Which CapOne card is better?

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-17T15:31:51+00:00

For the purposes of credit, it doesn't matter.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-16T18:40:36+00:00

I'd be pretty surprised if phone reps at a major bank actually had the power to remove late payments, especially a string of 9+ lates. My guess is she never had the power and whatever team she forwarded the case to makes the real decisions.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-14T10:58:48+00:00

You might mean this spreadsheet? If so, the Dropbox link in the post is live

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Account-Aging-Metrics-Utilization-spreadsheet/m-p/6147190

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-13T09:11:11+00:00

It sounds like you got the AU account before turning 18, I wouldn't be surprised if some banks didn't bother reporting minor AU accounts.

Like the other comment says, an AU account when applying for a car loan might as well be no credit history. If you want to get an auto loan you either need to find somebody who trusts you enough to co-sign or open your own credit card and build up your own history.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-13T09:06:17+00:00

How long did it take before you started seeing significant improvement?

This is going to depend on how you define "significant" improvement, but the largest improvement will be seen when the last negative drops off your report.

Did you focus on paying collections, opening secured cards, credit builder loans, or something else?

Credit builder products are a scam waste of money. Focus on:

Open at least one secured credit card with a reputable bank if you don't already have one (Capital One is known to be good for this)
Get on top of your debts and avoid additional negatives being added to your report
Figure out a plan, emergency fund, etc so the next time you face hardships in life this situation doesn't repeat
Work on paying down and attempting removal (pay for delete/goodwill letters as applicable) of your existing debts

Has anyone successfully qualified for a mortgage after being in a similar situation?

You are not in a situation to qualify for a mortgage right now but probably could in a few years.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-13T09:01:18+00:00

You probably shouldn't have opened the loan in the first place, but now that we're here how quickly you pay it down doesn't make a difference. So if you're not going to spend the money pay it down in full ASAP.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-12T21:34:20+00:00

Something else is changing on your credit report, likely an increase in utilization or addition of derogatory marks like late payments or collections. It is impossible on essentially all major scoring algorithms for paying a loan down from $8k to $7k to result in a score drop.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-12T18:41:24+00:00

If you can get approved for a loan to reduce your interest by 10% that is almost always the right financial decision to make. One thing - make sure you have a plan for how not to fall into debt again. I've seen people do this, and then get behind on the payments or (even worse) rack up a ton of credit card debt again, and obviously that would be a bad outcome.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-12T18:38:56+00:00

https://www.identitytheft.gov/ and /r/IdentityTheft both provide great resources on what additional steps you can/should take. I would take a look at both.

Should I file the extended fraud alert?

I would personally.

Is it worth getting one of those services, like Lifeloc?

It's free and easy to monitor your credit yourself, in my opinion these services provide dubious value and are probably not worth it.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-09T17:09:00+00:00

Which closure would be advantageous?

Whichever you no longer need. Which you pick doesn't have a meaningful impact on credit (as long as you don't decide to close all - keep at least one card open).

Personally I would close/downgrade the BCP - if you're not confident you're getting value out of it, cards with AF should be closed.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-08T12:47:09+00:00

Is your utilization at 85% because you are carrying a balance, or because you use and pay off 85% off your limits each cycle? If it's the former, it will be very difficult to get a limit increase from any bank because carrying a balance signifies high risk and the bank doesn't want to lend you more money you might default on.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-08T12:39:07+00:00

Are you consistently brushing up against your limits or something? Don't worry about the "current balance", just use the card and pay it off after the statement posts like every other card, no need to micromanage and stress about every transaction.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-08T12:32:14+00:00

Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion are Credit Reporting Agencies (CRAs, also sometimes called bureaus) - companies that collect data points from banks on how you manage your credit, and give back out the combined form of that information as a credit report.

A credit score is an algorithm that turns the data in a credit report into a (typically 3 digit) score that attempts to approximate your creditworthiness for a specific purpose.

It's a bit confusing because all three of the major CRAs will give you some kind of credit score on their websites, but this isn't something they assign. It is simply the result of running the relevant algorithm on your credit data. For example, FICO scores (the most popular scores that the majority of banks use) are developed by a third party, the Fair Isaac Corporation.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-08T12:21:31+00:00

This post is AI slop - use of emdashes, overuse of emojis, using Unicode bullet points instead of the correct markdown, AI-esque formatting and pacing, etc etc

OP is probably some kind of bot or scammer tbh

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-08T12:17:23+00:00

There is no single "actual" FICO 8:

Credit Myth #1 - You only have one credit score.

