paying for my mistakes...help

Guest 0.10 Dollars($)

Hello, and thanks for any advice given!
First off, I think I have done everything possible wrong in the "credit world"! I started off by letting 5 credit cards go into collection when I joined some negotiating scam. One of the requirments of the scamming company i was dealing with was to close all of those accounts. After that destroyed my credit, I payed off all of the full balances through the collection agency. Now, I am looking to repair what I have done in the past year. My debt to income ratio should be amazing...seeing how I am debt free, yet horrible credit. I guess what I am getting at is the question, what should I do to raise my credit score seeing how I have no bills to pay on time, or no balances that are too high. I have heard rumors that I can dispute all of the negative items on my report, but I am a little skidish when it comes to my credit now. I didnt know how that would work with having $0 balances on everything, or if it would change it at all. Also I have heard of purchasing a couple $1000 cd's and putting those up to borrow against as in a secured loan...let it sit for about a year, and this is supposed to help. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do...as I stated earlier, I am really nervous about harming my credit again.

Once again, thanks for any advice

larry · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Posts: 3328 473.40 Dollars($)

Hi,

It is good that you have paid off all the due debts. Now has the collection agency reported it as "Pay for Delete" to the credit reporting agencies. If not you should request them to report it as you have paid them off. That will help you to improve your credit.

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions.

Best of luck,
Larry

Guest 0.10 Dollars($)

Im not sure how these accounts were reported, as I just paid them off about two months ago. A few of them show the full remaining balance right now on my credit report, and the others show a portion of the amount...which kind of threw me for a loop.
If I call these collection agencies back, do you think they will go out of their way to improve my credit. I just know they were not the most pleasant people to deal with when paying them, I just dont think it will be any better when I ask them to help me out. Thanks for any advice...

larry · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Posts: 3328 473.40 Dollars($)

Hi,

Welcome back.

As they have not reported to the credit bureau you should request them to report it. If they do not report it you can talk with the credit bureau directly.

Hope at least that will help.

Best of luck,
Larry

Guest 0.10 Dollars($)

Thanks, I will get on that asap. I guess my final question would be, do you have any other suggestions as to what I should do to help raise my credit score in the meantime. Secured credit cards, secured loans, disputes??? Any help is appreciated...

Samantha · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:12 am Post subject: RE: credit repair tool

Hi Lost,

I can understand how much you wish to repair your credit. I think you can do it yourself without taking help of any credit repair agency. You said you closed all accounts - well, that wasn't the right step. But anyway it's good that you paid off all balances within a short time through the CA.

You can try and dispute your items in the credit report, at least reduce the negative impact they can bring to your score. Check out the Credit Repair tool and know how to rebuild your credit.

Hope this helps...

God bless you.

Samantha

gmakerley · Posted: Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:55 am Post subject:

lost...there are a few things you can do. one thing to do is not to whine about the collection agencies being "not the most pleasant people" to deal with. you had a debt that you neglected to pay, right? their assignment was to collect that debt. i don't know what you expected - for them to be cheerful? oh well.

as for what you can do in the meantime...if you have receipts showing paid in full (and you need to have that), you can write to the credit reporting agencies yourself, providing them with the evicence that these debts are paid off. doing so will allow the agencies to update your credit file.

yes, indeed, you can obtain new accounts using security, i.e., pledging collateral such as a bank account or a certificate of deposit. one of the best places to do this is a credit union, as their rates on loans and credit cards will typically be lower than you will find elsewhere; and their lending policies are usually more liberal than elsewhere. banks will occasionally also offer secured credit cards.

if and when you obtain such new credit, you will need to do 2 things. first and foremost, pay them when they are due - not a week late, not a month late. this will help you in rebuilding what you've broken down. second - keep those balances as low as possible. using your full credit limit will be much more harmful than if you simply use your cards sparingly and pay the balances as you receive the bills.

keep in mind, also, that this is a process. you will not see a 700 credit score in june of this year. it may take another 6 months, 9 months, even a year before you begin to see a serious change in your credit scores. although it doesn't take much time to destroy credit, the repair does take a period of time.

you're going to need to be patient and go about this process calmly.

