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Hello, My mother recently sold her house and I am trying to help her figure out what debts to pay off, which to try and settle for less, and which to not bother with now or at all. She is looking to get another property (maybe a 15yr fixed mortgage?) and so far has a credit rating of 716, but according to the report I see the bank payoffs after the sale of the house have not been reported. These payoffs came out to about 95K. Her husband died and much of the debt is under his name, however I think due to the state she lives in, the debt is considered hers as well? The debt under his name does not show up on her report. After the sale, she has about 115K to work with, but with these remaining debts: a private loan for 10K, no interest ~4000K owed to plumbing company for repairs credit cards: ~11K in her name on 3 cards, ~1500K in husband's ~1200K owed to hospital All of the above was her now passed husband's except the 3 credit cards mentioned. In order for her to successfully purchase a new home, get rid of as much debt as possible, but still try and have something saved for emergencies or to use otherwise, what would you suggest? Is it worth seeking paid professional advice? Is there a better place to post this? Thanks for any and all help. L.

I need advice on how to get out debt. I'm struggling with piled up mortgage fees right now since I lost my work in this pandemic. Thankfully, I got hired again recently, but am now dealing with a load of debt to pay off. The total mortgage that I need to pay of is roughly $50,000 with late bills which is roughly about $15,000. I came across a website and learned a bit about debt consolidation but I still am struggling on where to start... Any suggestions and recommendations will certainly be helpful in my situations. Thank you in advance.

Hi, I have been away for a few weeks dealing with this stuff, and I have been hesitant to post about this, but I've been not making much progress and I was hoping someone could help point me in the right direction (if there is a direction at all). This is really long but I don't want to mislead anyone about the complicated aspects. In previous threads, I've said things to the effect of I was unlikely to need a mortgage in the next 5 years, but of course, that has changed. Nearly seven years ago I bought a house with my parent in that parent's name; I am not on the deed and I know this is the main takeaway from this post. As I've alluded in other threads, my house has an apartment and that parent unilaterally decided to allow my sibling to stay in the apartment without paying rent, and asked me to contribute more to cover this person and whoever they happened to be dating at the moment. In what is a super long story, that sibling badly wanted my house (which I chose, and did all the closing work, and signed the first set of contracts, etc etc) as of this year. In my broader and weirdly close family, this house has always been a point of contention because I found it at an insanely low price, discovered that it was actually a rare legal two family, and fought for that to survive closing. It is also waterfront, and has gone up in value since we bought it. At the beginning of this year, parent decided to do minor construction to give sibling more space, in the process eliminating parent's bedroom, parent has another house in another state that is now their primary residence. Sibling immediately initiated a campaign of constant complaining to parent, with what I suspect was an end goal of parent agreeing to "give" her our house. (I have put about $150K into it, sibling has paid rent a total of six times.) There is a lot more to this, but sibling successfully triangulated that parent to believe I am making sibling's life difficult out of envy or something. Parent buys this story, and was separated from me for the duration of the year due to covid in the house etc. Part of my initial objection to construction was that I was certain my sibling would have a third child by this third partner imminently, making the construction obsolete. Parent said sibling was "not that stupid," but if they did that, they'd have to leave. Six weeks later, sibling both got covid and got pregnant. 😕 (My proposal was to rent the apartment and give sibling the proceeds.) In July, parent asked me to meet them at the office of the lawyer who did the closing, and indicated they wished to sell the house, to which I said great, I would like to buy it. (I have a cosigner.) Parent and the lawyer asked me to borrow an additional $130K to "give" my sibling. At this juncture I decided to just get my own lawyer, because I did not feel the offer was made in good faith, and it seemed as though parent felt that honoring my right of first refusal was "favoring" me over my sibling, and that the offer was intentionally placed where they thought it was out of reach. Then parent offered the house to sibling for over $200,000 less than the offer made to me. Sibling was unable to qualify for a mortgage, and cannot continue staying here with five people in a two room apartment. Parent also continued to get angrier based on things my sibling claimed were happening, which were not happening (that I was bothering sibling in various ways). A few weeks ago parent came back and asked me to make an offer, but then left before even letting me do that. My lawyer has said to just wait, and has not responded to messages this week. Parent then listed the house, and sibling taped an eviction notice to our door this week. That is all just stupid backstory, but the element of parent being unwilling to speak to me is a huge factor here, or I would have made the offer etc. I suspect sibling convinced their new partner that this was their house, and that is the motivation for creating conflict. Two weeks ago I was referred to a mortgage broker who indicated me and my co-signer qualify for $20K over the higher asking price - but as I updated the broker about the eviction letter, they didn't want to do any more work on it unless I could guarantee parent was willing to sell it to me (which I understand). Theoretically a pre-approval can be for any house, but there may be an element of the income created by this house being part of what a price is contingent on? I'm just guessing. (Co-signer also needs to deal with a negative entry on their report but has a near 800 score per the broker.) So as of today, me and co-signer have had our credit run once - and I know inquiries don't matter! But I am eager to get this resolved, and just learned sibling has tentative plans to move, which I suspect will make parent amenable to selling the house to me. But I don't know how to go about getting this letter. As an aside, I'm really frustrated at this being so messy and last-minute, because we easily could have worked out a solution to which everyone was amenable. But this house has tremendous value to me both emotionally (it's me and my dead husband's house) and financially (the apartment replaces his income), so I don't want money from a sale, I just want to buy it. I do not know where to start or how to get a pre-approval letter, which my lawyer has been waiting on to initiate anything. I understand the initial broker is spooked by my parent's behavior, which looks really aggressive. Knowing this parent, they are a massive people pleaser and terrified of confrontation, hence the horrific communication. This whole situation is just embarrassing and has consumed my year with anxiety and stress. Sorry for writing all of that, but it's been occupying my thoughts and is part of why I haven't been around lately, and is also the lay of the land. Broker also alluded to an alternative deal structure that "wouldn't even require a mortgage probably," but I have no idea what they meant by that. It appears parent just wants to get money for sibling before the baby, and I have no intention of not contending I have a right of first refusal. So the major question is "how can I get a pre-approval letter" and the secondary question is "does anyone have any insight or ideas of how to present my buying the house as advantageous to everyone?" I would have prepared for this, but sibling's demand for the house and decision to rush into having a baby with a stranger have caused all this impulsivity on the part of sibling and parent. I don't know anything about mortgages and I just want to resolve this and save Christmas. Thank you.

