Finally have enough money

Mar 112011
 

I finally have enough money to start paying off old old debt, but not really sure to begin.  I know that I have several accounts, but none of them are on credit reports that I can pull and all of been sold and resold so many times that I have no idea who has the accounts at this point.  I have very little original paperwork .  How do I go about finding what these accounts are?  Most of them have a DOFD of 1999-2001, so they are pretty old.  The only one I know of for sure is actually still on my credit report that I can pull, but it is showing up as a positive, so I am just leaving it alone.  How can pay these debts back without killing my score which is in the 750 range?

Two Accounts Left / Both With Lawyers

Feb 222011
 

Hey all,

 

So my wife and I have been paying off all of our collection accounts. We are down from 11 to 2 now. Both are with lawyers offices and are around $2500.00; however, neither has had an actual suit filed. I’m a little hesitant at this point as to what my move should be. Should I send the DV to the CA? Or, are we past that point now? I don’t want to irritate the situation and have them file a lawsuit or refuse to work with us on a payment plan. But, I do want to get a payment plan started and get these taken care of. Should I just call the lawyers’ offices and talk to them? What should I do here?

Question on Collections Account

Feb 222011
 

Follow this maze: My wife made a serious mistake with a credit card and made some decisions without my knowledge (she panicked a bit when a company threatened legal action), but here are the dots I’ve connected looking through her credit reports.

 

She had a Chase account with a balance over $8,000. The account is listed as transferred to another lender in Dec. 2007. My assumption is Arrow Financial (who I’ve seen mentioned negatively on these boards and elsewhere) took the debt, as there is an entry on her credit report from Arrow beginning in Dec. 2007 w/ a similar balance. From there, I believe the account was sent into collections beginning in the summer of 2009, to a company called Brachfeld Law Group in Texas. A quick Google search showed that Arrow and Brachfeld appear to be connected.

 

My wife was contacted by Legal Advocates for Consumers in Debt, a company I believe that is located in Chicago. They are paying $245 a month to Brachfeld (the statements from LACD are how I tracked down their name) and taking their $40/month off the top. Not ideal and probably not what I’d have done had I really known the situation, but at this point, it is what it is.

 

Here are my questions.

 

1.) On her credit report, Arrow continues to show balances in the $8,000 range and is listing the account in Collections, though it appears in the Closed Accounts section of her report. Is this OK? Should the entry from Arrow be reflecting a new balance? Should it continue to appear every month as in collections?

 

2.) Without knowing the full balance of the account as I’m typing this message (my guess is she’s paid between $3-5,000 by now), what is the best way to go about having this item removed from her report as a collections account? It seems Arrow is awfully difficult to deal with based on what I’ve read. Is it even worth contacting them or their collection agency to determine a settlement?

 

Hopefully this isn’t too confusing. I normally just read and don’t post, but I’ve worked hard the last year or so getting my credit straightened out and would like to do the same with hers. I wasn’t in nearly as bad a shape as she is at this point (I just had some debt to pay down), but it seems like we won’t be able to get much done before tackling this issue and would appreciate any help.

Will being added as as AU help?

Feb 152011
 

Good morning!  I just LOVE this forum; I’m learning so much! 

 

I have been rebuilding my credit.  I have 1 installment loan ($1000), 2 MC’s ($1500 & $750) and 2 retail cards ($350 & $300); all paid to 0%-1% each month.  I want to raise my score (It’s at 583; up from 415 – 2 years ago).  I don’t want to apply for new credit (4 hard inquiries).  I think the only thing I can do at this point is to increase my length of credit.  My average account is 2.8 years old.  My BF has perfect credit with high limits, low balances and a very long history.  We are preparing to buy a house.  If he adds me as an AU (and they report to the credit reporting agencies), can I expect a bump in my score?  Will his name show on my report and vice versa?

 

Thanks!

Where Is The Top In The S+P 500 ?

Feb 102011
 

The S+P500 has gone from 666 on March 9, 2009 to 1325 on Tuesday February 8th. Nothing wrong with this move, however it is really long in the tooth when compared with previous Bull Markets.

 

The market is extremely overbought right here. I suggest extreme caution be used when considering new stock   positions. There will be a better buying opportunity in the future.

 

This pattern counts complete. It should be the end of the 5th wave according to Elliot Wave Theory. Also Stochastics near 90 and RSI’s regularly in the 70′s. We are at the point  where the market has historically corrected.

