mooneyes

I'm paid hourly. $13.50 I don't have a house picked out. I was looking in the $120K range because that seems to be a doable price. I can put a downpayment of up to 20% (but would prefer 10%). My student loans are now $190 a month. I went back and did some math and realize that the lender must have given me what I would have qualified for if I didn't have student loans. I had been doing the math based on how much house I could buy for betwen $800-900 monthly (around what I pay in rent) Now that I have more information I am realizing this issue is the debit to income ratio. I don't have any way to lower the debit or change my income. I may have to look for something in bad repair. I'm hoping I might find a lender that can work with me. So far they just say no. Thanks for all the advice.

My student loans are federal student loans. I just signed up for the IBR program. For july they have me on forebearance? (no payment due) and then the new amount starts Aug.5th. Before the IBR numbers it looked like I couldn't be considered for a loan. Really if a lender told me I needed to pay off the collections I would but they didn't tell me that. I don't have a way to get a co-signer. I think the medical debt is about $10,000 but I'd have to double check. I do have savings that would cover up to 20% downpayment although I would rather do less because it is likely I will have to buy a place in need of repairs. thank you all for your suggestions and information.

oh I'd never heard of that before. Unfortunately my area is too urban so I don't qualify. Thanks for the great suggestion though.

I am trying to get a mortgage to buy my first home. Some of my challenges are my fairly low income and large amount of student loan debt. In my area the amount I've spent on rent in the past five years = more than 1/2 the value of the property I am in. I would actually pay the same amount or less for a much larger place in my same neighborhood. I had worked for some time to get my credit in shape and have just been keeping it up the past couple of years. I pulled my credit last month. I was suprised that my credit score was much lower than what I got when I paid for a score last month. Last month I was told it was 760. The score the bank got was something like 698, 700, 702. I think this should be ok. Anyway I was very disappointed when the lender called today and said he just didn't think this would work out and I should try somewhere else. Later I officially got a notice that my income was too low. There are some medical collections on my records. I don't think that should effect getting a loan. The lender was trying to tell me they would want me to cancel my credit cards. I had been using them to build my credit. I had a couple of cards I use on a regular basis for low amounts. These cards were all things easily paid off like the $40 to Chevron. I use them and regularly pay them off. I am definately hesitant to close any accounts. I'm not really sure where to go from here. I was pre-approved from this lender when they pulled my credit. I'd appreciate any advice. I've been dormant on this board for a long time but have never looked into this section.

I filed the FTC complaints when I sent them the dispute letter.

I have received a letter back from one of the collection agencies and my blood pressure is now raised. I sent the letter that whychat suggested above. Additionally there is no way that this debt is mine. I don't know anyone by the patient's name. I don't even know in a place I didn't live. I did live in the area where I am guessing the hopital is a few years ago. I am responsible for not responsible for any debts but my own. This is the response from Professional Account Services, Inc. in Brentwood, TN. Also at the end it says they are licensed by the TN collection Service Board, State Dept. of Commerce and Insurance. NC Dept of Insurance Permit #2036. The service date is 9/14/09. Facility is NW Med Center Bentonville. I live in Texas and have for the past few years. We are in receipt of your dispute letter regarding the above referenced account. We have verified with our client that the charges are true and correct. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) does not set a specific time frame to respond to a written dispute. The Act does not require a response at all, but rather that collection activity cease until that dispute is verified and responded to. Further, the Act does not require copies of contracts, licenses or the like. The Act does require that the dispute be investigated and verification that the balance due is true and correct be obtained prior to proceeding with collection activity. Please be assured if at any time Professional Account Services, Inc. is not able to verify a disputed balance, that account is closed and returned to our client. Professional Account Services, Inc does not report to any of the three major credit bureaus. Pursuant to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) we have met the provisions set forth to validate this debt. I really have no idea what to do now. I never received anything from the hospital. i don't have any information about who to contact at the hospital. The other debt has vague info about where the debt was incurred. I am concerned about being mixed up with someone else. I have also called these collection agencies but they were of no help and told me I was responsible for the debt. Any suggestions?

I liked Monkey Wards because they had tires. My original 1992 Montgomery Wards credit card is still on my credit reports. I thought I didn't have a card after they went bankrupt/closed.

I got 2 settlement letters from AFNI today. They are for debts that do not show up on my credit report. Both are more than 7 years old, one is about 10 years old (since last payment). I didn't know if I should even respond.

If you have the book you should return it. A different book doesn't help because costs to prepare a book for a library generally are about $20 per book. I have even seen people arrested for not returning library books because in that particular city it was theft (but they didn't just have one book). I think returning the book may give you a better leg to stand on. After you have returned the book, you might find out who is the library director's boss. It will probably be the library board and/or the mayor. Write a letter about your experience and the library director's unwillingness to work with you. I know you want this removed, but as a librarian I have also seen the problems the children have when their parents don't take care of the library debt. She may need books in the future for school.

Thank you. Letters sent!

Letters are from collection agencies. There isn't enough information for me to know where the original debt is from. One of them says Benton Emergency Group. CMRE is one of the collection agencies. I have gotten letters from two places. I am assuming one debt is for hospital and the other for doctor, but I'm not really sure.

I have been receiving medical bills from what I assume is someone's emergency room visit. My name and address are there and on one the patient is named as someone with my same last name. I am a single person and not responsible for anyone else's debt. I do not know anyone by the name on the bill. I have called the companies I received the letters from via Skype but they would not talk to me and were hostile because I would not give them my phone number, SS # and birthday. They said I would continue to receive the bills until I pay my debt. The latest letter says they may soon start reporting to credit bueaus. I don't think I should give my personal information to a group that I have no business with. What is the best way to do deal with this? Do I ignore the letters? Do I send them a letter asking them to prove the debt? Or do I just send a letter saying I don't even know who this bill is for? I've read the forums before for credit and I have sent letters about old debts some of which were my ex-husbands. I did have problems with someone else's identity about 15 years ago, but my name is different (and more common now). Any suggestions will be useful.

I also have had problems renting a car. When my car died I was without a car for a few weeks until I could get a new one. I needed to rent a car to get to work, a court date, etc. I could not rent from Airport rental places because I did not have a plane ticket. Most major car rental places would not rent to be because I had a debit card and not a credit card. I eventually found an off name place that rented to me with debit card and about a $500 cash deposit. It was out of the way as well. I've been working on my credit, but after Chase cancelled my card I only have 1 with a $300 limit. Last week I had a last minute need for a hotel and only had a debit card. (The $300 credit is set up with $30 worth of monthly debits and not in my wallet). The sign on the desk when I checked in said no debit cards.. I was worried. It did go through, maybe because i had paid on the website already. My sister -in-law didn't understand why I needed a credit card. But that's because she has plenty of them.

I have had a similar experience with bad student loan debt. They must be paid eventually and they don't follow same reporting rules. The last date of activity would be when the loans were paid (no matter how they were paid). It is my understanding that they will show up for 7 years after that date. (if negative and 10 if positive) This seems to be what is going on with my student loans. I consolidated.. so those old loans were paid off by the consolidation. They continue to report negatively I assume until 7 years after the consolidation. I have 43 loans because of all of the change overs. good luck. I don't have any hopeful information about this, but you aren't alone.