It’s a long post but, where do I go from here? I am not sure what to do next. Do I just pay everything off and only charge a small account to one or two cards and pay them off every month or is there more to it? My goal is to buy a house. Hopefully by next summer. I, unfortunately, listened to Credit Karma before I did more research and opened more cards than I probably should have and charged a bunch but, I will have all the balances back at zero in 2-3 months at most. Here is what I am doing: paying all current credit balances to zero with no more charging, paying down student loans currently in deferment. I am thinking of closing the First Premier card and opening a self lender account (to get a better mix) but, am not sure if closing a paid card will hurt my score. This is where I am sitting at: Scores Wells Fargo Fico 9 score: 626 Fico 8 scores pulled from premium Experian subscription: Experian- 657 Equifax- 643 Transunion: 661 Fico 8: 657 Collections LVNV/Resurgent: $518 paid just waiting to be deleted from credit report IC Systems: $253, waiting on a response from debt verification letter, if that doesn't work I am asking for a PFD What Is Reporting Fingerhut: $73.06 out of $600 limit since Feb 2020 Capital One (authorized user, no card): $555 out of $9,500 limit since Nov 2014 Capital One (Walmart store card): $193.24 out of $300 since May 2020 Credit One $258.50 out of $300 since May 2020 First Premier: 270.83 out of $300 since Jan 2020 Synchrony Bank: $0 out of $1800 since Feb 2020 (never used) Student Loans Went through rehab and now in deferment due to being in school, no longer taking out more loans. Total: $39107.18 I also have some transferred closed student loans showing up on Equifax and Transuion as 120 days late with zero balances that I do not know what to do with. FICO Score Message 1 of 3 0 Kudos Reply

