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Well, I'm on my journey to try and buy a house. My scores are currently EQ 635, EXP 585, TU 601. One of the major things hurting me are my student loans. 15 months ago I allowed them to go 90 days delinquent before I got smart and decided to fix my credit. I paid one monthly payment to Nelnet, but at the time there were 9 different accounts, but only 1 bill. So, the dilemma is, I paid one payment, received one bill, but the delinquencies show as 9 separate delinquencies. I am hoping that in November I may see a bump in the credit, as the delinquencies will all be over 12 months old. But, is there any way to get the credit bureau's to show this as one delinquency in stead of 9? I received one bill, and made one payment. I didn't even know I had 9 different accounts until I looked up my credit report. Help!

Hello CB Members, Newbie here, and I read all the intro stuff so I hope I'm in the right area. I am trying to repair my credit while in college. Long story short, I had some medical issues around 2 years ago, which forced me to cut back from school. As a result, my student loans came out of deferment for a short time (cause I was not in school full-time.) Because I was so sick, and my parent busy caring for me, these payments were never made. Also, a couple of medical appt bills were missed, which were sent to CAs. I am back in school full-time (I should mention, I got a scholarship for full-tuition after graduating from 2-year school, FAFSA is for living/school supply expenses), and my loans are back in deferment. I don't believe they were sent to CAs. I recently have been trying to build my credit, and thus have applied for credit cards. Every time I have been denied, despite having income. I also have been wanting to get a car loan (small one for $2,000) for a used car, but was denied even with a co-signer! I have my annual triple-credit report on hand,here's what it shows... - 2 Medical Appt Bills Sent to Collection - All Nelnet/Dept of Ed/FAFSA Loan Payment Periods (even the good ones that show deferment. The year-period in which I was not deferred shows 150, 120, and 90 Days past due (no collection indication.) I will pay off the 2 med bills ASAP, but I am wondering if the Student Loan Deferments, though in detail look fine, are harming my credit by being shown there. Are student loans always shown on one's credit report, even if they are being paid and in good standing? If so, does this affect credit approval? Lastly, how do I go about removing the 2 med bills from my credit report "swiftly," after paying them? Do I write letters, make calls? Thank you all so much. Again, I apologize for my ignorance, but I really want to learn this stuff and build credit early.

Just trying to confirm if this information is accurate (I found it in this forum). As I have read here, under the Higher Education Act and FTC 623, any Lates being reported that took place in a time frame covered by a retroactive forbearance should be corrected by the lender who reported that information? Also, is it better to do an online dispute or fax dispute with the CRA's for this? Or should I contact the office of the Ombudsman? Thanks!

Hey Gents & Ladies, sorry to be posting this here, but after over 24 hrs, 30+ views, and no responses I was hoping someone may be able to help me. I have read contradicting information on CB and other forums regarding the Higher Education Act and FTC 623 when it comes to removing Student Loan lates. Even after the successful App Spree for DW, I know if I can get these removed from her credit, she should be in mid 700s after, and we are trying to get her there for Refinance in Spring 2015 and new car. So anyone who can chime in and help clarify this topic, as always it is greatly appreciated and I am thankful!

Federal Student Aid will be replacing the PIN to a user name and password based log-on system. Check it out here: http://www.ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/100114NewFSAIDtoReplacetheFederalStudentAidPIN.html

My daughter doesn't want me to pay for her graduate school.. and I have mixed feelings but the idea of her taking three more years of debt makes me sick at heart given the interest rates. If I were to set up a three or five year CD securing a loan to her for tuition, made payable to the school, what do you think the lowest interest rate would be... perhaps a $75K loan that would be essentially a line of credit paid out over the next 3.5 years against a collaterized CD. Am I missing something? Would navy do something like that? Looking to keep her from paying high rates and putting herself into debt but want to keep some distance between the give and take in these matters. I know nothing about student loans, she is getting a PhD in Clinical Psych and she is very conservative in financial matters... but i can't stand to see her racking up 8% interest plus while she is going full time and working 20 plus hours a week. All adivice welcome on this. I want to keep some arm's length but help. I may forgive half of it.

