Hi, New here, but have been a part of another forum that looks much like this one (but doesn't exist anymore - is this the same site under a different name?) I hadn't been on that board very long before it disappeared. I am still overwhelmed and confused, and also afraid to try anything to clear credit up, for fear I will make one of those big mistakes that hurt and then never acomplish what I want. For that reason I either want to pay for credit cleanup service - at least it will done right, I hope, or I could try it on my own, but I know I would need a personal advisor with every step of the way. If someone would be so kind to help me in that way, please let me know. Though I am an educated woman, this an area of complete weakness. I have already discovered mistakes I have made, and I just know I'll continue to make mistakes that hurt, not help, my situation. Here is some general info: I am with MyFico credit monitoring service. My score is now 614. I'm hoping to buy a house within the next 2-3 months (if possible) Back in Dec., 05 I paid seceral items on CR before I found info on forums (mistake #1). I did buy a recording device to record phone calls. I attempted to ask for delete (goodwill), and had no luck (yeah, I know my bargaining power was gone after I paid, but I still tried, with no luck). So far, I have not accomplished much at all. I would like to try to have negative items removed (paid one and/or not paid ones). I think what I should do is dispute all negatives items as "not mine" and hope at least some of that works, but I'm not sure if that's the best move or not. I don't know how, when, if to use other methods. I called Equifax today and asked them if I could ask for an item to be validated, asked if my information was correct about the fact that I understand I can ask them to do that, and if they can not validate that item then they have to stop reporting it and remove it, but the man seemed to be at a loss for words - would not address that question, only kept telling me I can dispute an item. (did I just tip my hand to a CB? Was this a mistake? I knew not to ask something like this to a CRA, but I thought a CB would be more helpful; now I wonder if I was mistaken) I also have high student loans in default. I was hoping if I can get pre-approved for a house loan, that the student loans could be added to that and wrap it all in one. (do you think that can be done?) I'm afraid if someone gave me an answer that wasn't very detailed in exactly every iota of things to do that I will not get it right and just make things worse. I really feel very incompetant in this area. Thanks in advance for any advise.
Another newbie in a similar boat Another newbie here just starting to clean up bad credit. Two years ago I had 3 credit cards, 19k of student loans and several smaller charges in default/collections. I have paid off all credit card debts a year ago as well as settlements for lesser amounts on 2 of the cards. When I was in default on my student loans, Direct Loans offered consolidation to bring them up to date and out of default from the orginal lenders. At the time I was under the understanding that this would clear up any negative reports on my report as well as bring me current. In otherwords they would not report the 6 months of non payment. A year after I have paid all creditors off (yes I should have started earlier with this credit clean up - just call me Ostrich girl) I pull my credit reports because I want to buy a house. Lo and behold - 9 negative entries from student loans as well as 4 other negative tradelines. I would like to remove as many of these negative entries as possible. I made a polite request over the phone trying to remedy the student loans but was rebuffed. Even after explaining that the consolidation was exactly the steps offered to me to keep my credit report clear. I have read through the faq and several threads. It seems the next best course is to send them a nutcase letter (sans merchandise statement). However, I am hestitant to do so because I am afraid I missed some intervening step or advice. Please someone help!
Suzie..you have to debt validate through the collection agency..not the CRA's (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). If they are paid you can still Debt Validate which has yielded great results for me..or perhaps try a BBB complaint against the company to see if you can get the item deleted that way. BlueTick- I have had some items in consolidation before. They ARE supposed to re-age your accounts if you haven't missed any payments. Is this the case with you?? If it is and you have proof of payments on time you can get your TL (trade line cleaned up with persisitance).