Hello, I am a long time member but I have been away for a long time. I am looking for some advice or just opinions that I am doing the right thing! To start I am looking to buy a home by the end of the year! My Current Situation: AMEX: Opened Feb 2012 / Balance $0 / Limit: $6700 / One 30 Day Late Payment Barclays: Opened Oct 2019 / Balance $387 / Limit $1000 / No Lates Capital One: Opened Dec 2010 / Balance $202 / Limit $5750 / One 30 day(Feb 2019), One 60 Day Late (March 2019) Discover: Opened June 2020 (0% Balance Transfer) / Balance $9343 / Limit $9500 Kohls/CAPONE: Opened Oct 2016 / Balance $0 / Limit $3000 Merrick Bank: Opened June 2011 / Balance $0 / Limit $3300 / 30 Day Lates (Oct & Nov 2018) - 60 Day Late Dec 2018 - 90 Day Late Jan 2019 Nordstrom: Opened Nov 2012 / Balance $0 / Limit $5800 / No Lates THD/CBNA (Home Depot) Opened June 2011 / Balance $2000 / Limit $6000 / No Lates CLOSED: PNC Credit Card Opened Jan 2016 / Closed Dec 2018 Legally Paid in full for less than the full balance Lates: (2017) Aug 30days - Sept 60days - Oct 60 days- Nov 90 days (2018) Jul 30 days - Aug 60 Days - Sept 90 Days - Oct/Nov 120 Days CLOSED: SYNCB/LAZBOY: Opened DEC 2014 Closed Oct 2017 Good history no negatives CLOSED: NOT REPORTING NOW: Credit Union CC Balance $8500 with late pays (I am sure this will show up when i least expect it) AUTO Loan: US BANK Opened April 2020 Good History - I have 5 closed Auto Loans with perfect history Student Loans: - Balance $7410 Good History - Balance $6165 Good History - CLOSED: Good History Personal Loans: - CLOSED: One Main Financial this loan was paid in full in 3 months! 401k Loan: $9500 - Auto Pay through pay checks does not show on credit report ------- Now you know my current situation: I just did the balance transfers on the Discover and it has increase my FACO score a large amount. I am thinking of taking a personal loan from my bank to pay off my 401k loan. I would then be able to take out a larger loan to pay off all my revolving debt and have it automatically taken from my pay checks at a 5% interest rate. I would normally leave the balance on the discover card at 0% but that ends in 14 months which I do not know if I would have it paid off in time. As I said i am looking to buy a house before the end of the year. Should i go forward with this process? Why I am thinking of the 401k loan... 1) I like the idea that I have a very low interest rate and that interest actually goes back into my 401k 2) I know the debt will be paid off in 60 months 3) If god forbid i lose my job the loan is paid off by my 401k (I know this sucks but it does protect me) 4) this will clear up my credit report of debt and maybe increase my credit score more I have a plan in place to not run up credit cards again. we are living will within our means now and not running up debt but actually slowly paying it off with high interest. It will go even faster with low interest rates! The way I figure I will be saving an average of $400 a month in interest alone! Please give me your honest opinion on what I should do! -Apsman-

Hi, Does anyone have any suggestions for getting a modification with Mr.Cooper. They have frequently denied me even though they messed up my original modification.

Hi. Thanks everyone for push out of hopelessness. My scores have increased about 30 points each, and this without reflecting that I paid off a $2500 installment loan a week ago. Total paid off is about $7000 in 6 weeks. · My goal is to buy a home with an FHA loan around October 2021. · I have $2000 per month to put toward resolving these negatives. · I don't know if I can call BBVA and Net Credit and work out payment arrangements, or if I need to have all the money now. Scared to call—I keep hearing “don’t talk to them.” My question is what order to put these in based on how quickly it will impact my credit score. My options seem to be: 1) Resume student loan payments ASAP, over the next year just save the money monthly and pay BBVA first and then Net Credit, then down payment. 2) Pay BBVA first, resume paying student loans in September and then pay Net Credit over the next 12 months. Remaining negatives on credit report: Defaulted Student Loan · Wait 1-3 months and use that $850/month to work on the other two items? BBVA · $5600 charge-off as of Sept 2019 · Planning to just pay it, assuming I'll have to pay in full but not sure Net Credit Financial Services · $6900 charge-off from Sept 2019 · Planning to just pay it, assuming I'll have to pay in full but not sure When do I apply for the mortgage, by the way? How far ahead of when I want to close? THANK YOU!!!!

So my mortgage was with Ditech and they folded, and now Shellpoint owes it. This one was in 350k range. It about 10 years old. I also have a 2nd mortgage in the 60k range. So it just reported closed. The following occurred. My TU FICO 8 fell from 722-708. FICO 9 fell off a cliff 764-709. FICO 8 bankcard 771-718. FICO 4 took a nosedive. EX dropped 2 points. I have a baddie that will drop in FEb/March so I think that had something to do with not a great loss. Just goes to show that having a conventional mortgage which we all know helps, can also really hurt when paid off. Utilization is 9%. I have 1 account showing as 75% but that will drop to 50-60% shortly.

Hi everyone! Just joined the community after hearing great things on an number of personal finance forums. I'm trying to rebuild my credit so that I can get a good mortgage hopefully by the end of 2020. Specifically, I'd like to increase my score from 568 to above 700 -- I know that's ambitious. Some positives. Several weeks ago, I paid off the remaining balance on my CC debt. I'm now in the middle of consolidating my student loan debt, which racks up to about $42K. I'll begin making monthly payments as soon as that process is complete. The not so good. The student loan debt mentioned above. I also have four collection / chargeoff accounts at Cap 1 (x2), Discover, Wells Fargo and Discover. I don't know where to start. I've recently tried applying online for a number of secured credit cards with Cap 1, Discover and Citi but have been denied due to my past issues. Are there any banks that will accept me? What are my other options? Any advice is welcome and I'm ready to do whatever it takes to reach or move closer towards my goal. For what it's worth, salary is between $100K and $120K and paying about $1.3K in rent every month.

