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A couple of years ago I experimented with the installment loan hack and verified that it does work. I took out a 5-year loan for $30k from my favorite bank and, as soon as it posted, I paid it all off except for $100. My next payment was somewhere in 2024. The effects on my FICO were virtually instant -- from 820 to 850.
 
A couple of months ago I got tired of seeing it on my spreadsheet and just paid it off. This week it just hit my credit reports as closed. And my FICO dropped around 27 fooking points on all three CRAs.
 
EX, which was always my weakest, went to 797.
 
I suppose I need to unfreeze EQ and take the hit for another installment loan.
 
 
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

This question may sound a bit strange but I am wanting to know how I can dispute a charge that I paid via cash. Can you do that? 
 
I took money out to pay a guy, let's call him scammer. And scammer did not fulfill my service and now will not give me refund. Mind you, scammer works by himself and he did not mention any refund policy or anything like that. I am assuming scammer wanted this to happen so I would not dispute the charge.    This is the main question I need answered: How can I dispute a charge that I took out via cash? 
 

So I sold my house in 2017. Made $2500 profit.  Since then, I had a few hiccups on my credit (car repo that I need to start a payment plan on the settled offer, few late payments) with 549, 529, and 472 scores, I'm back in the Education field with $63k as my salary. April 5th, the lender for the Teacher Next door program said lets rescore after you pay your credit cards off.  I did that by April 30th.  Now, after resubmitting zero balance letters, I get this information back:
 
"This borrower is not going to qualify regardless of credit scores because debt to income is to high.  She has 44 open tradelines most of which are deferred student loans.  FHA will be her only option with the credit scores  On an FHA Loan with a Purchase Price of $100,000 with a 3.5% Down Payment the DTI’s are 15.71 / 131.03% (what is this and where did these numbers come from?) so WAY too high to qualify for any loan amount.   She would have to pay debt on credit or consolidate some debt into one loan in order to qualify for anything.  Work on consolidating all the student loans. Also start closing out accounts that are not active. (I have none) Then overtime your credit will start building back up.  Having that many open tradlines can hurt your score. If you consolidate debt it may be a little higher payment but overall it will lower you monthly payments. For instance If I have a 3 $100 dollar monthly payments. I consolidate those 3 and now I have a $200 dollar payment it saves me $100 a month. You can still make those same payments but as far as your debt to income it will help.  Conventional allows you to use .5% but you need a 620 credit and DTI will still have to 45%. I would work on consolidating your loans into one loan and do an income based repayment plan."
 
What do I do? What options?  Yes, I have $435k in student loans, with all deferred, as I am completing my Ph.D.  If I submit the consoladation loan, yes, it would go down to a MUCH smaller number of loans, but still $435k, not to include the new loans for the last year of school.  As an educator, my payments are only for 120 months, then the rest is forgiven.  Can that help me?  I was an entrepreneur last year, so my AGI is $4350, which means I have to use my current salary to get an actual payment plan based on real income that might be $400/month- worth getting into a home.  I could also wait until January 2020 for NACA, as it wants me to wait for twelve months with no late payments. I have my current car note $500 and practically no credit card debt.  The house I want to buy is rentable starting June 1 for 1195/month.  I may ask the owner to consider holding a note, as refi may be easier.
 
Thanks for the help and suggestions.

IF I want to buy a car, should I do it before filing a BK with bad credit or after?  I heard auto financing goes off of a different fico score regardless.  I make enough to afford it, but just got caught up in a bad situation.

Last year my whole life pretty much fell apart. My business was hammered by the COVID stuff, my marriage came to an end in a horrible way and I sank into depression and self destruction.
 
I'm now trying to get my life back together but still struggle from time to time with feeling overwhelmed by everything. Which is why it has taken me two weeks to ask for help after being served.
 
I understand that I have a week at most to file a response with the court. The suit is over a debt of more that $30K but less than $50, from several Amex cards that I defaulted on. I don't have the money for a lawyer so will have to respond pro se.
 
I've read and understood what I could, here but have some questions and would be grateful for any help. I'd like to avoid bankruptcy if possible because I believe that my business can be turned around - I just need time.
 
Questions:
 
1. Is arbitration the way to go? If so, should I file a motion to compel arbitration per the terms of the card agreement?
 
