Credit Repair Plan of Attack

[AHGoodwin]

So, first of all, hello! I've been reading up on things here for a while now and just recently decided to join and start posting. You seem like a great bunch and I am excited to get started with using all the knowledge everyone here has provided.

My name is Amanda, I am 28 years old and live in New Hampshire. I have been married for 6 years to my husband Jason. Due to being young and niave and overly trusting of my ex my credit was trashed. Prior to meeting me, my husband didn't have any credit. The only thing on his report was an old Cap One card that his mother put him as an Authorized User on. It was stolen shortly after opening. Over the years there have been medical bills that wound up in collections, and aparently an electric bill (though I thought we had it payed off before we moved). Last September I signed us up on Credit Karma and decied to work on improving and building credit. I decided that it would be much easier to focus on his and that is what I have been doing. Until now I have only focused on opening accounts and establishing some good history. This has worked rather well and brought his score up over 100 points on its own. He is now sitting at 624.

Now that we have decided we want to go for a USDA loan, I need to deal with the collection accounts. USDA requires that all collection accounts have payment plans set up. Unfortunatly, we are already near the limit for our DTI ratios so I need to get at least some of them removed entirely before proceeding. So, after doing my research here, I have come up with, and tweaked a million times over, a plan of attack. I wanted to create a thread to log my progress, and also to get feedback and answers to a few questions. So here goes. Below I will list the current status of the credit reports, followed by my plan of attack, and lastly my questions and concerns.

Current Credit Status

Score: 624

Open Accounts: (I am already aware now that I didn't make the best decisions in opening all of these, so please do not lecture)

Account: Capital One Platinum Secured (Partially Secured)

Limit: $200

Opened: June 2013

Interest Rate: 22.9%

Annual Fee: $29

Rewards: None

Lates: None

Notes:

--------

Account: Fingerhut

Limit: $500

Opened: Oct 2013

Interest Rate: 24.9%

Annual Fee: $0

Rewards: None

Lates: N/A

Notes: NEVER USED. Every time I look at things I decide the financing charges and outrageous shipping make it not worth it.

--------

Account: Capital One Quicksilver One

Limit: $500. (Opened at $300, then giving a $200 CLI with the Credit Steps program)

Opened: June 2014

Interest Rate: 0% Introductory rate. 12 months I believe, then probably 22.9%

Annual Fee: $39

Rewards: 1.5% Cash Back on everything.

Lates: None

Notes:

--------

Account: Credit One

Limit: $500

Opened: Sept 2014

Interest Rate: 19.9%

Annual Fee: $45

Rewards: 1% on Gas

Lates: None

Notes: I will probably call a month before the aniversary and ask to waive the annual fee, increase limit to $1000, or lower interest rate, and if none can be done will close the account.

--------

Account: Walmart Credit Card

Limit: $400

Opened: Dec 2014

Interest Rate: 22.9%

Annual Fee: $0

Rewards: Special Financing Available, 5¢ off of their gas pumps (but we dont have any here)

Lates: N/A

Notes:

Closed Accounts:

Account: Capital One

Limit: $1000

Opened: Feb 2005

Closed: Mar 2005

Lates: None

Notes: Listed as Authorized User. Card Stolen.

Collections:

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $919

Opened: July 2013

Closed: ----

Last Reported: Sep 2013

Remarks: Placed for Collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Medical Associates

Balance: $252

Opened: April 2013

Closed: ---

Last Reported: July 2013

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: probably a lab fee.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Medical Associates

Balance: $125

Opened: Oct 2012

Closed: ---

Last Reported: Jan 2013

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: He is pretty sure this was for the PT consult when he broke his hand. It was supposed to go to insurance but turns out employer lied about when insurance became active and it was not covered.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $175

Opened: Jan 2011

Closed: ---

Last Reported: April 2011

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $1,311

Opened: Dec 2010

Closed: ---

Last Reported: Feb 2011

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $175

Opened: Dec 2010

Closed: ---

Last Reported: Feb 2011

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit. Possible duplicate of other $175 from same CA and OC?

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: NH/NE Credit

OC: New Hampshire Electric Coop

Balance: $232

Opened: Mar 2013

Closed: ---

Last Reported: April 2013

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Electric bill from previous residence. I thought it had been payed off before we moved, but I guess not.