Suzie46, a few things... how many charge offs/ collection accts do you have? do you have any credit accts that are open in good standing, and if so, are your cards maxed out or do they have low balances? One of the quickest ways to get that fico up is to pay down cards/ accts that are maxed out. One way to do that in a month or two is to take note of all of your current accounts and find when they report to the Bureaus. Pay off (or move the debt around) depending on when they report, and you can manipulate the scoring system in your favor. It takes a steady hand, but if you work it out the right way, you can bump your score up to an acceptable...lets say 660 or so depending on your situation. You apply for your mortgage when you know the coast is clear and you are set with the lower interest rate. BTW if you have somewhere around a 640 or so you can get a home loan, just not at prime rates. BlueTick Have you tried disputing any of that student loan stuff yet? If not, I would prioritize the crappiest stuff and hit that first. Chargeoffs first, then work your way down. I have disputed as much as 6 things in one go (some folks say no more than 2 or 3, but if you are on a fast track and want results in a few months, I say go for it). With interest rates on the rise, time is definitely money! anyway, The above advise applies to you as well. that's my 7.5 cents
ofhumbon, I have no charge-offs, no bankruptcies, no public records. I do have student loans in default (I know that is hurting things, and I will try to make arrangements ASAP - deadlines this weeks for lower interest rates on those). I posted another thread here listing my collections (5) and my derogs (3), some of which are paid, but of course they are still listed as neg. Copy/pasting from thread: Coll #1: Gas Co. (old apt) Last Activity 8/05. $2200. I had spoken to the gas company several months ago, and they determined it was not mine (well, not ALL mine) and determined that I only owed about $1000, and that someone else moved inot that old apt and used gas under my name. Is this fraud? ID theft? At one the gas company even turned off the service, then turned it back on under my name! Seems to me I should be able to get out of the whole thing somehow. How to handle now? Dispute as "not mine"? Coll. #2: Elec. Co. (old apt) Last activity 9/04 $66 paid Should I dispute as "not mine" or paid"? Obviously the item is paid, and I would think my answer would be that will not delete because the item was paid and the CR shows it is paid and therefore it accurate so they won't delete - is this correct? Or should I still try to say "not mine" on my first attempt to delete? Coll. #3: Unknown $306 Last activity 4/05 I think this is a medical thing, but my CR doesn't list info, just a series of #'s where the CA name should be, OC = "Not on Record" Should I dispute as "not mine"? Coll.#4: Unknown $63 Last activity 12/04 This is like #3 - no CA name (just #'s), OC "Not on Record" Dispute as "not mine"? Coll #5: A hospital $86 Last activity 9/01 Dispute as "Not mine"? There are 3 other entries under "Delinquencies and Derogatory information on accounts" that show negative: 1. Medical $510 Last activity 8/03 2. Unknown $474 (paid) Last activity 11/01 3. Unknown $69 (paid) Last activity 9/02 In my first 5, there are 2 that are small, and I wouldn't mind paying them if they would go away, but I know that doesn't happen.(they just update as "paid") One of the 5 is paid. Some of these seem old, and hopefully they can't be validated and CB then has to delelte, true? This is all the negatives on my CR - my score is 617 now, and deleting even some would help cross me into a better place. I want to buy house - I want to look at getting pre-approved in the next couple weeks. (end of copy/paste) In 3 of these 8 items mentioned, they are under $100 and paid, yet those 3 will cause me a lot of damge for a long time - seems like a harsh price to pay. Also, I have 2 credit cards each with a $300 max (Cap 1). I use them for a small purchase, and pay off within a couple days, just for the activity. I ALWAYS have a $0 balance. Thank you very much for the response, and I hope you and anyone else can advise on how to handle these to help further. Suzie
Suzie46, 2- 3 months is a short timeframe to get everything wiped off, but you could probably get your fico up to an acceptable level. With a small Fico increase, you might not qualify for prime rates, but you could get your foot in the door. In my opinion, due to your time frame, I would do a blanket not mine dispute on all of the collection accounts. Most of them are low balances, and/or are paid. Having any collection account on your report is definitely not a good thing. The identity theft thing could be used on the gas acct. Haven't had much experience on playing that card, but I'm sure there are people around here that have thoughts on that. There is a very good chance that at least a few of these will drop off right off the bat. That would be step one. If I were you, I would also get someone with great credit history to add you as an authorized user on a credit acct. Make sure that their credit history is long and pristine. That is a quick way to get those fico scores up. Explain to them that you wouldn't use the card, but you would instantly gain that credit history. If you are feeling frisky, you could also dispute the student loan and see what happens. I had a student loan scenario like yours and it was the first thing that I was able to wipe off in my quest. I think that would be a good preliminary plan. Anyone else have any thoughts? Good luck.
