Buying a house next year. My journey to better credit My fiancee and I are planning on buying a house next summer/fall, and we'd like to start monitoring our credit to make sure we have the best score we can by then. She has afaik no spots on her credit. Is currently paying a loan on her purchased used last year. I had two charge-offs, several years old. I have a few citicards(aadvantage miles program) and I'm an AU on a few of her accounts. Never had a car payment. Obviously I'm the weak link here, but I'd like to find a program where we can monitor both of our scores, so I can see where I am and try to get us higher, also to see how it shakes out when the marriage occurs. Teach me.
Sign up for one of the monitoring services like True Credit or myfico. I believe there are links here on CreditNet that will give you a discount. Getting married should have no effect on your scores. Credit is individual. If you are joint account holders or authorized users, that affects your score. But you don't have to be married for that.
Thanks! I was hoping someone would have a joint account setup, but I'll probably talk her into just checking hers once now and once later to make sure it's still good. I'm getting ready to start up the nutcase letters in hopes of getting them to fall off a little faster. Only missing the utility bill to include for ID as I think they are in her name, we added me to one account, but it only causes the bill to show up with my first name as her middle name. I have an auto insurance bill if anyone thinks that will work My issues(I made a final payment/partial negotiated payment on all accounts to close them) - amex â?? current status - charge off date of last payment 12/03 date reported 01/04 comments - settlement accepted on this account. paid charge off discover card current status â?? pays as agreed date of last payment and date closed 07/05 date reported 08/05 comments - settlement accepted on this account Beneficial national bank current status â?? 120+ days past due date reported 05/04 date of last payment 07/03 comments â?? account closed by credit grantor activity description - transfer/sold LVNV Funding LLC current status â?? blank date of last payment and date closed - 06/04 date reported â?? 06/08 comments â?? paid collection
LVNV is a killer but, can be removed. I would also call AMEX and ask about their "oasis" program. Beneficial's account status a damaging and inaccurate.
Thanks! I hadn't heard about oasis before, does it help with getting them to drop the negative? IIRC it was around $2k and I settled for a little over $1k. I became an Amex cardholder last month, by way of being added as an AU to my fiancee's Amex Blue which we just got to use for joint purchases. I'll still look into it though if it will help get it off. I read the FAQ and it seemed like the nutcase letters were my only options, it's nice to see that there are some more. When searching for more info on the oasis thread someone had luck with disputing with the CRA's stating that the credit card had agreed to report as good in their settlement and got away with it, but that sounds like luck to me. Are there other options in this situation that I should try before nutcase? I currently have - added as au to fiancee's old citi account sometime last summer. Got my own CitiAadvantage Mastercard 09/07 Got my own CitiAadvantage Amex 10/07 Added as AU to AMEX Blue 06/08(not reported yet/first payment not made) But most of it so far has been thanks to her credit and I want to get mine actually fixed before it comes time to talk mortgage points. I want to go ahead and say a big THANK YOU for the help I've gotten so far and the help I hope to get.
No response lately so I'm plowing ahead. I've got all 4 nutcase letters ready to go, didn't have a utility bill, started to add last 4 of my ssn but that seemed like too much info in one letter. got them notarized and stamped. Do I go ahead and use my own envelope or do I get one at the post office when I do a certified with return reciept? Never sent a letter this way before
I sent a nutcase letter for each negative account, so far I've only gotten one of my return receipts back, a few days ago. It was the one I sent to LVNV
Finally got my first response back from a nutcase letter, this was from AMEX. I'd had their card, the bad stuff happened, I let it lapse because it seemed like a good idea to get them to offer a settlement, and I paid them I forget how much. On my equifax they showed as T AMERICAN EXPRESS -XXXX opened- 04/2001 balance -$0 date reported -01/2004 balance due - $0 account status -CHARGE-OFF credit limit - $0 Date of last payment - 12/2003 Date of first delinquency - 11/2002 Date major delinquency first reported - 01/2004 Comments: Settlement accepted on this account, Paid charge off So my response I received came on letterhead from - American Express Cards Travel Related Services Company Inc OA/Special Research And states - Re: American Express Account : X Dear Mr. X This letter is in response to your request for validation of the above referenced American Express Card account. Our records reflect that a settlement was previously negotiated for the account. The status has been updated with the credit reporting agencies. If you have any further questions regarding your credit report, please direct your inquiry to any of the credit reporting agencies listed. (lists address for equi/expi/tu) This office will not acknowledge any further correspondence regarding this matter. Sincerely, signature Mr X Outside Agency Special Research
