Weighing my options

Mar 142011
 

I currently have 4 store charge cards that all have between 950-1300$ on them apiece. I have not made payments on any of these cards since about September of 2010, due to losing my job. I just recently won an appeal to get a lump sum of back pay from them, and it’s just enough to cover the outstanding debts as they currently stand. Now I am attempting to weigh my options, whether I should pay in full, pay for delete, or settle, or some one way, some another.

To start, last week, I arranged with WFNNB to pay in full two of the cards (~$2000 total), both still being held through them as the OC. I wasn’t really aware of any other option so I gave them my bank account info and set it up that way, as they were threatening legal action if I didn’t do it on that day (I realize this was probably just pressure tactics but I was scared and had intended on paying anyway so I just went with it). The payment will not post until the end of the month, and I was told I could call and cancel it if I was unable to make it. Now I am reading about “pay for delete” and things like that and am wondering if I should just consider that ship sailed (as I’ve basically admitted I have the money), or if I should be calling, cancelling that payment, and asking about PFD. Is PFD going to cost me substantially more? If so, I can only do it for some of the cards– Literally my whole backpay amount is taken up by these cards, since they include late fees.

The other two accounts (Citi and HSBC) I have not yet made arrangements with. They have both offered me settlements which I did not respond to as I did not have the money at the time. I don’t know how to find out whether the debt is still held by the OC or a CA at this point– Looking at my yearly credit report, Citi is listed as charged off but still shows a recent balance, HSBC is just listed as “closed” but also has a recent balance, however the settlement offers I recieve from them are not coming from HSBC, but “firstsource advantage”, so I don’t understand who owns it anymore.

So basically, I am trying to consider the best option for me, both short and long term. Up until the last 8 months, I have always been on time with my payments. I don’t know if my best options are to just pay it off in full and move on, or if I should even be considering settlements, or PFD (some of these accounts are barely 2 years old, some since 2004). I have other accounts in both good and bad standing, but it’s just these four I can’t keep up with and am ready to get away from. Thanks in advance for any advice that you can offer.

Zenith Acquisition

Mar 092011
 

Received a letter today from Zenith Acquisition who is willing to take a 60% discount on my outstanding balance of 1038.05. (415.22)  Is it possible to do a PFD for an amount that is less than the full balance? 

Unrealistic Expectations?

Jan 232011
 

Is it an unrealistic notion to attempt a 100 point FICO score increase within 12 months with the following plan of action?

I was thinking about opening 2 secured credit cards (so that they don’t do a hard inquiry) in addition to paying off all my collections.

There is an outstanding balance of about 200 dollars on a small personal loan I took out in order to bump up my credit (all payments have been made on time).  It will be paid in full in about a month and a half.

Also, if I successfully manage to have creditors delete negative information from my credit reports after I pay the outstanding balances in full, will this actually result in a credit score increase?  Or is it only good in that the derogatory information won’t show?  I have done some reading on this subject and haven’t gotten a definitive answer.

Please advise.

Thanks in advance!

:smileyhappy:

 

New to board, question re: home loan mod hurt score

Nov 062010
 

Hi, everyone,

This is my first post and have been searching for resources to help improve my credit score. I’ve been a Score Watch subscriber since Feb. 10 and have seen my credit score improve from 578 to its current 611. Here’s some background.

 

In Nov. 08 I lost my job. Worried about getting behind in our mortgage, in March 09 I applied for assistance through our mtg. company even though we were not currently behind in our payment. I filled out a hardship statement and subsequently began making partial mortgage payments, about $500-600 less as directed by our mtg company. Little did I know that even though we made every payment on time, the mtg company reported us deliquent or behind, which technically we were because we were not making full payments. No problems with that. But herein where the problem lies. It took our mtg. company from March 09 to JULY 2010 to determine whether or not we could qualify for any loan modification program. First, we did not qualify under the Obama plan but did qualify for their traditional mod program. While the end result was good, reducing our interest rate from 7.5% to 4.6%, did not charge any deliquent fees or increase the terms of our loan, our credit score took a major hit. I was quite disappointed that once the delinquency was resolved our scores only improved 10 points.

 

Now, we need to purchase a new vehicle. Our current van has over 211,000 miles and it’s barely hanging on. I pray it makes it through the winter or til our scores improve. Is there any advice on ways to improve our scores? The last late payment on my credit report was on a credit card back in Dec. 2008. Since then, everything has been paid on time, except the mtg. payment (on time, but partial). Score Watch simulator suggests that paying down my outstanding debt would improve my score. Currently, I have $4,569 in outstanding credit card debt and a school loan of about the same amount. Is there anything else I can do?

 

Thanks!

Very High Collection Charge Question

Aug 112010
 

hello everone…I have this outstanding account with the State of Ohio for an unpaid college tuition balance. Can they charge me collection costs over half the balance due?

 

Image is from the states payment website.

 

 

Help or Hurt?

Jul 122010
 

I have a student loan. It is broken down into 4 “elements” I guess you would call it. I have the money to pay off the smallest of the elements. Would paying off this one give me a FICO boost or would it potentially hurt me due to raising my utilization of my installment loans once they close out the loan upon payment, thus removing the limit and decreasing “Available Credit”? This “element” actually only accounted for about 3% of my outstanding debt when it was at 100% balance and is currently at a balance that is at a little more than 1% of my total outstanding debt.

EQ FICO Score dropped 18 points after disputing collection

May 152010
 

I’ve been trying to dispute a PGE collection from 6/07 that I never received (moved-out and bill never forwarded to new address).  I found out the outstanding $45 had gone to collection (never received collection notice) only when I wanted to restart service with PG&E in May 09.  At that time CS told me that if I PIF then collection would be deleted from CRA.   DIdn’t think twice, paid in full, but unfortunately didn’t check if collection was deleted until January 2010, which it wasn’t.  Called OC 4-5 times, each CS person ruder than the next. One actually hung up on me. On May 5, my EQ Fico score was 668.  Called EQ to dispute over phone after first dispute came back info verified saying info should have been deleted per verbal agreement. On May 10, dispute results came back, info verified and score dropped 18 points to 650. Scorewatch said score dropped because collection too recent (one month).  Called EQ CS again and asked to talk to supervisor (from oversees with hardly understandable accent) and she said that the collection shows a new late payment on same account.   I asked how could this be if the full amount was paid in May 09 and there can’t be a late payment on a zero balance.  She said all she could do was submit a new dispute. Dispute results came back today with account history showing collection status open as of April 2010.  Called PGE collections dept. and they said no new late payments but they can’t change how EQ is reporting.
Asked to talk to PGE supervisor, had to leave VM and he never called back.  Now I can’t even talk to a first-line CS because supervisor has to “call me back.”  The report does not show DOLA but DOFD is 6/07 and balance $0.  Please help.  Should I send letter to OC or EQ? PIF so no leverage with OC.  EQ is using date of dispute report as new late payment.  Absolutely nothing else has changes so this has dropped my score 18 points. This is hell.

 

5/6: EQ 668 TU 671 EX 685

5/10″ EQ 650 TU 671 EX 694 (EX 4 inquiries fell off) 

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