Hello everyone! I've been lurking for the last few weeks, and decided the time had come to ask, ask, ask! Here's the poop... Recently married, want to buy a house. Got reports for me and hubby, and knew they wouldn't be great. I just consollidated a student loan, couldn't "rehab" becasue they wanted $600 per month, that's on my record. (paid/ collections), other misc. info, disputable/ payable from uears ago. Hubby has a BK (2 yrs old), reestablishing. I got both our Experian #s today and here they are: Mine: 499 His: 617 Also have my Equifax report (no score) and his transunion (no score). What do we do? Ther are errors in my report, and or items that I could contest/ make arrangements on. I don't know about his. Also, for any lawyer out there, in his divorce settlement it states that she has a year to re-finance the mortage on the house. She has not done it, primarily becasue she cannot qualify for a new loan given her history and low income. We make roughly (take home) $4000 per month, and pay $1000 in rent. We want to BUY!! Got any bright ideas so we are in the best financial (cr) possible before we go looking. Also, how long will it take to get in a better "bracket" on the cr's?
Thanks, Dani, for the bump. Anyone out there have any ideas? I'm thinking about getting the credit wrench. I spoke with them today, and they seem really nice, and above board. My real problem is incorrect data, and old bad info. I think with a little work I could definately bump my score high enough to get an FHA 1st time buyers loan. Any help you all have would be great!
My advice is forget "credit wrench". Don't pay for something you can find for free on the 'net. Instead, since you are new to this, I would recommend trying junum.com (or Lexington) for at least 3-6 months or more depending on your results. Junum is a reputable company that disputes for you, for a fee of course. I would be very careful with so-called "credit repair" schemes that use fraudulent techniques to "fix" credit problems. You won't find any large companies doing this sort of thing because they get shut down quick. Be careful. FHA home mortgages would probably be your best bet once you have close to two years without any negative credit such as lates, etc.
Well that does not make any sense. Why do you say forget Credit Wrench because you can find help for free on the net, then to recommend Junum or Lexington in the next sentance, which both cost. I've used Lexington. Yes they are ok. Still they make mistakes. I have read alot about Junum and they make mistakes as well. At least Credit Wrench does not go about using dipsute attacks that cost you good tradelines as well. Whatever you do just get started. It will take awhile but you did not get bad credit overnight. Also, you do not have to have two years without any negative credit remarks to get an FHA backed loan. You will have to have old stuff payed off and you will have to have a good explanation for each negative item. John
What is so hard to understand? Credit Wrench is information that you pay for and then you do the work yourself by writing letters or sending disputes yourself. You can find all of this information on the Web and do it yourself. Some of the techniques are questionable, and some of it is not for the beginner. Simple. Junum and Lexingtion do cost money, but they cater to the beginner that does not have the experience or time to dispute themselves. I used Junum for awhile until I decided to do all of my disputes myself after gaining knowledge about the dispute process. I never said to not pay for help with credit matters. In one sentence, if your going to pay someone, pay a big company that is reputable (like Junum and Lexington). Is that making more sense?
Hmm, apply with several recent lates and find out. Also, information at HUD.gov states two years of good history is "preferred", and I never stated "required". FHA does not focus on scores as much as looking at the total picture, but an overabundance of derogs in the last two years can and will hurt your chances. Believe what you like.
Addendum: More info on FHA loans From http://www.fhalibrary.com/how_to_qualify_fha/credit_issues.asp "However if you missed only one payment in the last two years and you have been current on the account for the past 18 months and you have a reasonable explanation for the late payment, it is unlikely that a lender will deny you of credit solely on the basis of the late payment."
That may be true, but what's their source for that information? toromio, why do you ask about making "arrangements"? Do you want to pay your debt, or not? Why would a lender give you more money beforeyou paid back what you owe? What are you doing to correct the report? What does the decree say happens if she doesn't refinance? Sell? When do you expect to "BUY!!"? What are your plans if you cannot for 12 months? Please elaborate on the $600/month student loan. That's strange. Is it in default?
On the contrary...Creditwrench now does more for you...you only do the mail part...they take you through each and every step of the way...see, I was scared of getting good trade lines deleted too....this way I can control what gets sent out......
On the more contrary, you can do the same thing with Junum. Whiteout or cover up the good tradelines so that they aren't "accidently" disputed and deleted. Speaking of contrary, I bet Bill will reply soon. LOL.
Just to clarify, ALL of the negative tradelines on my report are from 1998 or earlier. The student loan issue is the following. Yes, I did default, and was working with OSI in rehab. Great Lakes decided to "do away with the income sensitive rehab" and I was stuck with the following decision... pay in rehab a minimum of $600 per month, or refinance and be able to pay $300 per month. As part of my salary is based on commission, and I'm in a relatively "new" job, I could not make a $600 commitment when all of this happened. So, yes I have refinanced, am repaying more than required on the extended payment plan, and have not missed 1 yet. More to the point, I was a financial loser, but am taking every step possible, and have been taking those steps for the past 2 years. I can only say that I am working toward financial freedom, and am truly financially responsible NOW. There is little in the way of looking back that can serve a good purpose now. I'm just trying to come up with a concrete plan so that we can buy a house in the next year, and have the scores to not be stuck with a 10% or higher loan.