I had a rental property that was part of a business dealing that went bad. The property was on the brink of foreclosure when we were finally able to settle and sell. Bank (and taxes, HOA, etc) all were paid in full. This was not a short sale, or settlement of debt. Realistically, when would I start to see my credit score increase? This house was the only negative on my credit report (unfortunately a large one) and was nearly 2-years behind when everything was resolved. Score dropped about 150 points when the payments were falling behind. Other debt is minimal. Just primary residence ($200k and 5 years of on-time payments) and a school loan ($6k remaining). Credit cards are used for daily transactions, but are always paid in full. No other late payments, collections, or anything of the sort for 15 years plus. Bank is showing the mortgage account as closed, but it doesn't appear that it was marked as "Paid in Full." Related question, I see that typically late payments fall off of the credit report 7 years after "first notice." Does that mean at the 7 year mark, that all vanishes, or is it a rolling 7-year (as the last late payment filing was 2 years after the first, so it would be 2 years from now?). Thank you.

I live in Illinois. We have a defaulted 2nd mortgage that is over ten years old. The statute of limitations in Illinois for written contracts is 10 years. The 2nd was taken out in 2005 stopped making payments in 2007 and filed for BK in 2009. Besides their lien still being attached to my home, I can't see any situation where they can foreclose this late in the game without me making a payment starting the statute of limitations all over again. Thoughts??

Hey guys I'm currently looking to get a mortgage loan. In order to do this, I need to do some tinkering. My Credit Score on FICO 8 is in the 770s - 780s. However, FICO 9 shows at 699 from Experian. The reason is that CitiBank has not yet reported it's new balance to the Bureaus. The utilization on CitiBank shows 110%. It's been at least 60 days, and still nothing (even though I closed the balanced to close to 0% on each statement). They're being quite the inconvenience currently with their delays. Any suggestions? What can I do? This FICO score is really hurting me. I need to expedite this, and make CitiBank report last month's closing balance. As it's holding me back from loans I need.

I will try and make this as short as possible. I live in Illinois, bought my home in Jan 2005, and took out a HELOC in April of 2005 with E-Trade. Defaulted on HELOC in late 2008 with E-Trade Filed BK 7 in December 2009 and Discharge in March 2010 the E-Trade loan was never reaffirmed during BK. The loan was sold to Specialized Loan Servicing (SLS) in January 2014 without me knowing or getting notification from either party. Neither showed up on my credit report. I new the BK protected me from being sued for any balance left if I sold my home at a loss were the junior lien holder (E-Trade / SLS) was not paid in full but the lien was still attached to the property and they could foreclose. Recently applied for a HARP loan and that is when SLS showed up on the title search, they refused to subordinate and sent a payoff letter for the 41k principal and had an additional 12k in interest that they charged not E-Trade which we hadn't made a payment to since late 2008 the interest was from January 2014 when they purchased the account from my math. Is this 12k interest legal without at least letting me know somehow they even owned it? I got my first letter from them a few weeks after the harp loan was dead in the water. I hired an attorney but since they have only sent one letter giving me like 4 options to cure the situation it isn't a pressing matter for my attorney who I have only been dealing with for about a week. They are still in the process of collecting my documents and trying to get a modification hopefully on just the principle. I just want to know if I am on the hook for the extra 12k which is growing by $7.89 daily.

My PRIVATE loan from 15+ years ago defaulted over 2 years ago, result of unemployment and huge minimum payments I couldnt keep up with increases of. $50,000 UNpaid PRIVATE student loan. Defaulted 2 years ago. Have not paid since; dont plan to. Settlment offers are half, which I obviously dont have- and at my low income level, never will. I have NO interest in setting up payment plans that would last for decades. Now I got a new job this summer, $40,000 a year. Previous annual income: <$20,000... finally have a $40,000 income here which is liveable. Have roommates, no car, no mobile phone, no iphone, no entertainment expenses other than netflix, dont go out to lunch, etc. Live as meagerly as possible. Current Bedroom Rent and Utilities (already have roommates, pricey city, already at one of the cheapest places): $1300 a month ALREADY RENTING ONE OF THE CHEAPEST ROOMS (BEDROOMS) FOR RENT IN MY CITY- I ALREADY HAVE ROOMMATES, AM VERY EFFICIENT WITH UTILIITIES, & LIVE CHEAP FOR HERE. Mortgage on a $40,000-50,000 dumpy studio condo I found in the suburbs: <$500 mortage and utilizes (super tiny studio, 300 square feet, utilities run <$150 on average for them total, add ~100 for commuting further) Savings: $3000 Credit card debt: $2000 Other loans and defaults: $0 Like I said, I dont plan to ever enter into voluntary payment plans for that UNpaid PRIVATE student loan. I simply could never pay off $50,000 plus interest as it keeps increasing with interest. I can never, realistically, settle NOT even if they offer me more than half off. Rent is pricey. Private UNpaid student loan of $50,000 defaulted TWO YEARS AGO. Realistically, Ill never be able to pay that off, and dont intend to try, as the numbers simply are impossible. I dont make enough income to settle or put a dent into $50,000 of a defaulted private student loan + APR. Can I ever quality for a mortage? A tiny condo with mortage in the surburbs would cut my living expenses by MORE THAN HALF. Like I said, I already have roommates & live in the cheapest safe room I could find. Suburban rooms for rent are maybe $100 cheaper, but then you add commuting costs. Tiny dumpy condo is safe enough, and very small at under 300 square feet mortage would cut my living expenses in half. CURRENT FICO SCORES: 610-650... if I pay off credit cards, I should at least hit 620-640 across the board by when I could realistically afford a condo (probably this winter).