Showing on: Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian

Plan of Attack (possible changes pending answers to questions and suggestions)

• Opt-Out
• Get Credit Reports
• Remove Old Addresses from Credit Reports. (Waiting on SS card. Somehow he managed 29 years without one. Claimed it was never given to him, but his mom said she doesn't know where it is.)

 

• Verify the Medical Debts with Trans Union
  • If Verified
    • Request Validation of Spear Memorial Debt from CA.
      • If it IS VALIDATED:
        • Ask OC if they will take back debt in exchange for Payment Plan. (unless the HIPPA program would work here too as we cannot afford to pay in full)
          • If they ACCEPT:
            • Make sure Marcam Associates collections accounts are removed.
          • If they DO NOT ACCEPT:
            • Ask Marcam Associates to consolidate Spear Memorial debts and set up payment plan.
            • If they do, ensure that the consolidated account is not a "NEW" Collections. (This would ruin our chances of the USDA loan. No new in past 12 months)
      • If it IS NOT VALIDATED:
        • Demand the collections be removed from your credit report.
        • If they are not removed, contact the credit reporting agencies for removal.
  • If NOT verified, accounts should be removed and no further action is needed.

 

• Verify the NHEC Debt with Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax.
  • If Verified
    • Request Validation of NHEC Collection from CA.
      • If Validated, pay for Delete.
      • If Not Validated, demand removal.
  • If NOT verified, accounts should be removed and no further action is needed.

 

Questions and Concerns

• Do I have to remove ALL old addresses and only keep my current address or can I leave one of the old ones that has a positive TL attached?
• Why exactly do I need to deal with the medical collections first? My initial plan was so get rid of the electric first and then tackle the medical bills, but after reading here everything says medical stuff first.
• Why validate with the CRA first? Do I do all at once or one at a time? Wouldn't it look suspicious if I disputed every collection on the report?
• When dealing with the CRA, why do we not want delivery confirmation? What benefit is it to be certified without the confirmation?

So, that is what I have so far. Thanks again for all the information provided on this website thus far and thank you in advance for any personal advice you provide regarding my case.

~Amanda

[mendelssohn]

Are you following WhyChat's medical dispute process? If you haven't done so, start a thread in the medical forum and he will walk you through the process. The process works very well, so just follow it exactly and don't skip any steps.

 

With the utility collection, try to pay the OC and get a receipt. The CA has to delete if you pay the OC. You could do this while you're working on the medical collections, but if they don't remove the collection, you can't dispute it with the CRAs while working on the medical disputes. You could file a CFPB complaint against the CA if necessary though and submit your proof of payment to the OC.

[AHGoodwin]

The whychat process involves paying the OC in full. That is something we are not able to do at the time. If the process would still work with a payment plan, then that would be great. Either way, the first steps are still going to be to remove addresses and verify with the CRA from what I remember.

 

Thank you for the tip on the utility. I didn't realize that paying the OC worked with non medical stuff too.

[JayB27]

With medical collections, payment isn't always required to get them removed. The fact these collections are only on TransUnion means it is likely they cannot be verified, and are invalid. Whether you had any ER visits or not.

 

It is highly recommended to head into the medical forum and get Why Chat's advice.

 

Things aren't nearly as bad as they appear.

[JayB27]

The fact will always remain, you do not owe any CA anything.

[JayB27]

You are $232 and one dispute away from clean credit reports, more likely than not.

[AHGoodwin]

Thanks for the encouragement. I suppose I will re-read the whychat method and make a secondary post in medical to confirm my plan.

[JayB27]

Best thing to do with him, is lay out the med collections only, just like you have here. No need to re-read it, he will help you personally. I think you have the concept down.

 

I started out in worse shape than you in March, my reports are clean now, thanks to him. You aren't far off at all.

[JayB27]

 

So, first of all, hello! I've been reading up on things here for a while now and just recently decided to join and start posting. You seem like a great bunch and I am excited to get started with using all the knowledge everyone here has provided.

