Newbie (where do i start?)

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by skndnh, Apr 28, 2015.

  1. skndnh

    skndnh Member

    Greetings Everyone!

    I am looking for advice on what to do to start building/repairing my credit. I have student loads which I have paid on time every time from 11- current. I paid for some classes out of pocket and was overdue at one point. I talked to a collections agency and was in a financial bind in which I asked the collector if waiting to pay would affect credit. The collector said no... I waited and then to my surprise it was being reported. I spoke with various supervisors and they said there was nothing they can do...in any case there is one closed account stating pays 91-120 days April 2014. I also financed a truck from 06-11 with Td bank. It was a horrible experience long story short status says pays 91-120 and I eventually paid the truck off. I have never had a credit card and I'm very eager to repair my credit I ordered a credit score through one of the agencies and it was a 640. Where do I start? I have all three reports and am recovering from surgery so I have a bunch of time to dedicate. THANKS IN ADVANCE! I'm a complete newbie to credit.
     
  2. mindcrime

    mindcrime Well-Known Member

    Welcome to the board.

    TD Bank auto loan: What is the last time you were delinquent on this account. That is where the 7YR reporting period begins. It sounds like you had multiple late payments. Some creditors offer goodwill adjustments. I have no experience with TD, but IMO it's worth a shot going for.

    Some contact info:

    TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
    TD Bank
    1701 Route 70 East
    Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08034
    888-751-9000

    https://mediaroom.tdbank.com/contacts
    Directors / Officers

    You could always try the front lines (customer service) first. If you get a No, or not enough satisfaction, start your goodwill adjustment letter, and decide who you want to send it to. The letter should be detailed, but not overly dramatic. Explain the problems that were occurring between 06-11, issues you had with the bank, any life changes issues, etc.

    Where did you get your credit score? If it's not a FICO, it's not entirely accurate. There are many scoring models out there. Your best bet is to get hard copies of your credit from all 3 credit bureau's, and don't get wrapped up in your credit score just yet. The data contained in your reports is more important.

    One option to get your reports is through: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action

    These are free, every 12 months. However if you are disputing anything using these reports, the CRA's are given an additional 15 days (for a total of 45) to complete the investigation.

    Can you give further details on the collection account for your school?
     
  3. skndnh

    skndnh Member

    Thank you! In regards to the Td bank loan the last delinquency was 06-11.

    The credit score was through one of the cra.. I have the printout somewhere I will need to review. I did get All my reports through the link you provided.

    The school collection was for a payment Plan I set up with the school. It was for a year of college at the local technical college part time. I made a deposit and was responsible for the remainder at years end. When it was time for me to fulfill the payment I was tight with my finances and explained to the lady's who called from the collection agency that I was not aware the payment was due and that it was collections. I asked her if it was being reported she said no and then I received a notification that it did get reported through a protect my id alert. I immediately called and paid off debt and asked to have everything reviewed. I went through a bunch of calls and they ended up not being able to do anything.. This was the only recent negative report on my credit since I have been trying very hard to get on top of everything. It was reported 4/7/2104
     
  4. mindcrime

    mindcrime Well-Known Member

    Okay, that looked like the time (in years) you had the loan, as in 2006 through 2011, when I read your initial post.

    If 06/11 was the late late pay, then 06/18 is when the account would convert (naturally) to a positive TL.

    The CRA's sell their own version of credit scores as well. Unless it specifically says FICO, it's not.


    What's the DOFD on that account?

    Is the OC reporting as well or just the collection?
     
  5. skndnh

    skndnh Member

    I appreciate all the advice mind crime! I went to myfico.com and they did not have the option of just purchasing the credit score I was going to wait and see if I make any progress before I pull all 3 reports again. Or what do you suggest? Does this mean I would have to wait until 2018 before I could do anything with that horrible Td report?

    The collection agency is not reporting it seems as if the school did.. The date reported was 4/7/14 date of last payment was 02/14. The date of first delinquency was 09/13
     
  6. mindcrime

    mindcrime Well-Known Member

    My suggestion is to not get too hooked on credit scores.

    If you must have them, there are banks and credit unions that offer monthly (give or take) FICO score from them.

    DCU is one www.dcu.org This is an Equifax FICO score given the last Friday of the month

    Barclays is another www.barclaycardus.com This is a TU FICO score given approximately every 6 weeks it seems.


    No, just that if you were to do nothing, that is when it would convert.

    How many late pays do you have?

    Just to clarify, you do not owe any money on this account, correct? Therefore a PFD (pay for delete) is void. Since it's a newer account, you may need to let it age a bit, and try for a GW delete through the school. The older it gets, the more likely they'll delete for you.
     
  7. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    The one problem, even a GW delete from the school, won't do anything for the CA... A third-party can't control what another person does... Even if the OC would want to delete, they can only delete their own reporting, not someone else's, so you have to get inventive and try to find other ways to make it be gone.

    Think back to every single interaction with the CA, did they play 100% by the book, are there any oopsies in what they are reporting, even a slight one?
     
  8. jam237

    jam237 Well-Known Member

    I see a biggie re-reading your first post.

    Do you have the information for whom you spoke with at the CA, when the conversation happened, etc?

    If the agent represented over the phone that waiting wouldn't affect your credit, they made a false and misleading representation, you accepted that agent's representation at face value, they acted in opposition of their representation, and were injured because of it.

    That's enough of a representation for a basic ITS of the CA, intending to sue for violating of the FDCPA. Unless there are factual errors in the reporting, and you dispute them with the CRAs directly, you wouldn't be able to add in a FCRA suit (which would ramp the minimum damages from $1,000 to adding an additional $100 to $1,000 per tradeline being reported).
     
  9. mindcrime

    mindcrime Well-Known Member

    I think we need further clarification on this...

    I'm reading it as the only account on his reports is the OC/the school. If that's the case, he only needs the GW from the school. Seems like CA got their money and just left.
     
  10. skndnh

    skndnh Member

    Mind crime... The date the account closed was 6/11 for Td. The school is the one reporting
     
  11. skndnh

    skndnh Member

    Apologies for big delay everyone between responses, which steps should I take?
     
  12. isaacll

    isaacll New Member

    Get your credit evaluated then clraned and build it up.
     
  13. JoshuaHeckathorn

    JoshuaHeckathorn Administrator

    Hey skndnh, it looks like you were making good progress on this and then all communication dropped off. Are you willing to come back and give us an update on where everything stands? I agree with mindcrime, that I don't think it's really worth focusing on your credit scores in the beginning. If you've got access to a free FICO credit score, that's great, but your scores will inevitably benefit from efforts taken to clean up your credit reports.

    Getting access to an unsecured credit card for bad credit, or even a secured credit card can help you begin building positive payment history on your credit reports as well, which is just as important as cleaning up old negative marks.

    Please give us an update on your credit situation, and we look forward to helping you from here on out!
     

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