Thank for the advise - it sounds like a good plan. Today and last night, I did dispute all negatives as "not mine" on all 3 CR's. I did this online. I hope at least some drop off. And I think I can also tag onto someone else's credit for a quick bump up. I have another quick question: After looking at all 3 CR's, I noticed there are zero entries about student loans, although I know they exist. (Oh how wonderful if they just disappeared!!!) Since they are not listed on my CR, does that mean the scores I see do not include student loans default? Or could there still be an effect, even though not listed? BTW, I was happy to see those other 2 reports, because those scores were higher. Maybe with a little bump things won't be too bad. Equifax = 617 Experian = 645 TU = 653
Suzie46, I remember the first time I checked my credit report. Things that I thought should have been on weren't, and things I didn't recognize were. I think you are a step or two away from having an acceptable score to seek a mortgage with a decent interest rate. I would definitely check into the authorized user idea (+++), and also make sure right before you apply for a mortgage to have some cash in the bank-- 2 to 3000 would be a good start if you want to go for 100% financing. The lending folks want to know that you know how to save. If you can beg borrow or steal a hefty downpayment, that would also help your rate as well. I think my fico was around 670 two years ago, and I received 100% financing. Most lenders take your middle score (not the average, but the one in the middle). In your case 645. It is key right now with rising interest rates to lock in as low of a rate as you can by using every trick in the book. This will save you thousands over the life of the loan. Maybe if you are in a rush, you could use the old bbb/atty general one two punch. Most states have an online complaint system you can use. Hope this helps.
I know I've sounded urgent about my timeline, so maybe I should explain. My rental lease will expire by end of Aug. I need to give 30 days notice if I'm leaving. I will get exact details very soon, but I already know from talking to the office that my rent will go up a lot - about $100/month more (or close to it). I'm also looking for a job (last year;s position was temporary and that position doesn't exist) I should find a job - not too worried about that (yet), but the point is since both are issues now (expiring lease, large rent increase, and possible relocation with job), I'm hoping that if I move (which is looking highly likely) that I can buy a house and settle. That puts my time frame at ASAP, so I can proceed with everything and have it wrapped up by end of Aug. I'm still confused on what to think about the students loans not being on any of the 3 reports. (I couldn't even try to dispute them, as you suggested because they weren't there). I also still wonder if that is hurting my score since they do not show - is the score I see the real score? Now that I've disputed on all 3 reports, I'm anxious to see the results. Hoping the credit gods give me a break - I could sure use one.
have the student loans ever shown up on your reports? if they haven't yet, maybe they never will. do you have a subscription to a credit monitoring service? ( i use truecredit by transunion) you need to be able to check your report on a daily basis to see how you are progressing. i found this to be invaluable in my quest in credit repair. also, some cras temporarily delete negs while you are disputing, if so, this is a perfect time to apply for a mortgage while it is off of your report. in your first round of disputes, maybe one or two items might get wiped off (or you could hit the jackpot and get lucky), but you should not count on that. other options. wait till august and see what gets deleted. do the authorized user thing YOU COULD - contact a mortgage broker and see if you might already qualify. some of those collections are a year or two old, are a very low bal amount, and you might already be in position to get a mortgage. they will pull your credit, but your score will probably only take a hit of a couple of points. (although it might be better to wait a month or so to see if your disputes work) OR, see if your landlord will allow you to go on a month to month rental basis. this way it buys you a few months to get things together. even if the rent goes up a bit for those few months, at least you don't have to move. OR, put your stuff in storage and stay with family for a few months to save up enough money and get all of your ducks in a row. sure, it's a pain in the butt to have to move and crawl back home, but at least it gives you some time to get things together. just some ideas
ofhumbon, I sure appreciate your help and responses!!! First, to address what you said/asked in your last post: I do subscribe to MyFico (since Jan, 2006) That shows Equifax, and just a couple days ago (maybe yesterday, it's all a blur!) I ordered the other 2 reports and scores from that monitoring service. I have seen student loan entries in the past, but not on these 3, which are very recent - even the Equifax is only a couple days older than the other 2. I talked with 1 Mortgage Co. yesterday and today, to get a feel for my situation. (Countrywide). He told me I should get the reports for the other 2 CRA's, which I did. He told me that they use the middle score, as you said above, for me 645, and at that level, it would still be subprime. I told him about student loans, even though they don't show - I will call tomorrow to ask a couple more Q. and ask if the student loans don't show, can we work with reports as is. He advised me to dispute the negatives and make arrangements with S. Loans, then if there are other collections after that, they may