Lender's attorney sent an FDCPA validation notice and filed for foreclosure suit (judicial foreclosure state) before the end of the validation period. Since the attorney held themselves out as subject to the FDCPA , is this a violation?

or are they just considered cosmetic /maintenance on a 1952 home 1. most new windows approx 10K 5 to 10 years ago 2 new boiler/hotwater heater system plus conversion from oil to gas 9K 9 years ago 3. complete perimeter house drain system 12K 9 years ago 4. new roof 12K 4 years ago

Hello everyone, my wife and I are looking to finalize some last minute strategy before we pull her credit to try to obtain a mortgage and get the highest possible score boost. In order to grow her score the past several years I added her to some of my oldest and/or highest limit cards as an AU, but I do have a few balances albeit with very friendly balance transfer rates. In the meantime we've been solely attacking the cards that are in her name only. Here's what her report showed on her most recent pull (696 EQ middle score, TU was 702, EXP was 685): Amex BCE 242 / 3000 8.1% *PIF, this will report as 0 balance on 7/17/18 Amex Everday 0 / 1000 0% Wells Fargo Visa 49 / 8500 0.6% *PIF, this will report as 0 balance on 7/16/18 Capital One Platinum 0 / 3500 0% Chase Slate 0 / 6500 0% Chase Freedom 0 / 500 0% Discover 0 / 2200 0% Victoria Secret 0 / 6000 0% Dress Barn 0 / 1570 0% Citi Simplicity 1558 / 3300 47.2% *currently 0% interest, will report next on 7/21/18 FNBO 9350 / 30000 31.2% (AU) Amex BCP 3000 / 33000 9.1% (AU) BofA 6129 / 13200 46.4% (AU) citi diamond 0 / 14700 0% (AU) kohls 0 / 1500 0% (AU) Our main question: would the 2 dollar trick work if we use it on the citi simplicity card and only pay 1556, assuming we pull again after 7/21 and let BCE and WF Visa report as zero by that time? Or will this not work because other balances are being carried elsewhere, even though they are on the AU accounts which are only my financial responsibility? please note I am not applying for the mortgage, it will only be in her name. Pretty sure we'll crack 700 middle score either way, but we're really hoping to hit 720+ for various extra advantages in the mortgage application process. Any input or experience in a similar situation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your help over the years, we have come a long way and are very close to landing the home of our dreams. We could not have done it without you.

https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/04/news/companies/wells-fargo-mortgage-modification/index.html Wells Fargo said the computer error affected "certain accounts" that were undergoing the foreclosure process between April 2010 and October 2015, when the issue was corrected. About 625 customers were incorrectly denied a loan modification or were not offered one even though they were qualified, according to the filing. In about 400 cases, the customers were ultimately foreclosed upon. The embattled bank revealed the issue in a regulatory filing this week and said it has set aside $8 million to compensate customers affected by the glitch.