2. Or, should I file for a continuance to give me time to ask AmEx for arbitration?
 
3. Or is there some other response I should file?
 
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.

So I put myself BACK in chexsystems in 2016. That account, which I will not continue to pay on, falls off 6/16/21.  I'm sending the letter a couple days early.  The same way Im upgrading my credit partners, I also upgrade my banking partners.  I dont qualify for Navy Federal.  Any other good credit unions with shared branching Im missing out on?  Its all about rewards, loan products, and perks with EVERY account.  I could add ONE more outside of DCU.
 
I started off with NASA FCU.  I also added two w/PenAir FCU.  Then, two w/Wells Fargo.
Pentagon Fed added me back in 2016, but I deleted the checking because it was a $10 monthly fee.  I just opened a new account in June 2020. I then added OneUnited Bank. 
Just added Langley FCU and will go back to DCU I think in about two weeks. Both offer great mortgage options.
 
Sock Drawer:
PenAir is cool.  Its a FREE account, but no real perks.  No loan products yet.  Have business account too. Has shared branching.
WF is cool.  No loan products yet.  Accounts require $500/month balance to be free.
 
Main Accounts:
NASA lets me transfer to all other institutions.  Has great bill pay. Decent credit products. Cash reward benefit.
PenFed is an amazing bank.  Already have $500 O/D and $2k in credit cards.
OneUnited Bank is my play account and Black-owned.
USAA is my external savings checking with cash reward.
Langley FCU has cash reward and great loan products.
 

My BK7 was discharged Sept 21. 
 
i was just approved for Cap One for $3000 
 
what should my plan be moving forward as far as how often to apply for new credit cards, what types of credit to open, etc. 
 
i am considering opening a secured line of credit with my credit union for about $10000. 
 
would that be a good addition? 
 
thx 
 
DS. 

Hi everyone, 
 
This is very short notice on everyone. While in quarantine we were served with the following paper. Exhibit A is the cardmember agreement. 
 
Background:
Husband had to leave his job because of an injury which cause his part of the income to drop from 1500/week to about 700/week (pretax). He did make an arrangement with Discover to pay 60/month but after a few payments they stopped taking it out. He let it be (hoping it would disappear :/ )
 
Is there anything we can do or answer back? We did not see this until 11/8/21 since we did not get outside. 
 
_____________________________________________
 
COMPLAINT
 
Comes now Plaintiff, by and through counsel, and for its Complaint states herein:
1. The Defendant is liable to the Plaintiff under the Credit Card Account Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A.
2. Said obligation is past due, and Defendant owes the principal amount of $4,257.31 plus interest from the date of judgment at the statutory rate. STATEMENT is attached hereto as Exhibit B. AFFIDAVIT is attached hereto as Exhibit C.
 
Wherefore, the Plaintiff prays for judgment against the Defendant for the sum set forth above plus interest at the statutory rate from the date of judgment, and costs.
 
NATHAN DUVELIUS 35520-15
KYLE D. MICHAEL, 29384-53
ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF
525 VINE STREET, SUITE 800, CINCINNATI, OH 45202
PHONE: 513-723-2200
FAX 513-723-2239
EMAIL: CINATTY@WELTMAN.COM
WWR#: 040750917
 
 

I would build this on my credit report that recently was put back on in January of 2021 this bill is 27 years old and it's at least been on my credit report two or three times. What is my cause of action

The gist of the situation is that I logged into a few accounts today that have due dates falling over the next 5 days.  I was concerned that our WF credit card has a payment due tomorrow and no payment had posted yet (nor was shown as pending).  So, I make an online payment for the desired amount. 
 
A couple of minutes later I pull up our CU checking account history.  The last transaction posted today is a cleared payment to the WF credit card, pushed from 3rd party billpay (CheckFree).  Since when does a payment clear before some payment indicator shows up on the payee's website???
 
I really don't want to be out of pocket for both payments.  Since it had been only 10 minutes since posting the payment, I called to request the payment be cancelled.  (Of course, I was calling because there was no apparent way online to cancel this payment online.)  As I'm sure you have already guessed, WF claims that they process such payments immediately and there's no cancellation, but we're welcome to order a Stop Payment with the bank on which payment is drawn.  (The duplicate payment isn't so objectionable that I'm willing to incur a $35 fee to avoid it.)
 
