Silca

Thanks for the tips, I just don't think it will help me to work on the baddies, for one I can't afford them, and two they will all be off the record in 2 years. I could maybe delete a few of the medicals, but I'd like to get a card first as that's one thing I can do right now to improve my credit. I've been banking with WF for 5 years so maybe they'll give me some leeway.

My Fico scores are TU 583 and EQ 581. The MYFico simulator says if I apply for and am approved for a new credit card my score will go to 641-671, which would be AWESOME. I would like to get above 620 and stay there so I can have the opportunity to buy my first house. I have 13 baddies, all in collections, none paid on recently, 9 are medical, 4 are student loans. Zero postive TL's. I have 3 inquiries on my report, one of them (most recent) is Wells Fargo for an unsecured card July of this year (denied). Is there any possibility I could get WF to use the same pull I had in July to apply for a secured card now? Or should I just go with Orchard or a local credit union first? I'm thinking I should open 2 secured cards now if possible and then don't apply for anything else for awhile. Thanks for any advice...

I am definitely a sub-prime customer for WF, and they've always treated me great, and I recommend them to others. I started about 5 years ago, had a recent nasty in Chex systems from USbank. BOA wouldn't let me open an account. So I went across the street to Wells Fargo. They gave me a provisional checking account, as long as I didn't overdraft for a few months they would keep my account open, and convert it to a normal free checking account. I never overdrafted, and have had a free checking account ever since. I've never paid anything for any service, including phone calls. I hardly ever keep much balance in there at all, most of my money is in PayPal. I'll transfer to WF once or twice a month to pay pending bills, that's it. No savings, no other accounts with them. Current balance less than $20. I had a scare last week though, bought an item from Amazon for $149, used my WF debit card. Amazon charged me $149 twice (one was authorization), which put my available balance in the negative. I freaked because I was overdrawn, so I went to my local branch, and talked to a teller that's only been there a few months. I asked her what I should do, what I would need to deposit etc. to cover fees. She printed out my statement, and explained that the pending transactions don't count, so as long as both the $149 charges didn't go through I'd be fine. Then one $149 charge went through, along with another Amazon charge, and a check to my local utilities. Now my available balance is negative $120+! No overdraft fees yet but I get an insufficient funds email in my inbox, log on, see that Wells Fargo has paid items for me and that there is a 'continuous overdraft charge' so it's important I remedy it quick! I was SO MAD. I thought great, so the teller totally lied to me. Did research on the net and found that people can be charged overdrafts for pending transactions. So I call the 1-800 number on the card. I get a friendly intelligent rep (that speaks perfect English, unlike Amazon rep) in about 3 minutes at 5pm mountain time. I try to keep my cool, explaining what happened. She explains to me the teller was correct, they will not charge overdraft fees on pending transactions. She goes ahead and transfers me to a claim guy to put a pending duplicate charge claim on the pending Amazon charge, just in case it went through. He also re-iterated, there are no overdraft fees on pending transactions. Anyway two days later all was fine. They do try to sell me insurance through the mail every few months, probably trying to find some way to make money off me. But I've never been charged any fees for anything. They did deny me an unsecured card, but with my sub-600 FICO that's no surprise.

That's great that it worked for you, especially on such recent items. Keep us updated if it raises your score. I am worried though about if I dispute, and it doesn't work, I wonder if that would make things worse...

I am new at this and have tried to read as much as I have time for, so forgive me for newbie questions. I have 13 negative accounts on my credit report, these are about $20K in student loans (very old, not paid on for years, should age off next year), and medical bills. The medical bills are all in collections, never paid on, total about $2,500, all happened in 2005 and 2006, one specialist, and a couple hospital visits, due to age off in 2012. I believe all are valid charges. My goal is to raise my FICO score. Will paying these medical bills raise my FICO score or lower it? I understand the dispute process, and I could do some pay for delete, but is it even worth it in my case? Would it raise my score? I can't afford to pay them all off right now. I have heard on here settling for a lower amount will lower my FICO, is this true? Some of these accounts are as low as $35, or as much as $800. Would it help my credit any to pay off a few of the smaller accounts? The percentage of my total debt reduction would be small, but I could quickly eliminate 4 or 5 negative accounts, would that help my FICO? Thanks for any help! (P.S. I have no positive accounts, but I will be getting a secured card here soon)

Thanks for the responses, I'll post on the medical forum. Thanks for whychat's page, I had seen different posts but never understood the point of disputing, now I do. My main goal is to improve my Fico score.

THANK YOU!

I have several medical bills that are in collections on my credit report. Total is about $2,500, they are scheduled to be on record until 2012. I can't afford to pay them all at once, nor can I afford to pay all that are held at one agency. I would like to begin paying some of the accounts off (a few are small like $30 or $60 or $100), but I'm worried that if I don't do it right it will make my credit score even worse, what is the best course of action for me? Thanks for any help...

I have a poor credit score, $2,500 in medical bills and $20k in student loans on my report, neither have been paid on for years. No current loans or cards or credit accounts at all. I want to get a secured credit card to start building my credit up so I am able to get cards, business loans, or houses when I need to. I bank at Wells Fargo so I plan to get one there. My question is about usage of the card. I understand it's important to not rack it up, but does that mean not ever get close to the limit, or just make sure it's paid off every month? So if I have a $300 limit, put $200 on it, then pay it off completely a week or two later before the billing cycle comes around, does that look worse to a credit reporting agency than if I only put $20 on it and paid it off in the same manner? Or does the agency only get notified of the balance that is carried on it at billing time? Reason I ask is I'd like to use the card for business purposes, and I will have no problem paying it off. But I don't want to use it if it's going to slow down my credit rehab. Thanks for any help!