I received letters from the IRS today notifying me that my taxes from 2005 and 2006 were sent to private collections. I thought I paid those two years but I learned about the IRS claiming they were overdue 9 years later. The amounts were way higher than I could have possible owed and only a year away from expiring so I just ignored them. I have great credit (830ish) and will be buying a home in a year so I'm freaking out over this. Could these hit my credit reports even though they are 10+ years old? Will I get constantly harassed on the phone now? Can I negotiate a settlement? Thanks all

Hi, long time reader/lurker and I've used the great advice here to improve my score from the high 500's to EQ 719, TU 740, EX 744 (those are my FICO 8 scores). My mortgage scores are EQ 668, TU 692 and EX 679. I am in the process of making the purchase of a home in Los Angeles that requires a jumbo loan. I am putting down 20% but can't do more without selling something first and a contingent offer is a no go for sellers. My debt to income ratios and the rest of my financials are solid. Ideally I need a middle score of 700, but I can get the loan with a middle score of 680. I did pay down a few credit card balances that had gotten over the 40% mark and now show credit limits of 113K on my report with 6.8K to 9K being used (depending on which agency), but in actuality I am using 2K in total but a few things haven't updated. Unfortunately I can't wait as next Friday I need to waive lending contingency or lose the house to another bidder. For aa number of reasons this house is truly a one of a kind as it offers things that are needed for a family member who requires handicap assistance, etc. I say that as if I were reading this I would be thinking, don't be stupid, just wait a month or two and find another house. It's not that simple, but I don't want to make this post a book... I did get very giddy with having good credit and have opened waaaayyy too many cards to get points, miles, etc. I have realized the error of my ways as I now have 29 inquiries in the last 24 months and my credit length has gone from 20+ years to 10 years (short, according to "them"). Anyhow, feel free to shame me for not listening to the wise advise here better than I did - this has surely cost me a lot as the 10% of my score I've given up for being an salamander would have taken me well over the necessary score. Ugh - no one can save me from myself, right? Still, although I'm a slow learner I do learn. Last late payment on EQ and EX was 47 months ago, on TU it was 56 months ago. No collections, no public records. I have two other active mortgages that have never been late (rentals) and 6 other mortgages that are closed with no lates (I've been transferred a lot for work). On my fico mortgage score analysis it shows that the factors bringing my scores down are: You've recently been looking for credit. You have too many credit accounts with balances. You've made heavy use of your available revolving credit. You have a short credit history. In your case, the age of your oldest account and/or the average age of your accounts is relatively low. About two years ago someone here referred me to a great guy in Lake Forest, CA who helped me by getting a rescore and thus loan approval, but I've lost his information. If anyone has any advice on how to improve mortgage scoring fast I'll be incredibly grateful. My mortgage score have typically run 93% to 95% of my Fico 8 scores (last 5 year average), but there have been spots within time where they've exceeded my Fico 8 scores. Right now I am running: EQ - 92.9% mortgage score to Fico 8, TU 93.5% mortgage score to Fico 8, and 91.3% mortgage score to Fico 8. I would so appreciate any advice that you have on how to improve the mortgage scores really fast. My broker has said he can rapid rescore two tradelines, but that's it. Thoughts? Thank you all so much!

We have a current VA loan for our home (not paid off and 8 years old). However, we want to sell and move to a bigger and better house. We thought we read something that said you cannot get more than one VA loan ever...is this true? We would love to use VA again since we didn't have to save up for a HUGE down payment. Thanks in advance!

Hello, I have a home that was being rented out by a 3rd party company after a divorce that has been in foreclosure for more that 2 years. The home was supposed to be a lease to own for the tenants but the company went under and just abandoned all the properties. The foreclosure process then began in late 2010. Since then the mortgage has been sold to several lenders over the course of this time and appears on my credit report multiple times. It also is still pending now. I'm not sure what to do or if there is anything that I can do to speed this process along so that I can begin to repair my credit and move on with life. Also it show on my credit report multiple times (once with each previous lender that it was sold to) What can I do to get that removed or is that accurate? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

Hi guys, Well, I've been trying to buy a house, I was shooting for a conventional loan but just found out that since I had a short sale I don't qualify for a conventional per new rules (funny, earlier in the year I was able to do conventional, who's making these rules? lol), lender said FHA will work. Is there any loophole that allows me to do conventional? If not I still want to see what you guys think about the numbers under my situation. This is my situation: - short sale in november 2011 - 680 credit score (thanks for advice was able to take out some disputes) - 130K price These are the numbers my mortgage person is offering under FHA: - APR: 5.472% - Finance charge 122,382 - Amount Financed: 123,982 - Total of Payments: 246,364 - Interest Rate: 3.875% - Principal and Interest: $600 - Estimated Taxes and Insurance: 534 Not happy about the upfront 1.75 MIP Fee, but next november I will qualify for a conventional so I might look to refinance if the rates look appealing. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I could wait and get another house maybe next november but with this house I could have roommates that will basically pay for all my expenses and the street has the space with just the right layout to accommodate all the cars, sweet! Thanks and Happy New Year!

