Hello! I have some horrible credit. I've been paying on time for a year now to everyone. I'm getting off CCCS next week because I hear it's worse than bankruptcy on your credit report. How long from the time I start paying on my own (since I've already been on time for a year) until I get offers in the mail and can be approved for a "real" credit card? (i.e. one with no participation fee+program fee+membership fee+card fee, etc). I already prequalify for a credit card at work (no fees at all except the APR). I'm going to charge it like crazy, pay it off each month, charge it like crazy again, pay it off, etc. I know it's better to leave $10-$20 on there at all times than have it reach $0 for credit purposes. Thoughts? Thanks!
It's hard to tell w/o having a copy of all your credit reports. Although good current payment history is important, you can still be turned down for credit based upon old delinquencies. You need to pull your reports and get your FICO score. Most creditors look at this score to determine if you qualify for their loan, cc, etc. Payment history alone will not get you approved for prime (no fee) credit cards. For example, I have excellent payment history for 4 years, never late on any account. However, I have old derogs (charge off's, late pays, etc) that really lower my score. The only way time will play in is that derogs must be removed after 7 years, 10 for BK. SO, if you want to wait 7 years, your credit would be restored, or you can start now by pulling your reports and clearing them up now. Getting away from the credit counseling service is probably a good step for healing your credit as long as you have truly learned how to properly budget your money. Otherwise, you'll be right back at square one. Read the FAQ for specifics about the FDCPA and the FRCA to see how long items can remain on your credit report.
I disagree. The only thing worse than being in CCCS is not completing CCCS once you've started it. That will absolutely fry your credit. Also, once you've completed CCCS, you can apply with Citibank. They have a "new CCCS grads" program that was the first step for us in rebuilding our credit. Twelve months and one Citi BDD later, that card is a platinum with a $14,500 limit. BTW, no, I'm not a hack for CCCS, just like I'm not a hack for Bill Bauer (something I've been accused of more than once because I don't hate him) or anyone else. Look back through my posts. Run a search on my screen name and CCCS. I've written plenty about it. I've been through CCCS. It didn't kill me. And, I must say, I take a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that I paid all my bills off completely. I firmly believe that that is why I've been able to knock so many loose from our CR's (well over 70 derogs gone so far-- just a few left!). Knowing what I know now, I'm not sure I would do CCCS again, but once you've started down that road, I'd think long and hard about stopping.
We used CCCS for about 4-5 months a few years ago. My payments actually increased! None of my APRs decreased so I figured it was ridicules to continue to use them. We cancelled. Took me 4 plus months to get Sears to get CCCS off my report. We paid the account off on our own long after we ditched CCCS. In my credit repair journey, the only creditor that's been a pain in the you know where has been Sears and that CCCS notation. They even pulled a hard inquiry on me when I disputed it even though they said they wouldn't (the account was closed/paid off 0 balance when I disputed the notation). Anyway, when we got that notation off, I didn't get any boost in score or anything (the account was already in positive status, even with the CCCS notation), but from what I've read on here, get that notation off your report as quickly as you can. And if it's with a Sears account, start NOW. Ozzy.
Our avg interest rate was cut from ~21% to under 10%. Our payments dropped from over $1500/ mo. with no end in sight to $914/ mo. for 17 months. Then it was all paid. Zero balance everywhere. Man it felt good. Still does.
I'm in CCCS right now. I put almost $6,000 in cc debt in their program, right after my divorce. I still owe about $1,100, which probably won't be paid off until next year. I only have 2 bills that are still being paid off, the smaller ones are done. The small ones I've just disputed on my CR's, and they both deleted my past lates (and there were LOTS of them!) The other 2 aren't showing up on my report at all. One is an old visa, that had a $2,000 balance, and the other is the collection agency for discover, that had a $2,500 balance. I've heard all the bad things about CCCS, but I guess I got lucky. I know that they could be put on after I'm done paying them off, but all of those lates were almost 7 years old, so they shouldn't show up anyway (of course, I could be wrong about that!) I'm glad I don't have a horror story to share!!
Up yo own 7 years, LOL!! Don't you miss the spel checkr? I sure do. Anyway. By my calculations, 17 months of debt repayment plus 12 months of CreditNet guerilla credit repair tactics equals perfectly clean credit reports and a clear conscience because all my debts are paid in full.
