CF Financial

[Sgt PSN]

What forest is the rock located in that he's trapped under?

Make a right turn...and keep walking...

[hbionic]

Does anyone own a credit cards that earn miles?

Which do you recommend?

[charlie]

Does anyone own a credit cards that earn miles?

Which do you recommend?

The southwest mastercard is pretty good.

I have a capital one card that i havent traded miles in for yet a ticket, but will soon...

[SD]

Need some advice, and since some of you seem like smart fellers I'll throw this here.

Baby's momma and I split in August. I got my own place. She couldn't make rent so she had to move and break the lease. The apartment complex (bunch of thieving iceholes) says she owes them $4,000 even though our rent was only $1000 per month. I guess $2000 was for the 2 months she didn't pay rent, $1000 for the buyout clause then another $1000 for some other bullshtein. She didn't dispute this with the complex and just accepted it. So they essentially evicted a single mom after 1 month of not paying rent. I gave her half the money for the buyout clause considering my name was still on the lease, and she agreed to pay the balance since she stayed and I left (I gave her the option of leaving).

So now she can't pay it and it's gone to a collection agency. They said they'd knock it down from $4000 to $3200 without reporting it to the 3 major credit agencies. I tried go half with baby's momma but she couldn't come up with her end. So now my credit is shot. I've had halfway decent credit my entire life and aside from $3000 in student loans have zero debt.

So my question is what are my options at this point? I have a buddy who's an accountant, he says eventually the credit agency will want to settle for something, like maybe $1000, it will reflect as a negative on my credit but it will be paid and won't be so toxic. Is he correct?

[Seabiscuit36]

All settlements are reported, and you'll end up having to pay taxes on what isnt paid back to them, since its considered income by the government depending on the collection agency, and their 1099 practices.  You're buddy is right, the longer you wait, the better the settlement offer will be, but the impact to your credit score in the interim will be pretty bad.  Check with him about the 1099c on this bad boy.  I'm not really familiar with leases, and how those type of obligations work, just a bankers background. 

[Sgt PSN]

That sounds pretty legit, but also sounds like it's going to do some damage to your credit that could take a couple years to recover from and since you say your credit is only "halfway decent" to begin with, I don't know if I'd want to damage it any more.  Perhaps you can try and get a loan from the VA to pay off the large debt now and then pay it back in small amounts over 12 months?   

I know since Todd moved to Browntown, there's a Sushi joint down a bicycle delivery boy.  Have you considered picking up a new p/t job to make some more cheddar? 

[SD]

That sounds pretty legit, but also sounds like it's going to do some damage to your credit that could take a couple years to recover from and since you say your credit is only "halfway decent" to begin with, I don't know if I'd want to damage it any more.  Perhaps you can try and get a loan from the VA to pay off the large debt now and then pay it back in small amounts over 12 months?   

I know since Todd moved to Browntown, there's a Sushi joint down a bicycle delivery boy.  Have you considered picking up a new p/t job to make some more cheddar? 

I have good credit, not halfway decent [my bad]. They already reported it to the credit agency so does it really matter at this point? The one thing I'm thankful for is so many peoples credit is farged because of the economy that having bad credit is the norm (or so I'm told). I'm not planning on making any large purchases (house/car etc.) for another 5-10 years so I have time.

[Seabiscuit36]

its better to take care of it than let it linger and eat your credit.  Go to annualcreditreport.com and take a look at your stuff, its free, and you can look at it once per year, maybe two now.  If i'm you SD i find a way to get a loan to work out a settlement and get rid of that crap. 

[SD]

its better to take care of it than let it linger and eat your credit.  Go to annualcreditreport.com and take a look at your stuff, its free, and you can look at it once per year, maybe two now.  If i'm you SD i find a way to get a loan to work out a settlement and get rid of that crap. 

Good call, I just checked my credit reports and it's not on there yet. I'm thinking they just threatened me with that to force me to settle. At this point I'm thinking of calling and making $100 monthly payments until it's paid off.

[Seabiscuit36]

its better to take care of it than let it linger and eat your credit.  Go to annualcreditreport.com and take a look at your stuff, its free, and you can look at it once per year, maybe two now.  If i'm you SD i find a way to get a loan to work out a settlement and get rid of that crap. 

Good call, I just checked my credit reports and it's not on there yet. I'm thinking they just threatened me with that to force me to settle. At this point I'm thinking of calling and making $100 monthly payments until it's paid off.

i know as a bank we offer payment plans, and settlements, and obviously legal action.  If you setup a payment plan they may keep it off the books if its a structured settlement over a period of time, but i'd make sure you get anything agreed to on paper. 