still require that I take care of them first. When I called today, I told him of all 3 scores, and he said we're getting closer, and really sounded encouraged, and said he'd like to get me in at prime, so I have more work to do. He said that if he worked with what I have now, it would not be cost-efficient for me to buy - the difference in the monthly mortgage vs. the rent increase would not be a good move at this point. So I am hoping to get an increase in my score to get into prime. The landlord (an apartment complex, not a single unit, private owner) does have options for a 1 month, or 6 mo., or month to month, but each of those will be at higher amounts than a yearly lease. Still, if 1 month helps, or maybe 3mo., it may be the way to go - we'll see. As for storage/living with family, I live in NC now (2 yrs now), and I live alone. I have no family here. They are all in the north, 500 miles away. I have thought of renting a tiny place with less rent, and using storage, but that total may not be much of a savings to consider. So I think the storage/family thing is out, unless I move back home Now, I am a bit more concerned, as in my continued reading here, I came across some things I may have not done right (that is what I was so worried about - darn!) In the "stickies" portion, maybe FAQ's and newbie primer, I read where it is recommended to only send about 4 disputes at a time or they might be considered frivolous and get no positive action. I disputed all of them at the same time - in one case it was 8, in another it was 9 (I forget the 3rd one). Now I'm concerned it won't work. Also, I see where I should have made copies of each page that I disputed on - I did not do that. I wondered about the documentation, and since I got a response on this board (from someone else) that said (correctly) the method didn't really matter, i just disputed online What I didn't know is that I should have printed each page. I did print the page the gave me a report summary, dated, so I hope that is suffice, if things ever go that far. But I was so afraid that once I made a move, that afterwards I would discover I did something wrong, and that's what happened. That fear stopped me from taking any steps though, and eventually I just had to do something. (this is gonna make me crazy!) Again, thanks for your very thoughtful and good advise. If you can bear it, please hang in there with me through this.
don't fret about the disputing thing. in the past i have disputed more than the recommended 4 and have had no problem. in your case, time is of the essence, and you are trying to expidite things. one thought-- even though you have the myfico acct, it does not allow you to pull all 3 reports daily, which is key if you have a short time frame to get things accomplished. the problem with a lot of the other online credit reports is that you can't have real time access, which allows you to apply for a mortgage on wed when your 3 neg tradelines are deleted on tuesday. timing is key when you are trying to get the best rate, and it is very important to know exactly what is on your report when you approach your lender. ten to twenty points can make a major difference in your interest rate. in your situation, you are trying to accomplish a lot in a short period of time, so i believe you took the correct course of action. in my case, i went a bit sub prime and got the 100% mortgage at 7.5 percent (80% of the loan) and 10 percent (20%) knowing i would refinance in a year or so (my girlfriend was in school at the time and we were in a similar situation as you and wanted to get out of our apartment ASAP). we are now refinancing at around 6.5%, and our property value has increased considerably. first, just wait out the 30 days and see what happens, then move from there. you can do "what if" till the cows come home. now just adopt a wait and see policy and see what negs stick, and which others get deleted. either way, you are in a much better place fico-wise than a lot of other people on this board. i started in the low 500's. may the force be with you.....
I hope I'm not jumping the gun here, but... It has been 2 weeks since I did an online dispute with all 3 CRA's, and since I haven't received the final decisions yet, even though I know it can take the full 30 days, I've heard it can take less, and I'm rather anxious, and in a time crunch, I called 2 of the agencies today to get an status update. There is 1 TL that I knew would be deleted after discussing with the company (insurance, a past due amt that was paid, and after I went through many channels of that agency, the last stop was the company complaint dept. and they contacted me within days to tell me it would be deleted) Today's status check confirms that is was deleted. So far, there are a total of 3 deletions from 1 CRA, and 4 deletions from another CRA. I'll presume that those same TL's will be deleted from the 3rd CRA, which is 3-5 items on that 3rd report. (I disputed all as "not mine". Some have been paid, and some are old - that may have helped) The items that will be deleted are listed in a previous post in this thread - Collection #1 and #5, and 2 others that I'm not sure which they are yet. Note that collection #1 is that old Gas Company bill - being deleted! That is a fair deal, considering how they turned gas off, then back on in my name, long after I was gone and they knew that (I called them the day I moved to tell them). I hope there is more good news by the end of the dispute, and I hope there is nothing that changes this positive info to negative before the end, but right now, I'm feeling pretty good. I'll update with final results when I get them. Thanks to boards like this and people who are willing to advise, that educate people like me and help balance the scales.
