My hubby and I have a car that we have to pay on for almost 4 more years. We both had horrible credit, and I'm embarrassed to even tell you the interest rate. Needless to say, the car is worth a little over 1/2 of what we still owe. Not a good situation. I want to refinance, but I'm a stay at home mommy for right now, so It'll be my husbands credit that counts the most. I have to get his 4 collections cleared up first, and add him as an 2nd cardholder on my 2 credit cards, to try to get his score up high enough. I don't think there will be anything else I can do for his reports, unless sallie mae decides to be kind and remove 2 lates. Where would be the best place to go for a refinance? I would really love to just get rid of the car, honestly. I just don't see how that would be possible, owing $7000 more than we would get for it. What do you think?
You're right, refinancing will be difficult. To avoid score-lowering hard inquiries, gather up all your financial data inculding recent consumer credit reports, and call and visit many lenders. Ask them to look over the information you provide (and understanding it would all have to be independently verified) and see if they could help you. A large number won't do it, or won't know the answer even if they look at it (primarily because the underwriting is done off site and in those situations often you are just dealing with a salesperson to whom the underwriters will release no information other than approved/declined). You'll be looking for a lender who does their own underwriting and will deal with you in person. They're hard to find, but they're out there. Ask around, you don't have to tell people anything about your situation other than you want to refinance, but talk to people you might know who deal with different types of lenders such as real estate agents, attorneys, business owners, etc. Is this car loan in your husband's name, and does it show on his credit report? If this is the case, even if you can't get it refinanced, it's still a positive situation if it shows current on his credit (credit reports don't show the interest you're paying, that can only be inferred if it's a specialty lender with whom someone is familiar). Sometimes you just have to tough it out, and look at the extra interest as a fee you're paying to improve your credit, and let all the other stuff age off. (OK, that's kind of lame, but it IS one way of looking at the situation in a positive light.)