Hi all. I defaulted on Nelnet & Sallie Mae loans. I never once made a payment to Sallie Mae or Nelnet. I went to default and eventually consoliated. (3+ years in good standing) My report for Nelnet shows "OK" marks for a few months. Then turns to "90s" "120s" "C/Os" etc. Makes sense because I was not paying. (long story + ignorance) However, my Sallie Mae shows "OKs" then 90s, 120s, then goes back to OK status for a few months then back to 90 day and 120 day lates. This does not make sense to me. I had been graduated by this point. Again, I never made a payment to them. Why did they randomly start reporting timely payments? The nelnet loans fall off 3/2016 and sallie mae 3/2016. Is it an error from Sallie Mae to give me the OK marks for a few months after grad when I KNOW I did not pay a dime? Do insurance payments or sending my loans around count as a "payment"? I'm confused. Not sure if that would even be legal/Nelnet did not do this. I'm asking because I'm wondering if they can turn the "OK" payments into 90s/120s, then it would change the fall off date for my tradelines. However, I'm a bit afraid to bring this up to Sallie Mae in the event they change my status, I get a score drop, and I still cant get 2015 deletions. Thanks a lot!

Citizens Financial Group is offering refinance to those who have Federal Student Loans and a minimum of $10,000.00. Please visit the Wall Street Journal for more information: http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2014/09/16/student-loan-borrowers-have-chance-to-refinance-at-lower-rates/?mod=yahoo_hs Here is the link to Citizens Financial Group: https://www.citizensbank.com/ As I always do on here, make sure you fully understand the ramifications of converting federal student loans into private student loans! Just be aware that private student loans DO NOT offer the same consumer protections as private student loans so you must weigh the pros and cons before going this route! **This is for informational purposes only and I DO NOT endorse any company, products, or services***

Hi, I'm a Newbie and this site was reco'd by my BF bc I need to work on my credit. I wrote down my credit score goal as 750. I was told once, if it's written its real. That kept me on top of goals in life and has been a successful tool in my life thus far. It's pretty much a twist on a vision board. Anywho, with all that said, I would love opinions and recos on what, how, and when I should do certain things to reach this goal. I have read difft posts, but there is so much info that helps, but also pushes me one more step away from achieving my goal bc I just don't understand certain things mentioned. Here's what I'm working with: When I was younger, I did what most recent grads did to ruin their credit-- I applied and was approved for every cc and store card I could possibly get. I rem counting it to be approx 11 cards. I was under the impression that this gave me credit history and would help build my credit. I obviously maxed them all out, made late payments and eventually stopped paying on them. Probly brought my CS to high 400s, low 500s In 2009/2010, I was able to pay them all off giving myself $0 debt. Once again thinking, if I have zero debt my CS will be better. Mistakes doing that involved paying charged off accts, settling accts and speaking to CAs that bullied and talked me into handling things their way or no way, which now I know...wrong thing to do. I fig'd that by time I finish my advanced degree (2009-2013), my credit would get better esp if I stayed away fr CCs. The only time my CR was touched were inquiries for car loan leases in between that time. Finally my most recent car lease inquiry in 6/2013 revealed EQ beacon 611, EX FICO 641, TU FICO 681. This is where I am stuck on what to do. I pulled EX CR that says 8 potentially negative items. These include CCs and store cards that had late payments and closed per CGR, 2 late payments on car note ( which I think only one is valid), and late payments on 2 store cards that I still have open and am able to use ( which I do on one of them, currently at less than 10% UR bc they gave a CLI out of nowhere) I joined CK, score has been at 648 the whole time since i joined abt 6 moths ago, just joined Credit sesame, which my score is 641. I have my advanced degree student loans which are roughly abt $200,000+ (Yikes), the low balance store card, and car loan as my debt. I have 4 hard inquiries, which were made by the same car loan companies (2 in June 2013, then 2 again in Sept 2013), car actually purchased in Sept 2013. I NEED HELP at this point!! I searched CB for what my next steps should be to increase my credit score, but too many options, I just don't know which is best for my situation. I was thinking to get a secured card and/or sign up for a credit card, but I really just don't know what to do! HELP ME PLEASE! I've seen the wonderful advice given by the community and hope that I can receive the same. Thx in advance to all PS I thought I had one negative item falling off of my acct last year, but it seems to have showed up under a different company name, but same acct number. And I will have about 2-3 items falling off by the end of next year. Tx again