Guest 0.10 Dollars($)

Maybe this is why I am not in the collection business, but if I had someone call me and explain their mistakes, own up to them, and say "i want to pay that debt today"... I wouldn't be rude to that individual. If someone owed your company, not you, money ... called and wanted to pay it ... how would you treat that individual. Sorry, I must be too nice of a person to expect to be treated half way decent. If I don't have a legitimate reason to "whine", i apologize.

Niicss · Joined: 03 Oct 2005 Posts: 1047 156.15 Dollars($)

Hi,

Samantha and George have given you very good suggestions. Try to follow their suggestions and you will certainly improve your credit. If you go for credit cards or some kind of loans then you should pay them off on time so that you can improve your credit score.

gmakerley · Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:30 am Post subject:

i thoroughly agree that there is no room for being rude when in a customer service role.

by the same token, i think that what counts as rudeness for us (perhaps misinterpreted as such) may just be a matter-of-factness that collections people may get. unfortunately as well, there are those who have to put up with regular abuse from customers calling them; and i'm sure there have been some particularly hard shells put up that come out when others call.

this is not an excuse - no matter how you're treated, there ought to be a civility about you that would prevent passing along that treatment.

and i know this is easy to say, but if you simply pay the bills you create when they are due, you won't have to deal with the hardball-playing collectors who can oftentimes be rude.

fireyone_02 · Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 281 2.17 Dollars($)

I think there are two sides to this story. Although I can somewhat feel for the collector..I have to agree with lost. I tried being nice to a debt company and work with them. All I ever got was rudeness. True I have only ever dealt with one but after that one I ould not respond to another. I had life a altering situation and when I explained why i was unable to pay I hear "how is this our problem? I don't care about the reason you got behind I care about the money you owe." Nope sorry I'll just leave it. I don't need this bologna. I am a human after all.

jbarto65 · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 627 0.00 Dollars($)

Their tactics are ruthless sometimes, it is the nature of the beast and to most of these guys and gals it is a job. Some of them get commission on what they collect.

A good collector will not be a jerk, they will try to work with the debtor and get the debt resolved to benefit both their employer and the debtor.

fireyone_02 · Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 281 2.17 Dollars($)

Thats how I believe a good collector should be too but the sorry facts are there just aren't alot of good collectors.

jbarto65 · Joined: 04 Nov 2007 Posts: 627 0.00 Dollars($)

unfortunately, you are right, collectors can be rude and ignorant, there is nothing yyou can do about that, hopefuly, just keep your cool and try to pay the bill off as soon as possible.

smckaybiz · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 6:32 am Post subject:

I am sorry George but I disagree with one of your ideas to improve your credit. You are right about the fact that credit unions usually offer the best rates and have good policies about their repayment terms, but most credit unions that I have had experiences dealing with don't report to all three of the credit bureaus. Most of the credit unions only report to one of the credit bureaus. You may actually end up having to pay the credit bureaus to update you account information for any accounts that are not being reported to them from a paticular creditor.

Another thing to consider is that most credit unions don't pay very good interest rates on their CDs and/or Money Market Accounts. So if you are putting some of your hard earned money into one of these to use as collateral for a loan or line of credit, althought the interest rate may be lower than most lenders on what your borrowing, the money you have deposited will not being earning you much interest to offset the interest you are paying out.

I work for a bank that offers a "credit helper" loan if you have collateral to use for it. You could open a cd paying around 5% interest while being charged 6.25% for the loan. This means you are ultimately only paying around 1.25% interest which is a small price to pay for helping you to re-establish your credit.

Lost, if you have any family that would be confortable doing so you might suggest having you name added to one of their credit accounts that has open and in good standing for a long period of time. I did this for my wife who had a very bad credit score when we first got married and it helped to increase her credit score tremendously. Just a suggestion but I wish you the best of luck in improving your credit whichever way you choose. Very Happy

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