so far that is pretty good for your first round of disputes. who knows, you might even get more removed. you might want to refrain from contacting the cras while you have a dispute in progress, sometimes that will delay the process, but i sounds like you are getting some deletions, so that is probably not the case. after some of these deletions, you might be in an acceptable range to get a decent mortgage rate. did you try the authorized user thing on a friend or family members acct (with good credit)? besides getting negs removed, that is the fastest way to raise your score because you instantly get their credit history. (i know i sound like a broken record on this one, but it could really help out in your case) it seems like you are on the right track. definitely keep everyone posted on the progress! congrats!
I did not do the auth. user yet for a couple of reasons. I certainly would appreciate anyone's thoughts on this. I believe that when I request to be added as an auth. user, my CR will be pulled, and I thought it might be best to wait until after this round of disputes were done. I'm not sure how it would look to a potential creditor to see disputes on my report. I thought it might be best to have them see no current disputes, and also a higher score (after disputes/deletes have taken effect). Since I have at most 2 weeks before my disputes will be done (the 30 day limit), and given that much has been done already, I hope it takes even less than that, I thought it best to wait that week (give or take) before being added as an auth. user. The second reason is this: I have read conflicting information on doing this. (I mentioned before that the conflicting information in many areas confuses me, and leaves me not knowing what to do - this is one of them). In my case, I'm not sure if this will be effective, due to lack of time. According to the following link, it will help me only from the time I am added, not the entire history prior. Since i will not probably even have 1 whole month to gain from being added as an auth. user, I'm not sure it is a good idea in my case. Now, if just being added as an auth. user instantly gaines points me, I'll do it. If anyone can clarify this for, please do. http://consumers.creditnet.com/Libr...it_cards_help_build_good_credit.crfaq_005.php Also, reading this part has scared me from taking steps - I'm so afraid of of making mistakes that not only don't work, but in fact, make things worse. http://consumers.creditnet.com/Library/DIY_Credit_Repair/Common_Mistakes.diycr_001.php Thoughts, anyone?
i did the auth user with my girlfriend because she was from another country and had 0 credit. in her case they didn't pull her credit report, and she gained my credit history. not sure if this applies in all cases. if you do this, you definitely need to make sure it is someone who is not going to default on that particular acct. the reason i kept suggesting it was that you said you were looking for some fast results, and it was one of the faster options. an excerpt from the bottom link: "anything you do that suggests you are attempting to repair your own credit will be frowned upon by the bureaus and earn you "frivolous" status." once again, everything i am telling you is only from my personal experience, but in my early quest for deletions, i did a lot of the things that are considered "wrong" (this was before i discovered the creditnet forum!), and never got the "frivolous" status on my report. maybe i was just lucky, but in over 100 or so disputes, it never happened. i think when i disputed via mail, i kept it simple xxxxx7890 is not mine, please delete. i didn't go into an elaborate 4 page novel, which might be a reason why a cra would get suspicious. in my humble opinion, most cras have much more to lose by not investigating an item than by claiming the "frivolous" status thingy. it is definitely a personal decision that you have to make, and if you have to adapt the disputing process to your comfort level. one thing i found out during my credit repair quest was that is a very slooow process. i think also in some cases (as was in my case) when you want fast results, you need to take a few more risks. anyone else have thoughts on this? i didn't want to be the only opinion on this thread!