Hello everyone, I am hoping to get some advice on what to do about my student loans. Like most people I didnt take my credit very seriously when I was young and messed up badly with my student loans but earlier this year decided to get my lfie right and fix my credit. One last hurdle is all my student loan lates and I'm wondering whats the best strategy if any to get these removed. I have disputed every way I can think of but cannot get anyone to budge. I have also tried goodwill letters to no avail. Heres what I done so far: Consolidated loans in 4/2014 which closed out loans in question. Am currently on IBR plan with nelnet and current with my payments Disputed accounts as being obsolete as most were opened in 2004 and 2006. Always comes back verified. My issue with this is I know I did not pay one red cent until 2014. I went to school from 2003 to 2007 then again from 2009 to 2011. I never made a payment and was never in default during my repayment periods. My NSLDS says I had deferments (pics attached) but I did not make any payments just went back to school. The reason this is a issue for me is simple. If I would have been decalred in default sometime in 2007/2008 like I should these tradelines would drop off next year. Since the earliest reporting for these TL's are 2012 that means these negative entries will remain until 2019! I feel there way of helping me out by deferring payments and or not reporting earlier lates will cause the negative items to remain on my report for 16 years. My question since its clear I went into repayment years ago in late 2006 and never paid anything just went to school shouldnt some date back then be the FCRA compliance date for these accounts. Or do the deferments reset the account by bringing it to good standing even if no payment is made? My interpretation of FCRA 605 is adverse info supposed to fall off after 7 years from when it happened not when the creditor decideds to report you for it. If anyone can tell me when these will fall off my reports or how to proceed with disputing I would be much grateful. I asked Sallie Mae for a complete payment history and copy of all deferments as well and they said theyre records only go back to 2009 when they got the loan and to contact my previous servicer which has gone out of business. Thank you guys for your help pics attached upload an image upload gambar

Hi all, I'm 24 years old with student loan debt. I've got $20,000 worth of loans consolidated and another $17,000 of private loans from Sallie Mae that have gone into default as of July 31st. The debt collector has offered me a settlement of $9,600 but at the moment I cannot pay this. I have finally landed my first professional job where I'll be making $48,000 annually. However, I cannot pay the $9,600 at the moment and by the time I can save up that amount working it will be too late. My credit score is so bad from missing all of my payments that obtaining a line of credit to pay off the defaulted loan is next to impossible. I am trying to gather all of my options and have considered filling chapter 13 bankruptcy. If anyone could give me some advice on the situation I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you, Kyle

This is an exceptionally long story, even with me trying to cull unimportant details. If I end up leaving out anything pertinent, PLEASE ask me questions - this is urgent and the stakes are very high for me. I decided to cut all of the backstory, because while it may help mitigate the situation during my eval, I'd rather have the tough talk now. I have been referred for a position requiring a security clearance - Public Trust, Secret, or Top Secret depending on the location. I unfortunately don't know at this stage where I would be going, so I assume I have to plan as though I require Top Secret clearance. Also unfortunately, I just discovered that I have much larger problems with my credit than I knew. It is shameful that I have not checked my credit before now, but I received a collections notice for $164 without much info and immediately ordered a credit report. The $144 is the least of my worries - regarding Comcast charging me for cable equipment I returned - and I will happily / easily pay it to make the entry go away. I don't know if I have that ability for my big problem. I had been operating under the impression that my student loans had all been paid off out of my father's life insurance policy. It appears that only my Wells Fargo loans were paid off, and I still have one Direct federal loan and several Sallie Mae loans totaling over $80,000. They have all been charged off - since 2011, when the other loans were satisfied. I do not understand how this happened - though I have a fuzzy idea so far that makes me ill to think about - but I'm trying to focus on what options I have available to me now. As I understand it, security clearance doesn't require great credit and large debts are fine - as long as you are attempting / have a viable plan for getting it paid. Given the situation, I don't anticipate this being easy. I do not currently have a well paying job - I make less than $1600 per month and can really only afford about $500 per month in payments. The fact that the loans are with Sallie Mae is also unfortunate, because they don't appear to be known for setting up reasonable payment plans for folks who have been in default. I don't yet know if the loans are federally guaranteed or not, though possibly not because they've never garnished my wages. I will obviously be making a lot of phone calls Monday to figure out where I stand. Anyway, what options do I have available to me? What questions do I need to ask? I'll post tomorrow in the light of day with any details I think might be important, as well as the options I'm aware of now. I appreciate any help anyone can offer.