My name is Amanda, I am 28 years old and live in New Hampshire. I have been married for 6 years to my husband Jason. Due to being young and niave and overly trusting of my ex my credit was trashed. Prior to meeting me, my husband didn't have any credit. The only thing on his report was an old Cap One card that his mother put him as an Authorized User on. It was stolen shortly after opening. Over the years there have been medical bills that wound up in collections, and aparently an electric bill (though I thought we had it payed off before we moved). Last September I signed us up on Credit Karma and decied to work on improving and building credit. I decided that it would be much easier to focus on his and that is what I have been doing. Until now I have only focused on opening accounts and establishing some good history. This has worked rather well and brought his score up over 100 points on its own. He is now sitting at 624.

Now that we have decided we want to go for a USDA loan, I need to deal with the collection accounts. USDA requires that all collection accounts have payment plans set up. Unfortunatly, we are already near the limit for our DTI ratios so I need to get at least some of them removed entirely before proceeding. So, after doing my research here, I have come up with, and tweaked a million times over, a plan of attack. I wanted to create a thread to log my progress, and also to get feedback and answers to a few questions. So here goes. Below I will list the current status of the credit reports, followed by my plan of attack, and lastly my questions and concerns.

Current Credit Status

Score: 624

Open Accounts: (I am already aware now that I didn't make the best decisions in opening all of these, so please do not lecture)

Account: Capital One Platinum Secured (Partially Secured)

Limit: $200

Opened: June 2013

Interest Rate: 22.9%

Annual Fee: $29

Rewards: None

Lates: None

Notes:

--------

Account: Fingerhut

Limit: $500

Opened: Oct 2013

Interest Rate: 24.9%

Annual Fee: $0

Rewards: None

Lates: N/A

Notes: NEVER USED. Every time I look at things I decide the financing charges and outrageous shipping make it not worth it.

--------

Account: Capital One Quicksilver One

Limit: $500. (Opened at $300, then giving a $200 CLI with the Credit Steps program)

Opened: June 2014

Interest Rate: 0% Introductory rate. 12 months I believe, then probably 22.9%

Annual Fee: $39

Rewards: 1.5% Cash Back on everything.

Lates: None

Notes:

--------

Account: Credit One

Limit: $500

Opened: Sept 2014

Interest Rate: 19.9%

Annual Fee: $45

Rewards: 1% on Gas

Lates: None

Notes: I will probably call a month before the aniversary and ask to waive the annual fee, increase limit to $1000, or lower interest rate, and if none can be done will close the account.

--------

Account: Walmart Credit Card

Limit: $400

Opened: Dec 2014

Interest Rate: 22.9%

Annual Fee: $0

Rewards: Special Financing Available, 5¢ off of their gas pumps (but we dont have any here)

Lates: N/A

Notes:

There is nothing to be ashamed about with these TL's, since you already have them. They aren't recommended but they can be dealt with later. Only the Credit One and FH are too bad.

Closed Accounts:

Account: Capital One

Limit: $1000

Opened: Feb 2005

Closed: Mar 2005

Lates: None

Notes: Listed as Authorized User. Card Stolen.

Collections:

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $919

Opened: July 2013

Closed: ----

Last Reported: Sep 2013

Remarks: Placed for Collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Medical Associates

Balance: $252

Opened: April 2013

Closed: ---

Last Reported: July 2013

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: probably a lab fee.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Medical Associates

Balance: $125

Opened: Oct 2012

Closed: ---

Last Reported: Jan 2013

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: He is pretty sure this was for the PT consult when he broke his hand. It was supposed to go to insurance but turns out employer lied about when insurance became active and it was not covered.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $175

Opened: Jan 2011

Closed: ---

Last Reported: April 2011

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $1,311

Opened: Dec 2010

Closed: ---

Last Reported: Feb 2011

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit.

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: Marcam Associates

OC: Med1 Spear Memorial Hospital

Balance: $175

Opened: Dec 2010

Closed: ---

Last Reported: Feb 2011

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Unknown ER visit. Possible duplicate of other $175 from same CA and OC?

Showing on: Trans Union only

----------

CA: NH/NE Credit

OC: New Hampshire Electric Coop

Balance: $232

Opened: Mar 2013

Closed: ---

Last Reported: April 2013

Remarks: Placed for collection

Notes: Electric bill from previous residence. I thought it had been payed off before we moved, but I guess not.

