Newbie - Need Help!

Help me please!

I have been following these boards for a couple of weeks and trying to learn as much as possible. I would like to give a little background on my situation and my preliminary plan and see what advice you guys and gals have for me. I know this is very long but I need lots of help! I will thank you all in advance for taking the time to read this and offer any advice.

First some background:

In 2000 I made a career change and had no income for about 4 months. Shortly after that my wife and I had our first child and we were blessed with a beautiful girl with Down Syndrome. We did not know of the Downs until she was born and had not planned on becoming a single income family for at least a couple of years after the birth. My daughter is the most important thing in our lives and we feel truly blessed to have her in our lives! The Downs necessitated my wife staying home to care for our daughter and our income has become severely reduced, over 50%.

My wife and I fell behind in our bills and decided to use a non-profit (HA!) CCCS(Myvesta.org). We have been paying on time and all of the cards (except a few) show current with CRAâ??s since 4/01. The CCCS suddenly stopped accepting payment on my account this month and responded that they were no longer able to handle clients in California. I plan to continue making payments to the creditors on my own . Most of these accounts show closed (some by grantor some by consumer). There are a few that show open /current.

While the CCCS was negotiating with my creditors I had a line of credit with Wells Fargo that got sent to collections days before the CCCS stated they had made an agreement with them. I paid on this account for a while through CCCS and then I began to receive calls from a collection agency regarding the account I spoke with them and stated that I had made an agreement with Wells and I didnâ??t understand their call. The CA stated Wells had charged off and they were collecting. I eventually sent them a Cease & Desist (before I actually knew what a cease & desist was) and stopped paying the account through CCCS. Shortly after another CA (Arrow Financial) called on the account and stated they would reduce the debt 50% and take a payment plan. I began making payments (I now know this was a bad idea). After the 3rd payment I began receiving calls from the CA asking to settle the account in full I stated that I was making payments and the CA stated they did not take payment plans only full settlement. I stopped making payments and the CA continues to call. After I began to research this board I learned not to talk with them on the phone and the last time they called I basically told them that I needed anything they were requesting to be sent to me in writing and that I did not appreciate being called 2 times a day. The CA then stated fine I will put you down as refusal to pay at which point I hung up.

Additionally 2 other accounts that were on the CCCS are listed as being 60-90 days late since I started with the payment plan even though one of the creditors agreed to bring current after 3 months of payments.

I am still paying on all of the accounts except for the one with Arrow and I am on plan to have all of them paid in full within the next 3 years (making larger payments the CCCS negotiated). Unfortunately I can not make large payments to flat out settle accounts so this option is not currently available.

The Report and Plan in my limited knowledge derived order of importance:

1. Wells Fargo Bank â?? This is the account with Arrow however Arrow is not listed on any of my CRâ??s. Account shows charged off / past due 90 days. I need help with this one! I had already started paying CA and have stopped due to their unwillingness to accept a payment plan and send 50% reduction and plan in writing. I am thinking of sending a validation with a cease & desist on phone calls (I know I blew this by paying the CA). Also maybe try and work with Wells directly and negotiate a settlement & payment plan with the agreement that they will change the CR to a paid as agreed once paid off

2. AFSCI â?? I contested this account 2 or 3 years ago with a letter stating I didnâ??t know what it was and that I wanted it noted I disputed the info (it does). The account shows a balance of 0 for the past year and yet it shows a 30 day late on 2/2003. I am not sure what this account is possibly an old AVCO Financial account but not sure, if it is I have about $600 left to pay on the account. â?? I plan to contest with CRA as not mine and request complete delete, if it comes back verified I will request verification information and verify with creditor. Possibly verify accuracy after that with request for complete delete as it seems hard to have a 0 balance and be late at the same time.

3. Providian â?? shows closed/current. 90 days past due from 3/2001 â?? 6/2002. The CCCS didnâ??t get the payment amount correct with the creditor and I didnâ??t find out until 6/02 t which time I called Providian and got the correct amount figured out for payment. Iâ??m not sure how to handle this one .. considering sending a GW explaining the CCCS problem and being unaware they needed a larger payment. Any suggestions are appreciated on this one. Additionally account shows closed at grantors request.

4. Retailers National Bank â?? shows 60 days past due for over a year however this was being paid through CCCS. Possibly a GW offering to pay off account in total and get removal of past dues and paid as agreed.

5. American agencies â?? collection account with no contact from CA. SOL is up entry is scheduled to fall off 1/05. Not sure how to handle, could contest with CRA as not mine and if the CA verifies I could try and validate. I figure worst case scenario they validate and I tell them take a hike SOL.

6. PG&E & AT&T wireless â?? Paid/collection accounts, scheduled to drop 2/05. Thinking of disputing as not mine with CRA and hope they donâ??t verify as it is old and paid.

7. Provider Recovery Network & Sacramento Municipalâ?? unpaid collection accounts â?? SOL is up on both, considering disputing with CRA as not mine and if the CA verifies I could try and validate. I figure worst case scenario they validate and I tell them take a hike SOL.

8. Many of the tradelines show that I am on CCCS, this is no longer true as the CCCS is not working with California residents any longer. I am thinking I should write to the creditors and ask that I continue to pay them per the arrangements CCCS made on my own and request the removal of the CCCS entries on my CR.

I apologize for the length of this post and would appreciate any advice on my plan and any other ideas being offered. As you can see I have a lot to work on. Thank you in advance for all of the time you have spent reading this post and any advice you have to offer!

Poor Pilot

 

Radi8 â?? Thanks for the reply!

I will proceed as planned and keep everyone here up to date. I do have a question for you on the accounts that state CCCS. You stated to ask for removal of their accounts from my credit files. I guess I wasnâ??t really thinking straight on this one but you seem to be on to something. I could challenge accuracy with the CRAâ??s and demand removal due to inaccurate reporting by the creditor, they are reporting that I am on a CCCS which is now incorrect. Is this what you were thinking when you were giving that advice? Also do you think it would be better/easier to just have the accounts deleted as they are all closed by credit grantor anyways?


LB59

Maybe I wasnâ??t clear in this statement. The CA is calling on an account that I was making payments on but stopped. The account is not paid off it was charged off by the OC. I am asking if it is to late to validate this account as it is outside of the 30 days and I made some payments to the CA on it already. There is still a balance on the account showing with the OC, the CA has not placed anything with the CRAâ??s.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my original post, I know it was very long. As always I appreciate any advice / critique from everyone on the board.

Poor Pilot