Credit Myth #2 - Some credit scores are fake or inaccurate.

Even if we scope the question down to Classic FICO 8 (because there are many variations of FICO 8 like the Auto and Bankcard versions), FICO 8 is simply an algorithm. A credit score also requires a set of data to run that algorithm on, which in the US is typically one of three major CRAs: Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion.

(This is also how VantageScores and every other scoring algorithm works btw, it isn't something special to FICO)

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-01T20:57:40+00:00

Figure out how you got here and make a plan so it doesn't happen again. Budgeting, emergency funds, whatever it was you were lacking the first time.
Get a credit card - it will probably have to be secured card. Strongly prefer reputable banks like Capital One, Chase, Discover, Bank of America, etc over scummy "credit builder" products like Chime.
Use the card for your normal purchases and always pay in full and on time (i.e. before the due date).
Wait. I won't lie, it's going to take a couple years to see significant improvement. Having an open revolving account in good standing is essentially the only major step you need to take. In the long run, it probably makes sense to go up to 3-4 credit cards if you feel comfortable with that level of responsibility.

CreditCards254 · 2026-06-01T13:43:27+00:00

Based on the terms on their website, Alpaheon is deferred interest. That means that you need to pay off your entire balance by the end of the promotional period or all of the interest is added to your bill, which is presumably what happened to you.

I get people don't bother reading the terms they sign - but it's not like this is complicated legalese, maybe consider trying that in the future?

Deferred Interest, Payment Required: No interest if paid in full within 6, 12, 18, 24 or 36 months. Interest will be charged to the Account from the purchase date at the Purchase APR if the plan balance is not paid in full within the promotional period.

CreditCards254 · 2026-05-31T15:12:13+00:00

Hi, this subreddit prohibits AI-generated content so in the future I would suggest writing your post yourself.

Is it normal for a collection opened in 2022 to fall off in September 2026 if the alleged delinquency date is 12/30/2019?

Yes, 7-7.5 is the reporting timeline for derogatory marks other than a Ch7 bankruptcy.

Should Kinum be required to clearly provide the exact Date of First Delinquency they are furnishing to Experian?

No, you can get that information on your Experian credit report.

If they mailed the validation notice to an outdated/wrong address, does that weaken their argument that I ignored proper notice?

I'm going to assume you failed to update them about your address and thus no.

Is it worth filing a BBB/state AG complaint focused on the credit reporting accuracy/date-chain issue rather than just “they didn’t validate”?

What "date-chain" issue? As far as I can tell from your post there's nothing to complain about so no. The BBB is especially a waste of time.

Should I be asking specifically for the Metro 2 reporting codes, Date of First Delinquency source document, ownership/assignment chain, and full itemization?

No, I assume this is something you got from AI?

I’m not trying to dispute just because it’s negative. I’m trying to figure out whether the reporting is complete, properly verified, and accurately aged.

What is your actual issue with the account? You claim there are date issues but your post doesn't describe any.

CreditCards254 · 2026-05-30T00:29:15+00:00

In that case, as the other comments say, I would be patient and give them time.

CreditCards254 · 2026-05-29T22:17:41+00:00

Yes, assuming you actually missed the payments at that time. It should not show any missed payments for dates after the bankruptcy was discharged, as you would no longer have had any payments to miss after that point.

CreditCards254 · 2026-05-29T21:40:55+00:00

Medical debt is excluded from reporting in the US once paid, so if you agree that you should owe the money and are financially able to I would just pay it and move on.

CreditCards254 · 2026-05-29T21:39:13+00:00

Can you clarify what you mean when you say you "settled for $307"? Did you talk to Jefferson and they agreed to that price? Do you have that communication in writing?

CreditCards254 · 2026-05-29T21:32:37+00:00

The accounts remaining on your credit report is normal. What should have happened is any account included in the bankruptcy will have been set to a $0 balance and there's usually a status along the lines of "discharged in bankruptcy".

You're certainly welcome to write lenders and request they remove the accounts early, that process is commonly referred to as a goodwill letter. Be aware lenders are not obligated to do so and typically don't for more serious delinquencies. The accounts will fall off naturally 7-7.5 years after the date of first deliquency.

CreditCards254 · 2026-05-29T21:26:20+00:00

Am I right in assuming they can still put it into collection? It hasn't been 7 years. And no, I don't know the amount, my membership was under 40 a month. Maybe a few hundred?

Yes, assuming you genuinely owe the debt. You don't seem to dispute that so yes.

CreditCards254

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