First off, wasn't sure if this or regular credit forum was the right spot. Feel free to tow if necessary. Also, I get a little over analytical and long winded at times so I apologize in advance. TL;DR version: His 630ish, Hers 700ish. No baddies/negs just really high utilization. Can we get scores up in 6-9 months at earliest? Or 12-18 months? This is my first thread. I've been reading a bunch all weekend, stumbled upon CB after googling something and it's been a pretty good resource. A little about me, 27, married just finished grad school and started my first "real" job in August. Had credit cards since I was a sophomore in college, did a pretty good job keeping balances low. Got married 5 years ago at end of undergrad and balances have kinda crept up since then. Past year, things got a little out of control, some spending and I had a gambling problem (blackjack, under control and thankfully before it got seriously out of hand, 20k is nothing to laugh off but it could have gotten much much worse based on some other stories I've read). We had previously purchased a house in 2010 near Memphis when I was starting grad school and wife was teaching. I ended up finding a job back north closer to her family so we moved in late July to MD. House didn't sell until late November (crappy realtor, poor pricing/market, yadda, yadda, yadda) and we ended up having to borrow money from my parents to take to closing to get out of it but thankfully avoided short sale and never got behind on mortgage. Ending up with about $22k in capitol gains loss if my math is right (impressive on a <100k house right?). Currently renting but want to buy at earliest end of summer when current lease is up (went from $700 mortgage to $1200 rent, STICKER SHOCK) So in the past year my utilization went from 30-40% to >90% and wifes went from 10-20% to >90%. We applied for a mortgage in May/June when we were optimistic our house would sell and we'd have some equity to reinvest in a starter home. Clean reports at that point, no lates, everything in good status. June 13, 2014: My scores: 696 EQ; 700 TU; 682 EX Her scores: 768 EQ; 769 TU; 761 EX I'd started to do Lending Club in August to consolidate things but unfortunately couldn't income verify b/c even though I had letter stating my salary, I work for school system and first pay wasn't until 9/15. Currently my Credit Karma says 630 as does free score with my Discover and I also did a soft with Lending Club again that showed the same score (Denied Recent overlimit of a bankcard trade <--- Discover being essentially maxed out interest fee would put me over, it's been paid down to where that won't occur Increase in non-mortgage debt in last 6 months Insufficient income for the loan product requested Excessive utilization on credit cards over last 12 months Wife currently showing 695 on credit karma and 701 on her free FICO included with Barclays Barnes&Noble MC. My current credit: AMEX (charge I think) Balance $4770 Limit $4900 (previous 8k-ish but got chopped when I wasn't paying balance down fast enough) Discover Balance $14200 Limit $14600 (two increases since june) Lowes (SyncB) Balance $0 Limit $1000 (haven't used in a few years but still shows open on TU CR I just pulled) Goodyear (CBNA) Balance $1200 Limit $2000 Paypal Smart (SyncB) Balance $300 Limit $400 AU Cards Barclay MC (Barnes & Noble) Balance $3400 Limit $3500 AAA BofA VIsa Balance $1400 Limit $1500 (never received card and thought it was just wife's but it's showing on my TU CR also) Installment Orion FCU 12k balance on auto loan at 1.99% Student Loans $120k federal, $25k private (working in school system, majority of balance will be forgiven with PSLF, know I need to pay the private, already on IBR) Have a few closed positives - Old Navy, 2 jewelry stores, and an installment from when we put 12k into foundation Personal 10k to parents & in laws which helped with some moving/living expenses and getting out of mortgage - 0% and told to make this low priority Wife: Barclay MC (Barnes & Noble) Balance $3400 Limit $3500 AAA BofA VIsa Balance $1400 Limit $1500 Kohls (CapOne) Balance $300 Limit $400 Limited (Comenity) Balance $0 Limit $1000 Installment Toyota Financial $2200 left on her car at 7ish% $19k federal student loans - also will get some loan forgiveness as she's a teacher So from what I've gathered, the reason for plummeting scores is due to rapidly increased utilization and the key to getting utilization down would be decreasing balances/increasing limits and new TL. Her's doesn't need huge bump, mine needs significant. Doing basic snowball for most part except tackling her Toyota financial first as that has best mix of big payment/low balance (frees up the most monthly working capitol) with monthly payment of about $270. Should be paid off at end of January. Grossing $115k joint, monthly take home of about $6k net (each have mandatory pension contributions of 7-8% & taxes in MD are high). I picked up a second job waiting tables at everyone's favorite chain Italian restaurant a few nights a week and though it's only been a few weeks, seem to be bringing home $200+ cash per week. She'll also have some limited after school tutoring additional income of about 150-200/week Feb-May. I believe we can get access to NFCU (wife's sister's husband is in Air Force) as we're possibly interested in their 100% mortgage. On 200k house with taxes/insurance would be right in the neighborhood of what we're already paying in rent. Also looks like NASA CU has a 100% morgage for DC/MD/VA/PA area we could also use. NFCU sounds like it might be a good opportunity to get something with a high CL which would really help utilization. Also, I've gotten a 0% BT CC offer the from the CU where my car loan is through and wife has gotten 0% BT offer from discover so considering attempting to open those and transfer some of my discover balance to those. Am I correct in understanding that the AMEX, as a charge not revolver doesn't actually affect utilization? (which would then mean tackling my Discover in the snowball before the AMEX to improve utilization?) Current plan of attack will be knocking out kohls, my paypal, goodyear, wifes visa & MC (both of which I'm AU on which) will also help my utilization correct? Does this seem reasonable approach for getting scores back up and getting approved for mortgage in 7-9 months? If not then the possibly following spring? Won't qualify for USDA due to combined income and since we are a household don't think we can apply individually or would that be an option? Was under impression they look at total household? Did FHA on previous mortgage but with changes to PMI would like to avoid that if possible. Also amazing how big a difference there can be in property taxes in unincorporated versus incorporated homes. Seeing homes with similar value have a 1000-1500 difference in property taxes being in town vs out in country (which makes a big difference in total monthly payment). Am I being reasonable with the 9-24 month goal or should I really focus on finding a new place to rent when lease is up (need bigger yard for dogs 20x15 fenced in duplex yard isn't cutting it) and plan on buying 3-5 years out? Have definitely seen homes in area we like majority in the 180-220k range. Occasionally as low as 160k. Using 28/43 F/B DTI ratios Total min payments (excl wife's car which is being paid off in next month) 1784 Approx gross monthly- 9500 43% Back = 4085 - 1784 = leaves 2301 for housing We're wanting something 1500 or less so we should be well under DTI ratios Front end we'd need to be under 2600. Don't want to get anywhere near that. As an aside, for my wife straight out of grad school with 41k teaching salary, she got approved up to 144k. Thankfully we stayed under a 100. TIA for your feedback.