My "vent" is that I simply don't believe how "clunky" WF's credit card system is !!!
 
No advice, input or feedback necessary.  I'll likely think twice before I put in a plug for their 2% cb card ever again.

I have a $1200 collections from Nebraska Furniture Mart that defaulted about 4-5 years ago and is now past SOL. They continue to report/update the status every month to the credit bureaus. Since they’re refreshing it every month, could it continue to hold down my score?

I've been getting things cleaned up over the past couple of months.  The only thing remaining on any of the 3 CRA's is 2 paid medical collections on EQ listed as closed.  If these paid collections negatively affect your score why would all 3 CRA scores be within a few points of each other?  Again, the only difference between the 3 is the 2 paid collections listed on EQ (and not listed on Trans or EX).    

For the past coupla months (while paying down balances) I have been aiming to apply for
 
1) car loan from BofA ($8K)
2) BNP Paribas BotW MC that I got a mailed pre-approval for
3) AmEx Everyday  (which I think is a mild stretch (but AmEx does love me ))
 
When I log on next week (once my $1,800 payment on my FNBO Visa reports on myFICO), in what order do you think I ought to submit these apps?
 
Second question:  If I want to go for the current Southwest promo (100K points!!) from Chase, where would that fit in to the sequence?
 
(In practice I might just zotz the AmEx app, in order to go through with Southwest. Boring Everyday card will always be there but this bonus offer will not.  Still though, I wanna hear everyone's thoughts on the scenarios.  )

Good evening,
 
I am trying to take some steps to improve my credit.  
 
I filed Chapter 7 on 07/30/2014, discharged on 11/05/2014.
 
I haven't done much to improve my credit score since.  I have no credit card debt right now.  I have my mortgage which I have been paying off, without missing a payment, and two auto loans.
 
I have two credit cards with Capital One.
 
Is there anything I can do to improve my score, and my wife's score (she is on the bankruptcy as well) until the bankruptcy finally falls off of my credit report?  Or will my credit always remain poor until the bankruptcy comes off?
 
Thank you!

Hi, I wanted some help to know what is the best way to use my line of credit to increase my credit score. I have 3 Credit Cards and 1 Line of credit. I use my 3 credit card less than 10% each month and pay in full every time. Just got a line of credit with my bank of 5000$ and took 500$ right away. I didnt need the money I just wanted to make a payment history. My yearly interest rate is 11%. My question is what is the best way to increase my score with the Line of Credit. Do I borrow 500$ each month and pay it in full each time? Or do I keep that 500$ and repay 50$ a month? What is the best way to improve my credit and add a positive history with that line of credit.

We purchased a vacant lot in 2004 from a company that also provided the financing for it. We stopped paying on it 2009. The county foreclosed on us last month due to delinquent taxes of 10-12 years of non payment. 
 
Fortunately, they never reported this mortgage on our credit reports. The only thing I ever seen was a soft inquiry around the time we purchased the property. 
 
The company mailed us a letter stating they bought it at the auction and if we sign a quit claim deed over to them they would give us a satisfaction of mortgage as well as $200. I was perplexed and finally after all these years had my first contact with the company. I asked why they would need a QCD coupled with an incentive if they own the property being that they were the winning bidders at the auction. They said, "It clouds the title so if we get the QCD, it removes the cloud." 
 
They were super nice in talking with me. I told them I've been paranoid about this ever hitting my credit. The rep stated, "We report every 30 days but don't know why it hasn't been reported. Perhaps we weren't reporting back in 2004." 
 
I then dug deeper to speak to a "higher up" as the one rep was unsure. She told me, "I know what it is to struggle with credit. I myself am one of them. We have no intention on reporting this to the CBA's. I am the one who does the reporting. I will actually remove the report button for you so it never reports and send you a picture of it that I did."
 
Well, I don't even know if this picture is enough to insure that it will never report. Secondly, I asked her again for it today and she told me, "Oh I'm sorry. My phone was acting up on Monday but I'll send it to you in a few minutes today. I still haven't received it after requesting it a second time. 
 
I then started thinking...........Am I not protected by the FCRA or FDCPA? I was also told in the state that there is a 10 year SOL. 
 
Can they still report this? I don't think they'd report it anyway since they haven't in over 10 years but wanted to ask the vets here on CB. 
 