[Sgt PSN]

Since the money thread has been resurrected, I figured I'd throw this out there.  It's basically how I've been living for the last 3 or 4 years and have dramatically improved my credit score during the process:

I got a credit card with a $25,000 limit.  Then I set up all of my monthly bills to be autopaid with my credit card (mortgage/rent, satellite, cell phone, car payment, etc).  I also pay monthly bills that fluxuate like electricity or water online with the credit card. 

I have a $300 grocery budget that I pay with the card.  Same for gas.  Basically, when it's all said and done, I've got roughly $3000 budgeted towards my normal monthly bills that gets put on the card.  Once the statement comes in at the end of the month, I go online and pay it off with my check card. 

So basically, every single month I charge at least $3000, but I never carry a balance over to the following month.  It's always paid off.  As a result, my credit score went from bad (low 500's) to pretty damn good (720's). 

In addition, I've got one of the "rewards based" credit cards, so I get like $50 back for every $1000 I put on the card.....so I basically make $150/month.  I forget exactly how much it is because I have those vouchers sent to my mom and she deposits them in a savings account for me that I don't have access too (because I'm stupid and will probably blow it), but I'm still actually making a few bucks a month with that.

Obviously, I have to maintain some serious discipline to not over spend but so far, I've been really good about it and have never gotten a bill at the end of the month that I didn't have the cash to pay off immediately. 

Anyone see any major flaws with what I'm doing?  It seems like since damn near every credit card out there these days has some sort of rewards system in place, it's almost dumb not to use it as much as possible as long as you're not spending more than you can afford to pay off on a monthly basis.   

[SD]

its better to take care of it than let it linger and eat your credit.  Go to annualcreditreport.com and take a look at your stuff, its free, and you can look at it once per year, maybe two now.  If i'm you SD i find a way to get a loan to work out a settlement and get rid of that crap. 

Good call, I just checked my credit reports and it's not on there yet. I'm thinking they just threatened me with that to force me to settle. At this point I'm thinking of calling and making $100 monthly payments until it's paid off.

i know as a bank we offer payment plans, and settlements, and obviously legal action.  If you setup a payment plan they may keep it off the books if its a structured settlement over a period of time, but i'd make sure you get anything agreed to on paper. 

Here's my next question: What are the chances of me calling the collection agency and settling for say $2000?

[Seabiscuit36]

its better to take care of it than let it linger and eat your credit.  Go to annualcreditreport.com and take a look at your stuff, its free, and you can look at it once per year, maybe two now.  If i'm you SD i find a way to get a loan to work out a settlement and get rid of that crap. 

Good call, I just checked my credit reports and it's not on there yet. I'm thinking they just threatened me with that to force me to settle. At this point I'm thinking of calling and making $100 monthly payments until it's paid off.

i know as a bank we offer payment plans, and settlements, and obviously legal action.  If you setup a payment plan they may keep it off the books if its a structured settlement over a period of time, but i'd make sure you get anything agreed to on paper. 

Here's my next question: What are the chances of me calling the collection agency and settling for say $2000?

it really depends.  You probably have a better chance by waiting towards the end of the month.  They're desparate to close back stuff, and will be more willing to meet you where you want to be.  Just call and tell them you're interested in settling, but can only afford x amount.  If they can get it approved they will, they may have to go up the ladder. 

[phillycrew]

Since the money thread has been resurrected, I figured I'd throw this out there.  It's basically how I've been living for the last 3 or 4 years and have dramatically improved my credit score during the process:

Anyone see any major flaws with what I'm doing?  It seems like since damn near every credit card out there these days has some sort of rewards system in place, it's almost dumb not to use it as much as possible as long as you're not spending more than you can afford to pay off on a monthly basis.   

No flaws so long as you make sure you pay it off each month.  Since you have a military job, you have the job security and don't have to worry about losing your job and stuck with a large cc balance.  Just make sure you keep the discipline to pay it off each month.  I do almost the same thing since we get around $40 cash back each month and like you said, it helps your credit rating.

[PhillyPhreak54]

SD,

It hasn't hit your reports yet, but it will. It depends on how often the collection agency reports to Equifax, Trans Union, and Experien.

Your best bet is two options, and both center on you getting a loan for that amount and paying the apartment complex off. And you better get that loan before that collection hits your credit reports because once it does, they will not give you anything.

1. Go get a loan for $4000 (or however much you need to make the payment)

2. Call the apartment complex and make them an offer. Tell them you will come in and make the whole payment of $4000 but in return you want them to recall the collection request. That will back the agency off of you and they will re-call the report from the three bureaus. That is essentially a "pay for delete" or "PFD". They will usually jump on this shtein because they get their cash and that's all they give a shtein about.

3. Sign up for www.myfico.com

I have the "SCOREWATCH" and it monitors my Equifax daily. I pay $8.95 a month for it. This way you can ensure that they do remove the collection (if it hits) or that it does not hit your reports.

If the complex does agree to do that...GET IT IN WRITING! If they don't put it on paper, you're farged.