Yes MikeB, your clarification does help to understand what you are meaning between CreditWrench and Junum/Lexington. CreditWrench has changed a bit though as was posted here. My statements about FHA are from my experience. I was approved 3 weeks ago and am looking for a house. It was not nearly as hard as some had told me. I think the hardest part was writing a letter explaning several items. My loan broker had me fax it in and then made a few changes for me to make before signing it it. The best thing to do is go and talk to a mortgage broker. If you have some recent credit reports take them in. No they won't be of any good for your approval process but your broker will give you advice on what you will need to do to qualify. John
Looking back is all a lender is going to do, so you should do the same. Your performance is how you'll be judged and it is relevant. What is "financial freedom"? OSI is a collection agency: http://www.glhec.org/corporate/contacts_minnesota.html . What is the balance of the collection? Have you tried to obtain a loan to pay off that collection? Are you aware of Section 674.39 of the Higher Education Act (regarding student loan rehabilitation)? Are you eligible? Are you aware of the William Ford program? What's your base income? What was your commission income in the last 12 months? How long have you been commissioned sales? What is your spouse's occupation? How much money do you have in the bank? What are the answers to my previous questions? Don't you want help?
For the sake of curiosity, what is the William Ford program and where can I find information about it?
http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/index.shtml The Ford loan program allows you to consolidate your student loans to reduce the payment, interest (sometimes), and prevent you from having to make out a gazllion different checks. I consolidated after making 6 payments on my rehabilitation. This allowed me to go back to college and receive financial aid (to include Pell grants; note, you cannot receive ANY federal money if your loan is in a default status, to INCLUDE grants!!)... Deb
Thanks. I don't have any student loans out myself and my wife only has one she has been paying on for 10 years and only has it reduced to about ½ what it originally was. But I do see people needing the info from time to time, so maybe I can pass it along and hope it helps somene. Thanks.
Greg, To answer your questions, starting form the top: 1st: Yes I did reconsolidate (refinance) as previously stated. I mentioned OSI as they are part of the overall history. I consolidated with Ford. 2nd: Financial Freedom: Financial resposibility and ability to utilize finances to their full potential. 3rd: Base=$35,000 commision = $700/ month at position for 6 months. 4th: Spouse at present employer for 12 years Director of Opperations $55000. 5th: Have saved $15000 toward a house an are saving roughly $1000 per month to get to $25000. We would like to buy in about 1 year, or a little less as housing costs in Miami, FL rise substantially every single month! eg: 3/2 in nice neighborhood 6 mo. ago: $165000 now same house $200000. Got the picture? Of couse I realize that the creditors are going to "look back" but as I stated in my 1st post, I am showing good credit (no lates, no collections) for the past 2 years. There are old collection accounts (as previously stated from 1998), on my record (total of 4, which add up to $560). I am working on those. YES, I want help, that is the reason I posted my question here. I also said that in my original post that this was my FIRST post. Forgive me if I did not give you sufficient information, but now you have it. So, do you have any advice? Does that help?
There's still not enough. For clarification: You said you take home $4000 per month, but your income (not even including your commission) is $7500 before tax. Where's the other 47%? What are the answers to my questions on 8/18? What are the 24 reasons (2 people x 3 bureaus x 4 reasons) that your scores are not higher?
Greg, I deducted from the take home my spouse's child support payments/ private school tuition payment, etc, as well as taxes, 401K, adn health ins. I don't want to "count" that as take home when we really don't have the money. I have only had 1 credit card for the past 4 years, Cap 1 $500 limit. I got the card way back when, and didn't want to increase the limit out of fear... if you pay with cash, when you run out, you can't buy anything else! My spouse filed for bk in 1999. This is a very long story, but the short of it is his former wife (still married to her then) had applied for and received several credit cards (offer extended to him, she forged his signature), had the bills sent to a po box he was unaware of, etc. By the time he found out the debt was up to $60k, in c. card debt alone. That doesn't even take into consideration the consolidation loan he had taken out to get them out of c. card debt from an earlier episode(mostly dept. store charge cards. total: $15000). He now has/ we have jointly 2 Cap 1 accounts, and an AT&T Universal card ($6000 limit). Total c. card limit of $10000. Right now the AT&T limit is high, around $4000, but we are going to pay it off by Nov. when the intro rate is over. (intro rate fo 1.9%). We both applied for Providian cards, but closed them due to very poor service/ constant selling of useless travel clubs, etc. Give me a second to look at the rest of your questions, so I can answer the rest. I didn't take very good notes!