FYI.....The company sold almost 7,000 lots and it was owned by a father and son. When they sold us the lot in 2004, they said, "If you don't want the lot, we won't report it to the CBA's. Just sign it back over to us, no questions asked, and we relieve you of the debt." Well, they were hoping we would give it back because the lots were going up in value rapidly and they could sell it again for even more money as well as keep our deposit. Over 10 of my friends and family members also bought lots with me. They never sent them this letter but 2 of my family members filed BK so perhaps that is why. 
 
 

I have over $10,000 in various medical debts now with IC Systems. Two of the largest, over half will be past the collection statute of limitations in six months. I would like to start making a settlement with them but should I wait until the two large debts are past the SOL? Or just make a lower offer on all now? What will help my credit the most?

Thanks

Hi all, I'm not entirely sure what to say.
 
My wife was pregnant with our third child about 14 months ago and the doctor wanted us to get genetic testing done.  So we called into both our insurance and to the medical test provider to see if there was no cost.  Well both of the providers got back to us and said there is no out pocket costs and we would not be responsible for any payment.  When the medical provider called us back they left a voice mail that said "We've checked with your insurance and there will be absolutely no cost and 0 out of pocket expenses to you.  You're completely cleared to take the test".   Not about 14 months later they said they've made a mistake and want us to pay 4k.  They're sending us bills and threatening for it to go to collections.  
 
Our insurance company did send us a check for it was only for 500$, we're not sure what to do but we feel we shouldn't have to pay.  
 
Any thoughts?

This is YOUR year.  Pursue quality and do not settle!
 
No useless store cards, no fee sucker/subprime credit report stains (Credit One, First PREMIER, etc.), no 99% LTV mortgages with nothing in savings, no 72+ month auto loans.  
 
When it comes to credit and finances, planning and impulse control will serve you well over the long term.  As you evaluate your credit options for 2021, please look several steps ahead and decide if you'll be happy with this year's decisions 2-5 years (or longer) from now.
 
Happy New Year, everyone!

Hi! 
I applied last week for a Citi Costco card.  My credit score at the time was 732 with Experian, which they use.  I was denied.  I had 2 inquiries.  One from refinancing my home and 1 from Samsung for a phone.   My debt ratio is 37%.  I have NO late payments in the last 7 years and have 11 open lines of credit.  I have a Citi Simplicity, Sears Shop your Way through Citi, Mobil and Shell both also through Citi.  None of my accounts are at the limit.  None have ever had a problem.
 
I received my denial letter today.  It says that I am being denied because of a past BK where Citi was involved.  Yes.  1992.  It says that my current accounts have many missed and late payments and that my account is now restricted.  WTH?  
Totally untrue! I checked my Experian report and there is no problem there.   Is it the BK in 1992?  That is NOT on my credit report! 
 
I cannot find a way to get through to Citi, dispute this and ask for reconsideration.  Help!!  Does anyone know of a way that I can actually speak to someone?  Also, what is the best way to ask for reconsideration?
 
Thanks for your help.
 
Pretty pissed in WA State!
JayBird
 
 
 
 
 
 

Am I correct that once sent to collections a medical debt can't show up on credit reports for 180 days? Is it also true that once PIF, medical collections have to be removed? long term, that's all I really care about. My reports have 0 collections and I plan on keeping it that way.
 
Background: Had to go to ER with (still) unknown medical issue back in Nov. I've been working in extreme pain since then. I have a HDHP with HSA so I hit my deductible and yearly out of pocket in 1 shot. They billed $XX,XXX. Insurance negotiated billing knocked it down into the high 4 figures, then insurance payments knocked my out of pocket down around a few grand. My HSA has around 40% of the total available. It is contributed to on a weekly basis. I tried to negotiate paying over time with my HSA but was turned down and told to get a loan. If I made very slightly less I would be eligible for financial assistance (actually paying $0 out of pocket) and/or Medicaid. Instead I pay around 20% of my gross income for health benefits. Anyway, that's not particularly relevant - I just think it's dumb they wont accept payments over time, even if I contribute and pay the IRS maximums from my HSA on a prorated basis.
 
