TennisGalnAL

Just wanted to let you know I drove away in a brand new Ford Flex last night. Hubby was approved through Ford credit and was able to roll the rest of the other loan into the new one. We paid the $399 for gap insurance. Thanks! I love my new car!!!

APPROVING BANK - Ford Motor Credit BUREAU PULLED - Not sure? CREDIT SCORE - Salesman said Auto Beacon was 687 CUSTOMER STATE OF RESIDENCE - Alabama NEW/USED - New YEAR OF VEHICLE - 2011 MILEAGE - 38 miles RETAIL/LEASE - Retail AMOUNT OF LOAN - $38K (36K base and $2K negative equity rollover) ADVANCE PERCENTAGE - 110%? TERM CONTRACTED - 72 months APR/LEASE RATE - 4.9 APR MONTHLY PAYMENT - $ 606.97 MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTARY: Chapter 7 discharged 1/2003. Insurance totaled car last week resulting in a $2000 deficiency. Took the rebates on the new car for basically a wash and received 4.9% for 72 months. Salesman said he wasn't supposed to tell him but his credit score came back at a 687.

Yeah, unfortunately he didn't have GAP insurance so he'll owe the deficiency. We were just wondering what would be the better way to go to ensure he gets approval. Pay the loan in full and try for 0 down financing, or have the dealer roll the deficiency into the new loan and have $2200 for a down payment (and buy GAP insurance!!).

My Husband was in an accident Wednesday night and we got word from the adjuster that the car has been totaled. He owes Americredit $7200 and insurance is giving $4911 for the car so he'll have a $2200 deficiency. He has the ability to put the $2200 and pay Americredit off but my question is what would be better credit wise? If he puts the $2200 towards Americredit, he won't have a down payment on a new (used) car. Below is the app. Can you guide us in the right direction? Thank You! Your Age? 38 Your Equifax Credit Score? 697 (Truecredit FAKO's) Your Experian Credit Score? 680 (Truecredit FAKO's) Your TransUnion Credit Score? 689 (Truecredit FAKO's) How many years have you been on file with Equifax? 15 years How many years have you been on file with Experian? 15 years How many years have you been on file with TransUnion? 15 years YOUR PREVIOUS AUTOMOTIVE CREDIT HISTORY Do you have an open auto loan? Yes - see above Will this open auto loan be a trade-in? No - see above How many late pays within the last 12 months on the currently open loan? 0 How many late pays within the last 13-24 months on the currently open loan? 0 Your current open auto loan is financed with? Americredit Your current open auto loan payment is? 452.00 Estimated amount you may be upside down in this vehicle? -$2000 see above Rate your payment history on this open auto loan from 1-10 (1=poor:10=Best) 7 (a few lates from 2006) YOUR REVOLVING CREDIT HISTORY Total number of revolving account(s) you have? 5 Total percentage utilized overall? 85% How many of your revolving accounts are store cards? 2 (Home Depot and Dell) How many of your revolving accounts are major credit cards? (i.e. Amex, MC, Visa) 1 How many of your revolving accounts are known subprime credit cards (i.e. Aspire, 1st Premier) 0 YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION How long at your current residence? 4 years Do you Rent or have a Mortgage, or Live w/Relative or Other? Wife owns home in her name Your Monthly Rent or Mortgage payment? Wife pays mortgage - 661.00 month How long have you held your current job? 3 years Your total provable monthly gross income is? 4500.00 Your provable monthly gross income is provable via what method? (i.e. computerized paycheck stub, or tax return, or bank statements) Pay stub Is there additional monthly income? What amount monthly? Describe the source. Is the additional monthly income provable? Spousal income is not applicable. YOUR DOWNPAYMENT Please tell me your exact down payment in cash? (rebates and trade equity are not considered, please input a dollar value only.) See above Does any credit repository contain any Public Record? Yes - BK filed 2002, discharged 1/2003 If yes, please very briefly describe. Does any credit repository contain any Collection Account(s)? No but Ex-Wife filed BK in 2008 and included a joint account they still had together. It showed up on his credit report about 3 months later as a charge off. They didn't include $138 in the BK for some reason, and Tidewater charged it off and put it on his credit report. Also, there is a Verizon chargoff on his account from 8/06 but it is paid with a 0 balance. If yes, please very briefly describe. Please rate your overall creditworthiness on a scale of 1-10 (1=poor, 10= best) 7 Please rate your Installment credit history on a scale of 1-10 (1=poor, 10=best) 8 Please rate your Revolving credit history on a scale of 1-10 (1=poor, 10=best) 8 New or Used vehicle you are considering: Please very briefly describe. Used vehicle. Not really sure what kind. Something with good gas mileage as hubby drives 60+ miles a day. Also, something cheap due to the fact he works at a Lime plant and the car will be subject to an industrial mining type environment daily.