There are quite a few things on my credit report. I don't know where to start. I have a credit score of 510. I'm 25 years old and didn't have the income or knowledge for maintaining great credit. I now have the income ( I think) to fix my credit. I just don't know the 1st step. Someone please help. I'm sure I need to provide additional information. Thanks

Hi, In May I switched my federal student loans to IBR, but lately there have news reports about the "Pay as you earn" program. What is the difference between the two? Is one better than the other? Are they both forgiven after 20 years of payments? Thank you for your help!

Hello All! My student loans was paid through an offset of my tax refund this year. About 2 weeks before this happened, I was in contact with the CA & was set up for a rehab plan, and made the initial payment. The I received the letter that my loans were paid through the offset. I called the CA to see what needed to happen from there & the woman I talked to seemed really annoyed that that happened. At one point, she basically accused me of lying about the offset. I told her the amount of the offset & she told me that my balance was still almost $1500 (which was all fees from the collection agency) I called the US DOE & found out I still had a balance of $60.01 that I paid right there over the phone. The lady I spoke with told me that once I paid the $60.01, my balance was paid in full & I would owe the CA nothing. Then today I got a letter from the CA saying my balance is $5000 +. I'm really confused at this point. I'm scheduled to make the second payment in the rehab on June 1st. Obviously, if my balance is paid in full (according to one person) I don't want them touching my money. Any advice on what my next course of action should be? Thank you so much for any input!

Please visit IFAP for Direct Loan Interest Rates for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015: http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/051514IntRatesForDLFirstDisbBtwnJuly12014June302015.html

Sofi lending came up in a "customized" ad on credit score app. Rates seem fair enough. Anyone have any experience with consolidating private loans. Just curious as to what interest you were given. Also, if you have Sallie Mae loans, what is fair?

In Dec my credit score was a 467. Today my credit score is a 666 with no collections. I still have charge offs on my report which I am looking to rectify which the main one coming from SM. I owe $32,000 now from student loans and I have not made a payment on this account since 2010. They have not called in sometime, but called today and told me I should make a payment and start with the $1,400 I have in available credit on one of my cards. Ummm, thats a no no. They first offered $20,000, and I told them I was unemployed and unable to do so, they then said $12,000 was the least they can take. I offered $1k...then $3k (roughly ten percent to settle both loans) and the guy was very combative. Next I offered $4k and when he wouldn't even try to contact the lender, I pretty much ended the conversation. Because of the high balances, I have not been able to do much in apply for unsecured cards. The only things I have been approved since raising score was a Walmart and Amazon store cards. I also had to get a car loan which is not showing up on reports of as of yet. I tried to see if I could qualify for a Lending Club loan and it was "Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high" which I understand. Im unsure of the next steps, I just know that these charge off student loans I have need to be addressed.

Hi, Im still in school and my student loans- Which Originated with Wells fargo and has been transferred serveral times- Are currently listed with PAST DUE 90 days!! HOW CAN THIS BE? I need assistance on how to effectiviely dispute these past due items because they're having a negative effect on my scores. HELP

So I have 41,000 dollars in defaulted student loans. I have been under AWG since September 2013...they take out 15% of my net which comes out to 420.00 a month. I want to rehabilitate the student loans so I call TG (Texas Guaranteed) which is my CA and they tell me that I can't start the process for an entire year after I first had AWG. So that is the bad news because I want to start building my credit now. I have 8 separated student loans (per semester of college) and the TL's are killing my credit score. The good news is the person giving me this information told me that since I pay so much I will only have to pay $20.00 a month for 9 months on top of the $420 AWG. That shouldn't be hard, but the wait is going to kill me... My question is: Is there any possible way that this is incorrect information? Why does one have to wait an entire year after AWG started to start rehabilitation? Is there any way around this or am I stuck waiting?

