Josh's Credit Recovery Thread (Help appreciated!)

[Cruecial]

Hey all, I've been lurking CB's for a couple weeks now. I've had bad credit for years now, trying to finally get it sorted and I think I'm close to finally making real progress. Here's a breakdown of where I stand today:

 

FICO scores: TU (562), EQ (597), EX (554)

Credit cards: 0

Loans: $22,000 Auto Loan (GM Financial) at 17% APR

Open Collections: 2 accounts $647 total

Credit Inquiries: 23!! (Didn't realize how damaging they were when try to get approved for car loan)

Missed Payments: 24 total - 22 of which are from two student loans I defaulted on in 2010. Student loans have since been paid in full. The other 2 are from a gas utility from 2014.

 

I'm not really sure where to go from here. I've had quite a few collection accounts removed by Lexington Law, I recently read on here that I should stop using them, called about an hour ago to cancel and they gave me a free month. That being said, they have saved me about $3,000 in collection accounts removed in the last two months.

 

Should I pay off the 2 open collection accounts, I'll be able to pay the balance in full this month but is it worth asking to pay less, will that jeopardize my chances of getting them deleted from my report? Once that's paid, I think I'll be at the point where I'm ready to begin building my credit. Would love advice on the best way to approach building credit from the low point that I'm at. I havne't applied for any secured cards because I'm worried I'll be denied due to the 23 inqueries on my account.

 

My business partner is willing to add me to one of his rather high tradelines with low utilization, is this something that will still help or is that no longer relevant?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice I receive. I'll continue updating this thread as progress is made.

[VintageWillow]

Welcome to CB. You have found a wealth of knowledge. Don't pay anything until you hear back from the experts. In order to help them, can you give more information on those CO's? What were they from? Are they still with the OC, or have they been sold to a JDB? Who was the OC and who, if any are the companies who now own them? What was the DOFD on them? With more information, you can get a lot of advise. The biggest thing to remember is a paid CO can actually hurt your score because it will appear as newer.

[mindcrime]

Welcome to CB. You have found a wealth of knowledge. Don't pay anything until you hear back from the experts. In order to help them, can you give more information on those CO's? What were they from? Are they still with the OC, or have they been sold to a JDB? Who was the OC and who, if any are the companies who now own them? What was the DOFD on them? With more information, you can get a lot of advise. The biggest thing to remember is a paid CO can actually hurt your score because it will appear as newer.

 

Yup.

 

And do you have hard copies of your reports from each CRA? 23 inquiries does not usually meant 23 on each one.

[Cruecial]

Welcome to CB. You have found a wealth of knowledge. Don't pay anything until you hear back from the experts. In order to help them, can you give more information on those CO's? What were they from? Are they still with the OC, or have they been sold to a JDB? Who was the OC and who, if any are the companies who now own them? What was the DOFD on them? With more information, you can get a lot of advise. The biggest thing to remember is a paid CO can actually hurt your score because it will appear as newer.

 

Thanks for the welcome! Here's extended information on the CO's, I'm not sure what the DOFD is on these two:

 

JDB: AAA DEBT RECOVERY INC

OC: 08 FIRST COMMONWEALTH BANK

Date Opened: Dec 10, 2010

Balance: $287.00

 

JDB: CACH LLC

OC: 08 FIFTH THIRD BANK

Date Opened: Jul 19, 2013

Balance: $360.00

 

 

 

And do you have hard copies of your reports from each CRA? 23 inquiries does not usually meant 23 on each one.

 

 

I don't have hard copies yet, but you're right, my inquiry breakdown is as follows:

 

TU 23 / EQ 18 / EX 18

Edited October 6, 2015 by Cruecial

[Cruecial]

Oh, also want to add that I've disputed both CO's and they've both now have the following remark on them "Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA requirements", If I understand correctly I think I should be contacting both of them to request a pay for delete?

[Cruecial]

bump!

[mindcrime]

Oh, also want to add that I've disputed both CO's and they've both now have the following remark on them "Account information disputed by consumer, meets FCRA requirements", If I understand correctly I think I should be contacting both of them to request a pay for delete?

 

Once you dispute an account the DF is required to notify the CRA, which in fact they did.

 

What is the DOFD on each account? (the open date of the CA means nothing). Do you know the SOL in your state?