Hi everyone! I have a few questions that I hope everyone can help me out with. I am trying to apply for a mortgage within the next 3-6 months however I need to get a little cleaning done pretty fast. My Experian score is 564 and Equifax is 554. I am hoping to bring this up in the upper 600s soon. Here are my issues. 1. I have a charge-off from Capital One. I am willing to payoff the balance about $600 in full, however, I want to use this for bargaining power with my report. Do you think Mr. Cooke can help? Any letters I can use? The collection agency is sending me notices right now and Cap One won't speak with me. HELPP!!! THIS IS THE ONE ACCOUNT I THINK IS REALLY KILLING MY SCORES besides balances too close to the limits on my other cards. 2. I also have a collection account for a college bill. The one time I did speak with someone here they sounded like they would be favorable in making a deal for payment. Again...HELP!!! 3. Does anyone know if paying down balances will positively affect my score. As of today I have paid off a card and will be looking to pay off/down most of the other 4. My total balances on all are close to their limits, however, the accounts are all over or close to 2 years since being opened and no lates. 4. I had a bk in 1999. Since then the only negative I have is the Capital One and now that d*** college bill with the collection agency. Any positive comments on mortgage approval? What steps should I take? Anyway...sorry for the rambling. I hope i can get some feedback. I feel so close..however so far. NJ_Newbie
Being realistic... you may not have this cleaned up in the three to six months you were looking for.... these college accounts? were they student loans? if so were they government backed? if so then go to the edu.gov website and do a search on "rehab student loans". If you request a rehab program, make 12 on time payments, the HIGHER EDUCATION ACT requires they delete the negative information...
From what I have seen, with little derogatory info, paying down balances helps a great deal, especially when you are maxxed out. If you have 3 cards maxxed out and pay them off or down significantly in the 3-6 month period your score SHOULD jump. Also you should request limit increases to further decrease yout debt ratios. As for Cap1 I would definitely NOT pay without getting deletion in writing...paying will only re-age the account and paid collection is not much better than unpaid collection from what I have seen and read here. Some have had great success with Cap1 Executive Offices so give PFB and Mr. Cooke a try. I disagree somewhat with what BKev wrote about the time frame feasibility. If you aggressively attack the problems and build the positives by paying down balances, you can get significant results in 6 months. I did and have seen many others get significant results in 6 months. Some problems may take longer to correct but every point will help your mortgage chances and rate. There also is something called "re-scoring" that supposedly can rapidly help your score in as little as a month...(again supposedly). I have no first hand experience with this but here is a thread posted by Marie that has good information and you can do a search for more. Good luck. -Peace, Dave
I agree that paying down your balances will increase your scores quite a bit, however remember sometimes it takes creditors 60-90 days to report your new balances and if your negatives are still there this will keep your scores down. Also "most " mortgage lenders want any open unpaid debts (collections etc.) paid. I don't know if you have a lender yet but there are quite a few that will look at your reports and tell you what must be done in order for you to get a mortgage.
You disagree with him SOMEWHAT ??? Well, maybe you should not disagree with him. He is probably talking about the kind of time it takes the Credit Repair Organizations he keeps Pi$$ing and moaning about, and he is even giving them the huge benefit of the doubt when he says 6 months or so. You can't compare apples to oranges, you know. Your estimates are much, much closer to the actual facts if you keep away from the credit repair organizations. They can't do anything you can't do yourself and do it for free and in a much shorter period of time. That's what Bkev and I both keep on preachin, and your experiences prove we are right. Bkev is just off on his estimate of time, and you really can't "crucify" him for that since he isn't talking about the same kind of thing you are. So in my personal opinion, both of you are correct in what you are saying when each is taken in it's proper context
Thanks for the response. This college bill is not a student loan. It is a debt for a class that I took with financial aid. NJ_Newbie
Bill... Please do not speak for me and do not imply that we think alike.... We don't. I think your Creditwrench is a credit repair company. I think you break the Credit Repair Organizations Act monthly with every person you take money from. I think it can be done directly without your (or any) credit repair organization, but even if your able to get it all the first round of investigations with all of the credit reporting agencies you're looking at a min of 45 days with mailing and the allowed 30 days. Can you name ONE person, any person, who has been able to get it all cleared with the first pass? My timeframe is an estimate, but it's not inaccurate. How long do you tell your customers it will take Bill? Do you write that into your contract? Oh wait... that only applies to legal Credit Repair Organizations... which we know you are not...
Sounds like FAFSA to me. Big difference between Student loan and FAFSA which is another federally funded program.
Actually Bill, a FAFSA is a form you fill out to get student loans and financial aid. I know because I have to fill one out every year. Been filling them out since 1994. Oh, and 1 more thing.....STOP IT!!!!!!!!!