I think I got the title wrong but I don't know how to edit it, it should read: First day of default being reported as first day of delinquency I have 3 loans with Department of Education, originally they were Direct Loans in 2007, now they are called Direct Stafford Subsidized. I have consolidated them last year, they show "paid collection" as of now. Also, these 3 loans share the same first day of delinquency since I never paid for them once they got out of forbearance initially (other than through tax offset). Now, the problem with the first day of delinquency. I am waiting for these loans to fall off this year and I found an error that will prolong them further than they must stay on. When I go to the nslds.ed.gov to view my loans, even the past paid ones, I can see detailed info of each loan. The details say REPAYMENT started on 7/2007 and then DEFAULTED 5/2008. However, on all credit reports it says that first day of delinquency is 5/2008. Correct me if I am wrong, but first day of delinquency is not equal to first day of default, right? Especially that non-educational institutions have 120 days before it becomes a default, I think. But here it is 270 days difference that pushed my hopes and dreams of having a clean report by another 9 months. Unbearable! I have already waited for a while... I can see that the first day of default was calculated correctly (see image below): Per Higher Education Act of 1965 Sec. 435(i) it says that the loan becomes in default after 270 days since non-payment, that is ~9 months. So, if the due date is on or about 07/2007 and the first day of delinquency would be 30 days late (I am reaching here), about on 08/2007, I'd say. Then add 9 months and you get about 05/2008. Sure, it is possible I fudge the numbers, let me know if I am, just my line of reasoning. If I am incorrect, please let me know. This is a screen show for one of the 3 loans, others are the same date wise, just $$$ differs. Point is, something is up and it might be affecting you too, do check! Instead of these negatives falling off this year, because of incorrect reporting it is being pushed up another 9 months for no good reason. I called Dept. of Edu. today, people I spoke to have said that they have no idea who is reporting it internally, evidently Direct Loans were distributed to many different sub-departments within the Dept. of Edu (once Direct Loans ceased to exist). However, the people I spoke to did see that the first day of delinquency is set at 5/2008 in the system, they don't care why or who set it. They are unwilling to change, say they cannot do that even if they wanted. All they could advise me was to stop tying their phone lines and start disputing this info with the credit agencies. So, I did with all 3 credit agencies, sent them all a fax with a letter, included my math (hope it is solid), and printouts from the website that show dates I am falling back to as my proof. Well, what are your thoughts on the subject?

I have at least 8 federal student loans that are reporting as charged off and picked up by another department (Those never go away...) It now shows what looks like duplicate accounts so I have 16 loans with the same account numbers- they are all for diff amounts however. Does anyone have experience with these and getting the neg info deleted? I want to consolidate them and pay just one monthly payment and have the old crap dropped.

I'm going back to college and I wanted to know if I put my lones in forbearance will that improve my credit score?

I'm not even sure of where to start with this. It's very shameful, and I never thought I'd get to this point. The fact of the matter is, is that I'm beyond lost on what to do here. I moved to Arkansas a couple years ago, and when I did, my credit score was around 650- not great, but not really bad, either. I was proud that I didn't have bad credit. Now, it's below 500. I'm 18k in debt- from verizon wireless, at&t u-verse, student loans, a local property management group (still owe money on a lease), paypal credit line, capital one credit card, and a Dell credit line, and my auto loan (I've actually done pretty good on that one), and completely in over my head. I have no idea on what I should do. Should I contact a debt consolidation company? Or claim bankruptcy? How do I know what is the best choice? Is there any kind of easy fix? I guess the worse part about all of this is, I don't have the money to pay them all what they want me to pay every month- we live in low-income housing, and i'm barely keeping up with my car payment. I'm so overwhelmed and lost. My fiance' and I dream of owning our own house one day, and getting our financial affairs in order, but I don't even know how to go about it. Someone, please help!

Hello! I have approximately $16,000 of student loan debt spread over five loans (all Sallie Mae). My credit report shows that I have 6 installment loans (5 SL's plus one auto loan). This is considered a negative according to my credit score tracker that I have with my Discover card. So my question is, will consolidating the student loans raise my credit score by decreasing the amount of open installment loans? I do not want to extend the loan length nor do I want to lower my total monthly payments, I'm strictly trying to raise my credit score as I'm preparing to buy a house next year. Thanks in advance for any opinions/advice!