A few updates and questions (keep in mind, this is a challenging area for me, and my questions and thoughts come from that point) #1 RE: the "frivolous" status a CRA can give. I thought if the CRA deemed it frivolous, you may never know it. I thought maybe frivolous was a label they give to people who they think may not have just cause to request deletes, but we may never know that's how they felt about our request, but if they deemed it frivolous, they would not consider beyond that point. Or is it that once a dispute begins, they MUST investigate and report the results, despite if they think the dispute/request is frivolous? #2 (quote ofhumbon) Could this be what has happened to me, with the few deletes i mentioned so far? Could these deletes that I think I have turn out to not be deletes? #3 (quote ohhumbon ) When I called to get a status update, they asked for my full name, address, and date of birth. Of course I gave this without thinking twice - I realize they need to verify it is me, for security reasons. But in doing so, does that mean I just gave a statement that helped provide "accurate information", basically handing them correct info, which may lessen opportunities to say "incorrect info" later, if needed? Did I just shoot myself in the foot? Is that why it's best to not contact CRA's, especially during a dispute, so it's one thing that can't be disputed now? #4 (quote ofhumbon) Though I sound a bit anxious at this point, I should let everyone know that I have been addressing this for about a year so far. Last Aug/Sept, I got copies of my credit report, one with a score, so that I could start cleaning it up. That was before I knew of sites like this. It wasn't until about late Dec. last year that I found Art of Credit, which was very helpful, and shortly after that the site disappeared suddenly. But before I found that site and became more informed, I had already paid many things without a "pay for delete" agreement - I just called CA and paid, thinking I was doing the right thing, and trying to improve my CR. It helped a little, but now I know I should have handled things differently. Also, since last Aug (give or take), I was very careful about not adding negative things to my CR, and tried to build positive things, with good payment history, etc. I am just now taking some actions that I should have taken months ago - disputing. But, so far I've seen my credit score go from 570 last Sept., 05 to 617 a couple weeks ago (both are Equifax scores). Though I sound anxious (and kinda am anxious, only for timing reasons), I do realize that cleaning a CR takes time, and I have been at this some time, though admittedly not as quick as I should have. As I mentioned many times, fear of doing something wrong has kept me from doing anything at all, because I feel so inept in this area. (and also, btw, I have a BS degree, but this area just is a weak area) #5 I forgot to mention that another positive thing has happened, credit-wise. (I think it's positive, anyway) I got a credit limit increase on both of my Cap 1 cards. I did not request an increase - I was told it was a periodic thing that they do, look to see if an increase can be given, and they decided to give me one. I have perfect payments with them (1 card for a year, the other card for 2 yrs. - this was part of my "building positive credit" I mentioned above). This increase came after I began my disputes. (interesting...did they already know of some deletes when reviewing my credit, and did they want to be the first to offer me more credit, limiting my ability to get other credit, because it would then increase my debt-to-income ratio, and thereby have the strongest hold on me, financially? I think I may be learning something! Or did I get that wrong? Is this a good thing, as it could appear?) And lastly... (quote ofhumbon) I would very much appreciate other responses as well. Ofhumbon, thank you very, very much for your responses, and please, stick with me! I also do appreciate the others who have responded here. So far I have seen many people reading this thread (by the count listed in forum), and though I do think there are many "newbies" and many others like me (not so new but still have a lot to learn) and I think many are reading to learn, as I do too, I also hope some of the experts reading this will add their advise, for me, and for others who read and learn too. Thank you to ALL!!!