The risks have gone down considerably, especially now that they are doing the procedure Laporscopically. I was in the hospital on Thurs at 7:00 am. Surgery was over by 8:10 and I was home Friday by 10:30 am. The last dose of pain medication I needed was Friday night and that was only to help me sleep, I wasn't in any real pain. Just felt like I did 1000 sit-ups. Haven't taken anything harder than a Tylenol for a headache since then. I walked to the store 4 blocks away and back on Sunday after my surgery (cauz I wasn't cleared to drive). In fact, I was up and walking in the hospital that night. Now I know others who have had longer recovery times but by far, the vast majority of people I know had similar experiences to me. Only a select few had complications but even then, they were just strictures that can develop and were taken care of by a 20 minute endoscopy procedure done in the Doctor's office. It is such a routine procedure now, I urge her to look in to it again if the only thing holding her back was the risk factor. I looked at it like this: My risks were higher than .02%(the surgery complication rate) that I was going to get high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, etc. My knees were already hurting and I was just not healthy. I knew I wouldn't live a long and healthy live and the risk of me dying early was certainly greater than the .02% risk of me dying on the operating table. It was a no-brainer for me.

What are the different requirements? There are so many billboards around here advertising lap band, you have to be 50 pounds overweight, but I know people that have done the consultation and they say they need to be bigger to be eligible. With both surgeries, 99% of the insurance companies require you to have a BMI of 40 or higher for 2+ years in order to be considered for insurance coverage. You are required to do a 6-month Doctor supervised pre-op diet as well. With the lapband, you will not lose as much weight as fast and it has a higher rate of patients who do not meet their final goal. You still have to diet and exercise and you have to get the band filled regularly to meet your plan's needs. I know of many, many people who have had the band and it did not work so they got a band/bypass revision to switch to the bypass. Pro's of it are that it does not carry the malabsorbtion issues that the bypass does so you basically can eat anything you want and do not have to take vitamin supplements. Also it is completely reversible and can be removed if needed. Pros of bypass are of course, the large amount of weight loss within the first 18 months. Weight regain percentage is considerably less than it is with the lap band. BP meds can be stopped almost immediately after surgery and there his a very high rate of diabetes control gained from the surgery too. You do not feel hungry and food consumption is drastically cut as your new pouch is only the size of a walnut which can hold no more than 2 oz at a time. Cons are that it is a relatively permanent surgery and reversals are only done in extreme cases. You have to take a multi-vitamin for the rest of your life as you will never be able to absorb nutrients like you did before. You can't drink liquids for 30 min before and 45 min after you eat, for the rest of your life. It is a major lifestyle change that requires a lot more committment than the Lapband does. I know that the Lapband naturally appeals to people with less than 100 lbs. to lose, simply because it is less restrictive and allows for greater flexiblity. Bypass patients typically have higher BMI's because they are the ones that are on meds for hypertenstion, diabetes, arthritis, etc. As I said earlier, bypass helps those patients get off those meds in greater than 80% of the cases. It really is remarkable and wild at how quick you can come off of them! Thankfully, I didn't have any co-morbidities to speak of but know of many in my support group that did and are now pill-free. To answer your original question though, you have to have a BMI of 40% or higher for 2+ years for BCBS, AETNA, United and Medicare to cover the procedure. Of course, you're always able to self-pay and then it would be up to your PCP and your Surgeon to advise on what procedure is the best for you. Hope that helps.

No, that is not true at all. You hit a plateau because your body has moved in to starvation mode and it's telling you to EAT MORE. I'm 2 months out and I'm taking in roughly 700 calories a day. I started exercising two weeks ago (when I was cleared for exercise) and have hit a stall. It's due to the increased activity requiring me to increase my caloric intake. My body thinks I'm starving myself. I started to add another protein drink in each day, as well as a tablespoon of Smart Balance peanut butter with two slices of apples before I go to bed each night. Seems to be helping because I lost .6 this morning when I weighed!

I actually had bypass surgery on April 15th so I'm just about 2 months out from surgery. I can tell you it was the BEST DECISION I ever made. Ask all the questions you want and I'll be glad to answer them. I would also point your wife to a forum I frequent: www.thinnertimesforum.com as it is a great wealth of information (I'm CSquared on there)! Make sure she has chewable vitamins, calcium, iron, B-12 and protein supplements on hand before surgery as she will need those right after. I use the Celebrate vitamins as they are the tastiest and most economical. Everyone I've talked to that use Celebrate has had no problems with their lab work at all. No deficiencies period. Also your tastes will change after surgery, I promise, so do not go out and buy a whole bunch of protein thinking you will love it then because you love it now. NOPE!! I have found only one that I can tolerate without gagging and that is the Syntrax Nectar Roadside Lemondade flavor. I've spent hundreds of dollars on trying different ones, believe me. Syntrax will actually send you samples of all of their flavors so that is great to have on hand after surgery so she can figure out which flavors she likes the best and then order them in larger sizes. The hardest thing for me is getting the 64 oz of water in a day. I just can't simply drink that much! I'm averaging about 40-45 oz each day and boy let me tell you...it's hard! As for you, just be supportive and be there for her. Her emotions are going to run wild after the surgery and she will probably cuss you out more than once. Reason being is us women hold our hormones in our fat cells. When we lose fat cells, the hormones are released and it's a pretty wild ride at times. Just realize that it will ease up in a few months. The first 6 months are the worst. Just smile, nod and say "OK Dear" and you will help her more than you know! Any specific questions, please feel free to PM me or post here. I'll answer anything that I can!

