I have been trying to buy a house for about a year now. I am 28 and I have a good government job that pays well. When I was younger I made mistakes like moving away from home the day I was 18, picking horrible roommates, and picking up the slack when I couldn't afford too. In the short, I suffered from a repo'd vehicle, closed credit cards, and thats about it for that part of the store. I also suffered medical bills that I did not know that I had at the time from a motorcycle accident. I found those when I started the home buying journey. While I have spent the past year trying to fix this I have hit a dead end, with the exception of going to a credit repair specialist who would charge me. I am trying, and would like to do this by myself and as cheap as possible. I will make a list below of what I have done so far and what has happened. My repo: Paid in full through a collection agency 1/12 Filed for a dispute 3/12 Still showing as open and owing 5/12 Dispute stated that the account was updated, the only thing that was changed was the amount that was owed. It was increased after I have paid the account. I have letters stating that the account was paid in full and $0 is owed on the account. Credit card: Paid/Settled for less 6/11 Filed dispute 3/12 Showing as something different on each bureau TU-Late 120+ EX-Charge Off EN-Unknown 3 Medical accounts: Paid in full 5-6/11 File dispute 3/12 All showing as accounts still in collection. When I called the companies they stated that they no longer have the accounts they were reported as payed. Those are my current problems. At least I think thats what they are. I currently have 3 open credit cards, one with a $700 limit (30% balance), a $600 (25% balance) and a $500 (1% balance). I have 2 auto loans that are paid in full by myself as well. The most recent one being paid off on 4/10. I am at a brick wall and I don't know where else to turn. All I know about credit is that the higher my number is the more stuff that I can get. Don't make late payments, and don't leave a balance on credits cards greater then 30%. HELP!!!!
On the repo, you could try a dispute with the evidence from the CA that it was PAID IN FULL. If the three companies that have the medical accounts are saying that they don't have the accounts, then I would try to dispute them again. (Are there any other discrepancies in the tradelines other than the companies saying that they no longer have the account?)
Would it be better for me to dispute the repo via mail because theres not really a good way for me to do it online. Plus I would be able to make copies and mail them in with the letter. The other medical things thats pretty much all they say. I haven't called the actual companies themselves yet which I am thinking about doing as well. I also now just got a letter in the mail that my HSBC Card was sold to Capital One. I already have a Capital One card. Should I have the accounts consolidated if they will?
There is another way to increase your credit score, ask a family member or friend to add you as an authorized user to one of their existing credit card accounts. Just make sure the card has perfect payment history and they are able to maintain a low balance (10% of the credit limit). The higher the credit limit and the longer the payment history the bigger the boost in your score. Thanks! Heather with BoostMyScore.NET
Via mail or fax would be best. Did the repo occur because of the 'typical' reason of missing x number of payments? Or did it occur because of some other reason? It may seem like a crazy question, but in researching something else, I found an interesting piece of caselaw on REPOs and reporting, but it would be only applicable for breaches other than missed payments (because REPO on your CRA report although not always resulting from missed payments, insinuates such.)