suzie, i'm glad to be able to share my personal experiences in this matter. i think you are only a few steps from achieving your goal. 1. i am not sure about the frivolous thing, whether the cras keep that info hidden for their own use or not, it makes more sense for them to investigate your disputes because they have so much to lose if they don't. 2. it could be a temporary deletion, or a permanent one. have your scores changed? i recently was able to manipulate my score to refinance by transferring balances around. during the window when my CR was reporting zero balances, i refinanced for a better rate due to my increased fico score. maybe at some point, a similar window will open up during your disputing process, and you could use that chance to apply for a mortgage. i know this is a little bit off this topic, but have you gotten all of your ducks in a row concerning applying for a home loan? i copied this from a mortgage brokers site 1. Completed Uniform Residential Loan Application and Disclosures 2. Income information that can be verified using the following: * Copy of your most recent paystub showing at least one full month of Year to Date pay * Personal tax returns & W-2s for the past two years * If self-employed: Current Profit and Loss and balance sheet statements * If Ownership in a Corporation or Partnership of 25% or more: 2 years tax returns with all schedules, current Profit & Loss and balance sheet 3. Asset information that can be verified using the following: * Two months bank statements on all bank and brokerage accounts (i needed 1 years worth) * Stock and retirement statements 4. This additional information will be helpful in expediting your loan * The name of your Homeowners Insurance Company * Title Insurance Company preference, if any * For Purchases: the Sales Contract and copy of canceled Earnest Money Check * For Refinances: a copy of your current mortgage statement also your downpayment, and it doesn't hurt to have a couple of grand in your bank acct. it's not a bad idea to get all of that ready, and when your score is at the right place, to apply. 3. the thing with cras is that they do need to verify that info to make sure you are you (i don't think that is any big deal, just don't send them copies of any bankruptcy or collection papers), but i would be wary of giving any extra info to the collection agencies. 4. i think in this battle, you have to really appreciate the smaller victories. one or two deletions is a great start, and might even bring your fico up to an acceptable level. i think at 640 or so you could qualify for a mortgage, just not at prime rates. what i did was to get my foot in the door and buy the house, and just refinanced a few years later at a better rate. congrats on the credit increase. theoretically, it should help your score. sometimes cap one doesn't report the increase to the bureaus (i think they report the highest balance and that is used as your credit limit, so in order for that to be reported, you might have to max that card close to it's limit and pay it off for it to show up on your CR) i'm not sure if that high balance is counted as your limit by the fico scoring system. anyway, congrats again and keep us informed.
I didn't ask what my score was when I got that info. Are you saying that while the dispute is being processed and not complete yet, I may be able to get that new score and a new report with current deletions to work with, such as to negotiate better interest rate? Cap 1 gave that credit limit increase, without my request, but the interest rate is still high at about 15, 16%. I question how my record can be such that I was given an automatic limit increase yet not get a better rate??? Thanks for the info on buying a house. No I don't have any of that ready. I haven't even looked at houses yet, because I don't geographically where I'll be yet. When I know that, I can least start looking. Some of the documents you mentioned I can put my hands on easily - I have them filed. After this first round of disputes, whereever that lands, that is where I start from in buying a house (if possible) and continue working on credit after that, as I know it will be take time. I'm hopeful after this first round that I could gain enough points to put me at prime rates, even though I know I have more work to do later. I already know 1 item got a response that said they would not change status (verified as mine, I think) That's the only one I know that has been verified, then the 3-4 deletes, and about 3-4 still pending. That verified one is a medical thing under $100. I had talked to them in the past and asked for a pay for delete, and they said no, that they did everything correct and didn't have to do that, and they weren't gonna. Apparently still won't with the dispute. I would still like to get a pay for delete thing with them, but not sure how. That will be a little down the road - in round 2. So should I try to get a new score now while dispute is still be processed, and try to talk to Cap 1 about interest rates? 9I never pay interest anyway, because I never carry a balnce - never. But it still may have a benefit, maybe that others see this positive change and that it makes a positive difference nelsewhere? Thoughts?
Suzie, i wouldn't worry about the interest rate for cap one since you don't carry a balance. i was mainly giving you advise on trying to get a mortgage. if i were you, trying to buy a house in 3 months, i would subscribe to true credit by transunion. it is the only service that allows daily updating of your 3 reports with scores. i think it is key to know daily exactly where you stand as far as your credit report and score goes. that way, you don't have to keep paying myfico $10 a pop per score, and once you are ready to appy, you know exactly where you stand. transunion is a fako score, but i was surprised at how close it was to my actual fico score when i talked to my mortgage broker (it was within 3 -10 points off). after your first round of disputes, whatever negs are left standing (since you are in a hurry), i would file a bbb complaint, as well as an atty general complaint, and that should knock off a few more. that way, in two more months or so, you should have a few more deletions. i did that with an old cap one acct, they sent me back proof that it was my debt, but still deleted it off of my report. some smaller collection agencies might delete your negs if you do this, especially if they are paid. this is a pretty easy way to go, i just wish i would have filed the complaints sooner. keep on keepin on
