I posted my intro on the test forum, and Hedwig suggested I post in the general forum. I hope this is the right place. Just discontinued retaining a credit repair firm and decided to read about disputing here and go it alone. It seems I have lots of reading to do. Backstory: *Had a bankruptcy in 1998. *In 2003 bought a house and got involved in a sub prime mortgage. I sold the house, got out of it, and learned a few things along the way about mortgage financing. So now I am renting and getting the financial house in order. Just paid off my car in August 07, things are not as tight financially, and I am thinking about buying a condo if the prices in my neck of the woods ever make it affordable. Not likely, but good credit is necessary to get the best prices in many things like insurance, utility companies, and who knows what next. Obviously, I am here because I have some negative information on my reports and to prioritize what steps to take next. In September I applied for a WF credit card {being charmed by a nice young woman at the bank who was probably working on a bit of a quota}, and was turned down due to recent collection activity on my report. A parking ticket that didn't get paid in time due to me not filling out a change of address form. Possibly a good thing to dispute or ask for a goodwill removal? It is on two of my credit reports. Here's my scores from myfico.com: As of 2/07 TransUnion -- 587 Experian -- 579 Equifax -- 523 As of 9/24/07 TransUnion -- 632 - 45 point increase Experian -- 609 - 30 point increase Equifax -- 611 - 88 point increase I got my three FICO reports with the negative reason codes, so that is helping me to figure out what to do first. Sort of. The reason code I get most of the time is the bankruptcy and the collection item. In reality, I think it's just going to take some time and good payment history with my one Cap One credit card. BUT if there are some ways that I can be proactive to increase my scores legally and briskly I would be open to hearing them. How about the idea of getting some secured CC's with a mainstream lender and managing them over time? Or does the mainstream lender part really help? I was thinking of getting a Wells Fargo secured CC since I have a checking account with them. Hope this post makes sense, it ended up overlong and going all over the place. Thank you for reading.
I think a secured credit card is a good place to start. See if you can find out if they report as secured or not. Some cards don't report as secured, so it looks like a regular credit card on your report. I think Bank of America was one of them, but they may have changed. I don't know anything about WF and how they report.
If your goal is securing a mortgage, then I would forego applying for any new credit. Just continue managing what you have. Work on the CA accounts; there are some methods to try and remove. If you can get these off your credit reports, this will have the greatest positive impact on your credit scores. Try disputing the accounts first, you never know until you try. Also, your scores aren't that bad, you may be closer to a mortgage product than you think. Your BK is close to falling off (next year?), so that will be a great bump to your credit review. I usually don't advise this, but in your case trying to add an "Authorized User" account to your reports may be what you need. Look up apexcrsrv posts to investigate.
Oh My God . . . . I got a referral, lol!!!!!!! Seriously, Biz is right in the above post. Under your circumstances, there would be no better fit that utilizing seasoned credit additions. Contrary to popular opinion, it is effective and legal. Moreover, it can rapidly increase scores. In your position, I think 680-700 is reasonable within about three weeks. Now, this isn't for everybody and there are some real scammers out there. If you are interested in this, please research a company before doing business with them. They should be licensed and registered as a CRO/CSO with the Secretary of State in which they are incorporated, bonded, and a member of the Better Business Bureau. It also helps if the company is comprised of or affiliated with counsel if you are thinking about going after any derogatory information. In addition, make sure to ask many questions. If they can't answer them in a way you understand, walk away.
Thanks Biz for the comments. My goal is to increase my credit scores to the 700s. I am staying away from mortgages for now. As I mentioned on another thread, I applied for a secured cc and I'll see if I get approved. I had some money troubles recently in March of '07 and was late on my Cap1, so have been working on bringing and keeping that balance to 33% utilization. I will be there by December 1, 2007 if not before. Getting the credit scores up to the 700s is a doable goal, and will make me feel like I've finally recovered from my 1998 bankruptcy. I only started working on credit repair/recovery in May 2007. Guess I am ready to take my head out of the sand so to speak. Thanks for all the knowledge here, it's a lot of good reading. I shall get back to it.