So, it will soon be 120 days and they've threated with collections. I was scrambling thinking about sending them my entire HSA balance and putting the rest on credit cards, because I do not want my clean credit ruined for 7 years. But then I thought "Hmmmm. Weren't there some changes and extra protections when it comes to medical bills?" and I came across the info/assumptions in my 1st paragraph. I plan on paying it, I can pay it easily in 6 months, but paying in full by next week is going to be rough, especially since I still don't know what is wrong with me (have a followup with PCP next week, at least). 

Hi All,
There was a "guy" who came knocking on my door and wanted to leave some paperwork for me. My girlfriend said I was not home and asked him to leave, this guy threatened to come visit me at work etc. He came back a week later, and though our Ring camera I asked him to leave the paperwork underneath a mat - he did. The paperwork is a Summons to Answer.
 
First - I'm not quite sure if this is legal and authentic as I figured I have to be served this type of paperwork. I did some research, and this CA (Professional Finance Company), has a Summons to Answer with the local court for about 3 people a day everyday. Mine is due mid-April.
 
Story: Debt is 5 years old, the OC send me some invoices for 6 months and then I got one notice from Professional Finance Company that they are in possession of my debt, and that's when I last heard from them (and this showed as a collection with all three CRA).  The Summons to Answer is also requesting me to pay an interest charge Professional Finance Company has been charging on this debt as well (which I believe is not legal). The total with this interest charge is less that $1,000
 
Questions/Steps:
I started Why Chat's HIPAA dispute process, so far I've been able to OPT-OUT, get my credit reports, requested a new DL showing my new address for the address delete letters. I'm quite concerned that I might not have enough time to complete the whole process by my Summons to Answer due (I figured that if I was able to complete, my answer would have been a copy of the Certified Bank Order stating that this debt is not valid as it's been paid in full); not sure if my thinking is correct on this one. I'm quite concerned that what I do in terms on answering this Summons to Answer it will show as a judgment on my credit reports.  I'd like this to disappear when paid (I understand there is a process I can take when this will show as "Collection - Paid in Full" - I've been working really hard on trying to clean up my record and pay any debts that are valid.  
Thank you for any help! 

Hi!  My wife and I are refinancing our house to lock in the 2.35 rate.  She has 850 score and perfect credit and makes the Mula$$  Me, I make 1/2 that, did a personal BK in 2013 scores only about 680 and only $3K in debt with several cards and perfect history for the past 5 years.  We are both on the Deed.  Should I bother putting myself on the mortgage with her?  We are only doing a 15year and her income is sufficient to qualify so thats no worry.
 
Would it really help the Fico score much being on it?  Our previous mortgage is a flawless payment history (which we are both on)
 
 

Hi all,
 
There is a collection on my EX and TU reports (OC is Sprint)...in early 2020 it was owned by Enhanced Recovery Assoc, but after sending a DV they removed it and apparently sold it to AFNI, who has been reporting since December 2020. Just when I was about to send a letter asking them who in the heck they thought they were to be reporting on my credit without contacting me first, I received a letter from them dated 2/26/21. Problem is, it's not addressed to the "right" person. Without giving my actual name, it's the equivalent of if my name were Jane Williams-Jones...and the letter is addressed to Jane Will-Jones.
 
I have a DV letter all typed up, but my hesitancy in sending it lies in this...if they don't currently have my full legal name (but obviously have enough info to ding EX and TU) is there a way I can get them on that *without* disclosing to them my actual legal name?
 
In addition, they have listed an "on record until" date of June 2025 on EX and Aug 2025 on TU (no DOFD listed on either CR), which means they're trying to collect on something that I guess went delinquent sometime in 2018, when I still lived in NC. I've lived in GA since August 2019, and have no clue how they got my current address, unless it was somehow furnished by ERA. I do have in my DV draft a request for the DOFD, but if I've moved, how does this affect SOL? Also, is SOL calculated from when whatever 2-year Sprint contract they're saying I signed began, OR when the account went delinquent?
 
Thanks so much for your guidance.

Just to give folks an idea why it isn't a good idea to have 0 balances report on all your credit cards. I had one card reporting $800 which was paid and just reported 0. TU FICO 8 dropped from 822 to 802.  FICO scores don't like all your CCs reporting 0 balance.  OTOH, I don't pre-pay but I've been using Amex in the last few months and had Amex reporting 20k. Charge cards don't affect FICO scores. It was just paid and reported 0 balance. No change in FICO. Still at 802. Usually Verizon will show up on a CC but didn't this time. Fell through the cracks between closings.