

[Anonymous]

About the apartment thing, at the end of my lease, I had asked the manager of the (corporately owned big) complex if I could just have them check the place out to see no damage was left and then have them use the deposit as my last month's rent as I was moving out of state a month early.  I did not ask to be excused from my lease in any way shape or form, I just wasn't going to live there the last month I paid for it with the security deposit.  The guy said sure, inspected, took the keys, and I moved out of state believing everything was great.  Like a year (?) later, I got a bill from a CA wanting nearly 4k for the place...no clue what they want it for, but since I have nothing in writing I really don't have any defenses either, and I have since changed banks and have no record of rent checks or anything...(my bookkeeping has since improved!).  I simply don't know what to do or how to approach this.  Other than a few letters, they're not chasing me, and I don't think I owe them anything.  It was assigned in March 2011 so it still has a while before dropping off...

Also - in the description on the CR for TU there is a note on this collection that says "included in bankruptcy" and the TU status of the account says "unrated or bankruptcy".  I'm not sure if that means they think I've filed bankruptcy at some point, which I haven't, or if the complex filed bankruptcy?....thoughts?

[Anonymous]

I am going to defer to people a lot more experienced than me on that one. But you should be able to reach out to your old bank for those records. They will most likely charge you a research fee, but it could be well worth it to prove no actual monetary default.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

About the apartment thing, at the end of my lease, I had asked the manager of the (corporately owned big) complex if I could just have them check the place out to see no damage was left and then have them use the deposit as my last month's rent as I was moving out of state a month early.  I did not ask to be excused from my lease in any way shape or form, I just wasn't going to live there the last month I paid for it with the security deposit.  The guy said sure, inspected, took the keys, and I moved out of state believing everything was great.  Like a year (?) later, I got a bill from a CA wanting nearly 4k for the place...no clue what they want it for, but since I have nothing in writing I really don't have any defenses either, and I have since changed banks and have no record of rent checks or anything...(my bookkeeping has since improved!).  I simply don't know what to do or how to approach this.  Other than a few letters, they're not chasing me, and I don't think I owe them anything.  It was assigned in March 2011 so it still has a while before dropping off...

Also - in the description on the CR for TU there is a note on this collection that says "included in bankruptcy" and the TU status of the account says "unrated or bankruptcy".  I'm not sure if that means they think I've filed bankruptcy at some point, which I haven't, or if the complex filed bankruptcy?....thoughts?

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Seems like the CA thinks you filed BK... Maybe they mixed up your account with someone who has a similar name that DID file BK. Are you sure this is *really* your account from that rental, and not someone elses?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

About the apartment thing, at the end of my lease, I had asked the manager of the (corporately owned big) complex if I could just have them check the place out to see no damage was left and then have them use the deposit as my last month's rent as I was moving out of state a month early.  I did not ask to be excused from my lease in any way shape or form, I just wasn't going to live there the last month I paid for it with the security deposit.  The guy said sure, inspected, took the keys, and I moved out of state believing everything was great.  Like a year (?) later, I got a bill from a CA wanting nearly 4k for the place...no clue what they want it for, but since I have nothing in writing I really don't have any defenses either, and I have since changed banks and have no record of rent checks or anything...(my bookkeeping has since improved!).  I simply don't know what to do or how to approach this.  Other than a few letters, they're not chasing me, and I don't think I owe them anything.  It was assigned in March 2011 so it still has a while before dropping off...

Also - in the description on the CR for TU there is a note on this collection that says "included in bankruptcy" and the TU status of the account says "unrated or bankruptcy".  I'm not sure if that means they think I've filed bankruptcy at some point, which I haven't, or if the complex filed bankruptcy?....thoughts?

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Seems like the CA thinks you filed BK... Maybe they mixed up your account with someone who has a similar name that DID file BK. Are you sure this is *really* your account from that rental, and not someone elses?

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I guess it's possible it's not mine, but it seems an odd coincidence to have an account from the same complex I did live it not be mine...I just think they've tried to charge me more than was agreed to or perhaps the paperwork trail went bad in the corporate chain somewhere.  Any which way I do not believe I owe anything and I have never filed bk...should I dispute this collection?  If so, with the CA or the CRA?  Will the OC still be able to produce paperwork (I cannot, not the lease or the cancelled checks or anything) if I DV?