 

Does anyone else think we are near the top?  I would appreciate your input.

 

                                                                                   Wizard 3196

Settlement letter example?

Feb 012011
 

I’ve been looking all over the internet for a good settlement letter, but cannot seem to find one. I have one more ‘baddie’ on my CR and would like to settle it. I know that this forum suggests PIF, but I can’t afford to pay it now and would like to settle. 

 

The OC is Capital One. I would like to do it over the phone, but if I enter my account # on the phone it will direct the call directly to the CA which I’d like to avoid at this point. The CA is offering a settlement of 60% of the debt, but I should go through the OC, right? 

 

Anyway, I’d like to go for the best possible result, which would be settle for 60% off the total debt and having the tradeline read ‘Settled in Full’ with a $0 balance. 

 

Any advice? Letter examples?

 

Thanks

Cancel the little cards?

Jan 072011
 

I have been fixing my credit for just about 3 years now. Then ~420 FICO today 670 and 640. In that time I have ben able to secure the following lines of credit:

 

$300 US Bank Visa (account is 1.5 years old, was secure went traditional 6 months ago, no annual fee)

$500 Orchard bank MC (2.5 years old, $72 annual fee)

$300 Kohl’s card (1 year old)

$1,000 Target Red Card (one month old)

New Mortgage (6 months)

New car loan (1.5 years)

 

Yesterday I applied for and was approved for a Cap 1 no hassle rewards card with a 3k limit ($39 AF).

 

I PIF every month and up to this point I had been using the two little cards but having to juggle and pay close attention due to the tiny limits. With this new 3K card (plus cash back) I will want to use it to pay for everything and I don’t see why I would want to use the little cards at all.  I requested a CLI on the US Bank card yesterday but the response was that I was not immedieatly approved, I will get a final decision in the next 10 days. This smells like a “no” to me.

 

My next goal is to refi the car (paying 14% now)

 

What is my best move here? The US Bank card isnt costing me anything and they are my primary bank now, I like them a lot. Still I don’t see a reason to use the card other than to keep it active. I am appreciative to Orchard for being a major part of rehabing my scores to this point but their card looks like dog poop next to my shiny new one. Are there other “average” cards I should app for since I am in an app spree? Should I cancel Orchard, or threaten to and hope for a CLI?

 

Any advice is appreciated, and if more information is needed please ask.

 

Thanks!

Have I done all I can do?

Nov 062010
 

Hey Guys,

 

This is hopefully a “middle of my road” to credit rebuilding post, because I still have a long ways to go.  Let me preface my question w/ a brief history of my travels through the credit rebuilding process:

 

I started out like most of you/us having some SERIOUS credit challenges from negligence and ignorance on my part.  I finally decided to do something about it and look at the ugliest of ugly truth and get down to fixing the problem.

 

I started out w/ the following scores:  515 TU and less than 500 EQ

 

My baddies WERE: 

1 Public Record,

 THE FOLLOWING COLLECTIONS:

- Old gym membership paid off collections

- Old Cell Phone paid off collections

- Power bill unpaid in collections

- Cetergy for a bounced check that was paid

- 25 dollar medical bill from some company I’m still not sure of and can’t for the life of me find out about

- HSBC Bank for old credit card that was paid off for settlement

- Capital One with 5 60s, 4 90s, and a 120 that was charged off and paid for settlement

- Student loans in default

- Old cable bill in collections but paid off

 

I CURRENTLY have eliminated all but:

 

Gym membership still reporting

HSBC Bank still reporting (got a backdoor number and actually got an executive to call me and say there was nothing he could do after a day of researching)

25 dollar medical bill

Cetergy for the check

Old cell phone still reporting as paid off/collections

Public Record (will be on there for a while, but paid).

 

My current scores are:  EQ-629 and TU-624

 

What else can I do?  Am I finally to a point where I can ride out and just let things age?

 

Oh, I’m about to get my credit cards (4 of them) to under 9% Utilization, so I’m assuming another jump in points to hopefully 640/640.

 

Thanks for the input, anything would help at this point.  I know i can get a car and a house at this point, but I’d like to get my score to a 700 by the spring.  Any ideas??

 

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!

REVISED: What should I do with this auto loan I had. they have car.

Nov 012010
 

I was the secondary person on this car and my ex was the main person. I went away for a little bit and she got the car repoed. What must I do at this point. I didnt want to call them. We only had the car for about a year and a few months

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