Hello everyone, I am a graduate student in the process of completing my doctorate, and I have a wife and son. I had excellent credit until last fall, when we went through some very hard times and could not pay bills for a few months. I ended up having one credit card charged off, and another card I was 60 days late on. Thankfully, we were able to get out of our situation in January, and when we did I paid off the charged off debt in full. I know that it was already charged-off, but I felt that I could sleep better at night if we paid what we owed in full. As for the other card, I paid that balance in full as well. The problem is that I now have a charge-off on my credit report, as well as a 60 days late. We would like to buy a house this September, but I know that this may cause some problems. Is there any way possible to get these entries deleted from my report? I've spent some times on this board, reading what other people are doing, but am still not sure what steps I should take. Thank you all so much for your help. Sincerely, familyguy
First request your credit reports, and FICO scores, to see where you stand. What existing credit history, other than these charged off but paid accounts, do you have on your credit reports? Six months is not much time to establish any account payment track record, and it is not clear if accounts opened now would help positively in six months or not. Since these are paid, you might even be better with their history, particularly if you could re-open them, and if your history is otherwise thin. Despite the charge-offs, you have now met your obligations to your creditors. You might want to have a mortgage broker or bank loan officer review your credit reports to see where you stand. Tell him not to pull reports himself, since you are not seeking a loan at this time.
It would be very worthwhile for me to have those negative entries removed, as I have almost 7 years of credit history. I checked my credit score, and those 2 entries cause a near 100 point drop in my score. I have quite a few positive references, and my score would be quite high if it weren't for the negative entries.
Anybody have a suggestion? I just need to know how to get started here. Please give some direction. Thanks.
Why not consider "ontrack's" advice in the thread? See where you stand regarding a loan and don't have them pull your credit reports. First step on the way to a mortgage, OPT OUT everywhere. Depending on your history with the 60-day late, it's a paid account and if it's the only one on the history a good-will letter may do the trick for you.