I guess it is kind of muddy with me and we'll just have to apply to see what they say. Old position title was "Systems Assurance Analyst/Intranet Content Coordinator" yet I held many hats in I.T., and physically worked in the I.T. department. I managed the content for the company intranet (7000+ users), I did software quality assurance testing and handled all of the system deployments, etc. Title of the position at the Accounting firm was "Information Technology Help Desk Technician" but again, I held many hats and worked on process improvement and new process development, website maintenance, and developed sales and marketing brochures and documentation. I took a huge paycut and went to a much smaller company but I did what I had to do in order to keep the income coming in. Now that I'm back at my original company my title is "Electronic Catalog Assistant" and I am working for the Marketing department acting as their I.T. liason. I write VBA scripts for excel templates, I edit catalog images and get them ready for uploading to the database, and work with the catalog team to get our paper and e-catalogs up and running and on-schedule. I'm not technically a member of the I.T. department, yet I'm doing I.T. stuff in Marketing. Not sure how that would be thought of as continuous employment in the same field since I'm not technically a part of the I.T. group, but still doing much of the same work that is I.T. related. I'm stumped!

OK great. Thanks!

Long story short, I'll give a short timeline. If we were to apply for a new FHA loan, how would the income gap affect us (if any)? April 29, 2009 - Laid off my job of 9 years. Given 8 weeks severance. June 22, 2009 - Started new job. Different industry (old was Industrial Distribution, new was Accounting) but stayed in same field (I.T.) April 26, 2010 - Previous job of 9 years rehired in a different position (Marketing, but still I.T. related). After one year of employment, my time comes back and I will be considered to be a 10 year employee (vacation comes back as well). Anyway, how will the time period between April 2009 and June 2009 affect us? Will I have to wait until June 22, 2011 in order to apply for FHA to ensure underwriter approval, or does the fact that I'm now back at my old company come in to play? Thanks!

ARE YOU KIDDING????!!!! It is ILLEGAL for any CRA to post a medical account with identifiable medical data. Call the CRA immediately and tell them you are about to file actions against them for violating the medical privacy act. If they give you a runaround, DEMAND to speak to a supervisor. Which CRA has done this?? Are you SURE it is a "real" report or are you getting some merged 3rd party credit monitoring report. Sorry for the delay, I was out of town over the weekend without access to a computer. The copy/paste was taken directly from my Equifax backdoor. No other CRA is reporting it. Previously (back in 2008) it was listed in the collection section with a CA. I sent the pre-hippa letter to Equifax and sent letters to the CA. They deleted. Now, this month it popped back up under the Collections section and looks like now it's listed with the original provider as a collection account. Insurance should have paid this but I have no way of going back because I've since changed insurance companies. So it is illegal for them to place this on my credit report? Whychat, should I just send another Pre-Hippa letter to Equifax? What about Cunningham, the original creditor? Thank you so much!

I have an old medical account leech that just won't go away! This account is from 2005 and was listed with a local collection agency for the longest time. I disputed and disputed and went back and forth with the CA until in 2008 I disputed via the HIPPA process (Thanks Whychat!) and the CA deleted it off my reports, no questions asked. It has been off until this month. It is back with the original provider and listed under the Collection Accounts section on my report. What letter should I send now? Do I start the process all over again? Send a pre-hippa to EQ? Thanks in advance!

That happened to me and my hubby last year. We were watching TV and the AT&T "More Bars in More Places" commercial came on. It's the one with the guy trying to sell their homemade beer to the bar owner in the first scene. His partner makes the sale and he calls up the other guy and said "We gotta make more cases" and the other guy leans back in his chair, has a perplexed look on his face and says "We gotta expand!" Then it goes in to the whole spill of AT&T More Bars in More Places allows you to expand your network, etc, etc. My hubby sits up and goes "OMG, that's Travis!" I said "HUH?" He said "That guy there, the one that just said we gotta expand.....I grew up with him and even was in a band with him in high school. We were best friends all through grade school and high school!". He was freaking out. They talk often on Facebook I believe and he's been in a couple of more commercials since then and his last one was aired during the Superbowl this year. He also does alot of stand-up comedy at some place near where they both grew up in CA. I keep thinking that one day I'll see a movie trailer with him as the leading role. LOL

Remember that you will bump off older soft inquiries before you get to your newer hard inquiries. *IF* your 2 TU inquiries are as old as your oldest softs, yes, ~66 will do the trick. Keep us posted. One bumped off today! I pull CCT and TC so a total of 2 pulls a day. If I had 61 on Tues, then that means I had 63 on Wed. I only pulled CCT today since it's not time for TC yet. So that was a total of 64. I guess I may have had a couple of more softs that counted in the mix when I originally counted on Tuesday. At any rate, I wanted to confirm. I'm in the 60's and have started bumping. Only 1 to go then I'm clean!