teresa9394 Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I will try to make this short... note-try! I filed bankruptcy in 9/95, have had about 15 total charge-offs, collections and one repo since that date. Most are 1998 and 99. A few are in 2001. I also have had a car loan that I have paid on time every month for 3 years. I also have two loans paid off from finance companies and paid them on time every month! I have had no negative credit in the past 2 years, unless by the old ones updating a balance date currently. The balance date is 2004 but yet the account was opened and closed in 98. I also have one civil judgement against me and two Judgements all are in 2000. I have been desperately trying to figure out how to repair my credit. I have not had a credit card for at least 6 years! My FICO Scores are 563, 548, 548. I have been reading a lot from this site and I am going to start disputing the debts.. a lot of the debts are both from the creditor and the collection agency. They are duplicated as I have been learning that they can do that. Most of the charge offs are from utility companies, cell phone company, once company and they list it as 4 charge offs with balances on each. Why not combine them as one account? I have one charge off from capital one credit card and that is it (dated 98). Should I apply for a CC to start building my credit. I have been doing great financially and am ready to clean up this mess. I can pay off the debts not in full but a least half of them but not sure who to pay first and what is more important. Should I let them fall off if they are with in a year of falling off? half will fall off next year! Please give me some advice on what to pay and if I should try to get some form of CC!Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeeptravel Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Hi there. Sounds like you are in a good place with those scores and no new credit. You will improve your credit by opening some new accounts.#1) Get a copy of your credit report from all 3 bureaus.#2) The balances of ALL your discharged accounts needs to read zero. I am assuming there are balances listed and that may be what is keeping your score in the 500's. That's your first assignment:-if- the balances are already set to zero, then start the process of disputing derogs.See the "Credit Repair 101" sticky on the main page of the forum on how that process works.Keep good records Because it's been so long since your BK, you can raise your score quickly.jt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsgettingbetter Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Excellent Advise JT.I would like to add--if lots of your stuff is old 1998 and 1999--it will probably fall off pretty easily--so I would definitely try to dispute some of this off before applying for a new credit card.Who knows--when you get rid of a bunch of old negatives--you may be able to get a much better card to start out with!!Good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teresa9394 Posted December 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I feel much better in my adventure on how to go about repairing my credit. I was so lost on how to go about fixing it. I have pulled my credit from all three companies and I am going to work with the creditors to get them off by paying the debt in return for deletion. I am also disputing the older ones to see how that goes. I will wait till then to apply for a card. I am just so glad I checked all this out before trying to repair it on my own!I have even thought about hiring a company to help repair my credit and still might because of my ignorance in this area, but i need to check the companies out first as well before i dive into that, as I am learning!I have been in the army for 12 years and my income is around 48000 a year and I think I can do well as long as my credit gets fixed! Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkobz Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 This should get you started...Another thing that helped was keeping organized......here is a plan that I followed....Good Luck! BATTLE PLAN: 1. A projected start and completion date 2. Your goal in cleaning your credit 3. Negitive items listed in importance to you 4. A never give up attitude WEAPONS NEEDED: 1. All 3 reports 2. A large binder with dividers with each Neg item listed at top 3. A calender in binder, along with scratch paper in each divider 4. small recorder 8.00 5. RR and certified stickers from post office 6. hole punch, stapler, tape 7. good place to go for help. (www.creditinfocenter.com!!) 8. Know the laws- FCRA, FDCPA, Consumer Credit law, State law 9. nerves of steel PLAN: 1. get all old personal info deleted 2. never do more than 2 negs at a time per report(well if u have above 15 u may want to try more) 3. 1-2 PUNCHOUT each item 4. Respond to any collection letters within 30 days with validation letter 5. document everything. each phone call, time and person 6. never pay unless u get delete(unless u have no choice and get good settlement) 7. make sure u keep paper trail. u want violations SCALE- 1. judgements, tax liens (old items 5 years or more, are easy to remove) 2. forclosures, repos 3. charge-offs w/ balances 4. charge-offs w/0 bal 5. collections 6. late pays 7. inquirys (new items are difficult to remove) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeeptravel Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 This should get you started...Another thing that helped was keeping organized......here is a plan that I followed....Good Luck! BATTLE PLAN: 1. A projected start and completion date 2. Your goal in cleaning your credit 3. Negitive items listed in importance to you 4. A never give up attitude WEAPONS NEEDED: 1. All 3 reports 2. A large binder with dividers with each Neg item listed at top 3. A calender in binder, along with scratch paper in each divider 4. small recorder 8.00 5. RR and certified stickers from post office 6. hole punch, stapler, tape 7. good place to go for help. (www.creditinfocenter.com!!) 8. Know the laws- FCRA, FDCPA, Consumer Credit law, State law 9. nerves of steel PLAN: 1. get all old personal info deleted 2. never do more than 2 negs at a time per report(well if u have above 15 u may want to try more) 3. 1-2 PUNCHOUT each item 4. Respond to any collection letters within 30 days with validation letter 5. document everything. each phone call, time and person 6. never pay unless u get delete(unless u have no choice and get good settlement) 7. make sure u keep paper trail. u want violations SCALE- 1. judgements, tax liens (old items 5 years or more, are easy to remove) 2. forclosures, repos 3. charge-offs w/ balances 4. charge-offs w/0 bal 5. collections 6. late pays 7. inquirys (new items are difficult to remove)That's a pretty elaborate plan. I would recommend a really good resource as well. www.nolo.com their credit repair manual is a great tool. Cheap too.Don't make it too complicated. Steady wins the race. And I do believe there has been expressed a difference of opinion on how many disputes at once are a good idea. I always did 5 or 6 with each round. Never had too much of a problem.Anyway-- I am sure you're having advice overload so I'll stop nowjt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownAndOut Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 I feel much better in my adventure on how to go about repairing my credit. I was so lost on how to go about fixing it. I have pulled my credit from all three companies and I am going to work with the creditors to get them off by paying the debt in return for deletion. I am also disputing the older ones to see how that goes. I will wait till then to apply for a card. I am just so glad I checked all this out before trying to repair it on my own!I have even thought about hiring a company to help repair my credit and still might because of my ignorance in this area, but i need to check the companies out first as well before i dive into that, as I am learning!I have been in the army for 12 years and my income is around 48000 a year and I think I can do well as long as my credit gets fixed! Thanks again!Is that a normal salary for 12 years in the army?I always hear horror stories of military on food stamps.You must be a specialist or something like that, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miracle Posted December 9, 2004 Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 Sounds like everyone else has given some great advice... but I still wanted to say WELCOME ABOARD!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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