Hello all, I've been lurking and searching to see if anyone has asked about this particular situation before and came up short. I have a vague idea of where we stand and what we should do but would like a little more specific guidance, if you guys don't mind. Here's the rundown: - My fiancé and I are getting married sometime next year (currently trying to lock down a venue & date). - We've both agreed that buying a house trumps having a fancy wedding. - We'd like to buy sooner than later. My credit Scores: EQ 660 - TU 624 - EX 612 Negative factors: EQ is reporting one collection account. TU is reporting 2 collection accounts. EX is reporting 2 accounts that had late payments (60 days or more) + 2 collection accounts. Extended Credit: I only have 2 credit cards that were opened about 6 months ago totaling $2,800 CL (I keep my util between 5-15% for both, trying to get that lower.) My credit was really, really bad about 4 years ago and I was scared to even try applying for credit cards for a while until I realized that wasn't helping my credit either. Payment history: The only payment history I have reporting from the past year or so are the 2 CCs mentioned above. All payments have been made on time. Before that I had several 60+, 90+, 120+ late payments. Income: $55,000 - I started my current job with a new company in June 2014- same position, same pay. Was with the previous company for 3.5 years. I'm possibly up for a promotion in the next 2 months with a $10k raise. 401k for Down Payment: $18,000 My fiancé's credit Scores: EQ 608 (working on having him pull the other 2 scores) Negative factors: EQ is reporting 1 30-day late payment earlier this year + 90% util across 3 credit cards + school loan charge off Extended credit: $18,000 (as mentioned above util is 90%) Payment history: Only one late payment earlier this year. Income: $42,500 - Started new job in September 2014- same position, same pay. Was with previous company over 12 years. 401k for Down Payment: $28,000 FYI, we're trying to pay down his credit cards so that it will lower his util % but we don't think we'll be able to lower it enough to make a significant difference. Would that money be better applied to our savings for a larger down payment? We're completely unsure of how to approach our homebuying experience. Our questions are: Are we completely undesirable borrowers at the moment? If not: Should we apply for a loan together (for added income + down payment)? Are either of us more attractive on our own? If so, who? If we are (undesirable): Should we apply anyway to get a more concrete look at exactly what needs fixing? Together or individually? Is there anything obvious that we should be working on in the meantime? If we purchased alone (just him or just myself) and then got married, would the other person qualify as a first-time homebuyer for our second home? We've been comfortably paying about $1900/month in rent and would ideally like to secure a loan with a monthly payment in that range. By my calculations that means we can afford a house in the $350-400k range. Depending on the rate which we expect to be higher because of our credit. Again, we might be completely off in our calculations. Thank you in advance for any guidance and please let me know if there's anything you need to know that I didn't supply before you can offer any advice. Merry Christmas, DT