Showing on: Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian

Plan of Attack (possible changes pending answers to questions and suggestions)

• Opt-Out
• Get Credit Reports
• Remove Old Addresses from Credit Reports. (Waiting on SS card. Somehow he managed 29 years without one. Claimed it was never given to him, but his mom said she doesn't know where it is.)

 

• Verify the Medical Debts with Trans Union
  • If Verified
    • Request Validation of Spear Memorial Debt from CA.
      • If it IS VALIDATED:
        • Ask OC if they will take back debt in exchange for Payment Plan. (unless the HIPPA program would work here too as we cannot afford to pay in full)
          • If they ACCEPT:
            • Make sure Marcam Associates collections accounts are removed.
          • If they DO NOT ACCEPT:
            • Ask Marcam Associates to consolidate Spear Memorial debts and set up payment plan.
            • If they do, ensure that the consolidated account is not a "NEW" Collections. (This would ruin our chances of the USDA loan. No new in past 12 months)
      • If it IS NOT VALIDATED:
        • Demand the collections be removed from your credit report.
        • If they are not removed, contact the credit reporting agencies for removal.
  • If NOT verified, accounts should be removed and no further action is needed.

 

• Verify the NHEC Debt with Trans Union, Experian, and Equifax.
  • If Verified
    • Request Validation of NHEC Collection from CA.
      • If Validated, pay for Delete.
      • If Not Validated, demand removal.
  • If NOT verified, accounts should be removed and no further action is needed.

 

Questions and Concerns

• Do I have to remove ALL old addresses and only keep my current address or can I leave one of the old ones that has a positive TL attached? Remove any addresses attached to the negative TL's
• Why exactly do I need to deal with the medical collections first? My initial plan was so get rid of the electric first and then tackle the medical bills, but after reading here everything says medical stuff first.
• Why validate with the CRA first?You dispute with the CRA's first, CA's receive Debt Validation (DV's) from you after a CRA "verifies". Do I do all at once or one at a time? Wouldn't it look suspicious if I disputed every collection on the report?Not suspicious at all to dispute this amount of med collections at once, recommended.
• When dealing with the CRA, why do we not want delivery confirmation? Must have proof they received your letters on a given date, they have a time limit to respond. What benefit is it to be certified without the confirmation? Conformation costs more, and is unnecessary, as you receive online delivery conformation with Certified Only.

So, that is what I have so far. Thanks again for all the information provided on this website thus far and thank you in advance for any personal advice you provide regarding my case.

~Amanda

 

[AHGoodwin]

Thank you for helping with my questions.

 

I have just made a post over in the medical section [HERE].

[andersons]

You have clearly done a lot of homework here! I can't remember the details because I dealt with mine several years ago, but I followed WhyChat's process for medical collections without paying any of them. IIRC they just disappeared. (Coincidentally, the bill I didn't want to pay originated from New Hampshire - Lakes Region General in Laconia.)

[AHGoodwin]

Checked in on Credit Karma this am. Score up to 630 now. Guessing due to utilization drop from the Walmart CC being added.

[JayB27]

Just as a reminder, although for free CK is ok to use.

 

Score is worthless. Use your Walmart card for the FICO.

[AHGoodwin]

Such bull... So much for getting started on this any time soon.

 

 

 

We cannot issue you a Social Security card at this time because:

In order to process your application we need to see an original, valid form of ID. Unfortunately we cannot accept photocopies. If you do not feel comfortable sending original ID please visit your local social security office.

 

Please contact us when:

You can give us the document(s) we need.

 

So, let me get this straight. You want me to mail you my actual drivers license and birth certificate. Well too bad if I need to drive for the next week or two because I won't have my ID I guess. Or, my options are;

 

I COULD go to the "local" office which would require over 2 hour round trip and taking time off of work, which requires two weeks notice.

 

or, I could get a new ID and birth certificate which requires going to the nearest DMV, which is, by the way, also over 2 hours round trip and taking time off of work, again, needing two weeks notice. AND getting a certified copy of my birth certificate that I will need to pay for and wait for in the mail.

[JayB27]

You can try without it.

 

Use your ID and utility bill for CRAs.

 

IF, they need it.