tw0st3p

Thanks for the help guys. I am not really a big fan of walmart and haven't shopped there in years due to my objection of some of their business practices, however if getting the card and using it within reason would help my credit then I wouldn't be opposed. Are there any other similar alternatives to the walmart card? I have researched the secured cards, however I am sinking 20% of my income into a 6 month emergency fund which I hope to have fully funded by the end of the year, after that, it is a more viable option. More to the point, am I on the right track with increasing my available credit to help my credit score as long as it is paid off in full or the balance of available kept around 1/3? I currently only use the orchard card to put gas in my car and nothing else and that approaches 2/3 of available credit per month.

So I am working my way back into a decent credit score and have a question. I have had some issues in the past but I have a good job, and have my finances in order. I currently have only an orchard bank card with a $300 limit that I got about a year ago to help build some credit, and I pay the balance in full every month. I am current/on time with my mortgage, and no car payment. The biggest blemish is a defaulted student loan with a balance of $2400. That is in rehab and should be taken care of by June 2013. My question is this. In April I checked my FICO and it was 568. I checked today and it was 620. The only real difference was the utilization of that $300 orchard bank card. In april I had a balance of $275 when I checked my credit, today I had a $0 balance. Could that cause the nearly 60 point swing, and if so would it make sense to apply for another credit card to expand my available credit to help my score? If that is the case what would be good cards to research with my current situation?

sloanhelper, is that true even for a non-federal student loan? The originator was the Oklahoma Student Loan Authority. I obviously want to get this resolved as this is one of the last negative's on my report, however I just want to cover my bases and I have read to never give out bank account/routing #'s.

Thanks for the reply. If I am able to get the terms of the rehab in writing (#of months, amount of monthly payments, total owed, etc.) should I just give them the routing and bank account of a secondary checking account and make sure there is no more money in there than is necessary to pay off the loans and let them do their thing? I have been reading on here that my current CA (NCO) has jacked up the monthly payments without warning and added collection fees at the end of the rehab.

So I have a defaulted student loan. Just got off the phone with the collection agency and they said they would enroll me in the rehab program. Their terms were 1000 down and 50/month for 9 months, then it would be repurchased and I could work out new payment options. This is all well and good and within my budget, however she said that I would not be enrolled in the program until I made a payment and tried to get my bank account and routing numbers. I balked at this and said I would prefer to get a letter/bill/invoice or some sort of documentation of the agreement, and then I would setup automatic bill pay through my bank to schedule an overnight check every month for 9 months. She said this would not work, but that they could take payment with a debit card. I prefer to automate this so that I do not need to worry about calling in on the correct day to make a payment. I also do not want to give my bank info out. I have done a lot of searching on here and the two main things I take away are to get documentation of everything, and not give out bank info. I realize that the two options they presented gives them the ability to get their money regardless of what's in my account. I said I would call back later with the bank info just to get off the phone and do some research. Should I stick to my guns and get documentation of the terms first and then say it's a no go unless they take automatic checks? According to the lady I spoke with I cannot enroll in the rehab program until I make a payment, and they don't want to take my desired form of payment? What the hell. Anyone have any ideas of what my REAL options are, not what they prefer?

Thanks for the info. I was leaning towards the rehab, however I wanted to be sure that was the best option for credit repair.

Hey all, I have done some research on here and think I know the best way to go but wanted to see if I might be able to get a bit of reassurance. I have one outstanding student loan in default with a balance of $2386.91. It is in collections with NCO Financial systems and the guarantor is Oklahoma College Assistance Program (OCAP). This is reporting on all of my credit reports. Fortunately I am in a position to pay off the entire balance if that is the best option, however when I spoke to OCAP she said if I did that they would leave it on the credit reports, but marked "Paid". She was adamant that they would not remove this from my reports. She said in order to do that I need to setup the rehab program with the collection agency and make 9 consecutive payments on time, then it would be pulled off collections and the balance purchased by another loan company. It seems the best option is to make the 9 payments and have it removed from my credit, and then pay it off in full with the new company? Is this really the best option, rather than paying it off in full? That seems counter-intuitive. Thanks for any help.

Thanks for the heads up on the address situation, I have a few that need to be addressed.

First off, I have been lurking and searching for answers to a couple of questions but have yet to find a good answer to either so I thought I would post here. I have recently pulled my credit reports and a FICO score. My goal is to increase my FICO score obviously and with it my credit worthiness. Now that I am older and wiser and in a much better financial situation I need to work to repair the previous damage from my youth. Question #1: I have a collection account for a student loan with a balance of, I believe, $2700 (dont recall off hand). This was sent to a student loan modification program wherein after 9 consecutive on-time payments in a year it would be withdrawn from my credit report and sent back to the guarantor of the loan. I have made those payments on time, however I am now in a position where I could pay off the balance entirely just to get this off my report ASAP. What would be the best way to go about getting this taken care of? Is it possible to go back to the guarantor and pay off the initial balance, circumventing the collection agency and their fees? Question #2: This one is ridiculous, I had some left over checks from a checking account that I closed, ordered a pizza and accidentally paid for it with a closed account check and didnt hear about what I had done until it popped up in collections, so I immediately paid it off, thinking it would be withdrawn from collections. I have since learned on here that I should have written a request letter asking for it to be removed from my report upon payment since after payment they have no obligation to remove it. I havent checked if they did or not since it was only in the last few weeks that I paid it off. Is there anything I can do here? Maybe a goodwill letter? Sorry for the long first post, and I am sure there will be more as I work to improve my situation. Thanks for the help.