Credit Repair Help

[RemzRR]

I am a noob and trying to buy a house in 3 weeks.Please help with any and all tips to help me jump 100 points. Just kidding disregard last sentence lol. I am 30 and just got a new permanent position making some good money. Wanted to invest, buy a home, finance a new car in the immediate future. Before i do any of this i am planning to pay off my debt and increase my credit score.I realize i will get raped in interest for buying a home or financing a new car etc. My tools at the moment are credit karma. My friend pays 1-2k to increase his credit buy outsourcing the work to a law firm. I thought this was foolish since u can do the work yourself. TU score is 607 and EX is 604 .Debt is 20k Student loan/ 8k Car loan/3 credit cards and one defaulted loan i am paying off. I will be planning on financing a macbook pro very soon and going the recon route if i get declined by barclays but other than that no big purchases lined up. If u cant get financed i will buy it cash. No bankrupties or foreclosures on my credit history. A barclayd hard inquiry in the past yr if i can recall i was trying to apply for a Best Buy Card.My credit balances have always been low which i never understood. $300 cl for my macys card, $500 for my bank of america which was previously a secured credit card and my highest is a $1500 cl thru capital one which recently got upgraded from $500. I plan on paying off my debt all 20k worth in a year. The normal method of paying off debt and keeping a good history seems like forever. I notice maybe 5-20 points in a year. Any tips in guiding me in the right direction or starting off i should say

[breeze]

^

[tweak]

Welcome!

 

The first step is to order your official credit reports.

The best way is to call these automated numbers: EX 888-397-3742, EQ 800-997-2493, TU 800-888-4213

Buy the reports only ($11/ea) - do NOT buy the scores or other products.

 

If you don't think you will dispute the defaulted loan,

it is fine to get your free official reports from annualcreditreport.com

 

Don't worry about your scores yet.

But Credit Karma scores are not used by any lender - we call them FAKO scores.

 

 

1) What are your current credit cards?

- List CardName, Date opened, balance, credit limit

2) What is the defaulted loan?

Was it charged off?

When did you default?

How much do you owe on it?

 

The best things you can do are:

- Keep paying everything on time -- never be late.

- Pay down your current credit cards to $0 as fast as you can afford to.

- After they are paid off, starting paying each month BEFORE the statement cuts, so they report $0 on each statement.

FICO scores will reward you for that.

 

It is more important for your FICO scores to pay your credit cards off first, rather than to pay your loans off early. (Just keep the loans current and on time.)

 

 

Good luck!

[RemzRR]

alright I will get started. Got overly excited and decided to sign up for the Barcalys/Apple card and would do the recon. Declined online and declined by a creditor. Damn only thing he could told me was he wanted to see some new line of credit after the recent charge off. Said something about long term history of a yr of good payments. Implying that I would need to call back in a year pfft.

[RemzRR]

Bank of America

Opened 9-28-2007

Balance $0

Credit Limit $500

 

Capital One

Opened 12-15-2012

Balance $1402 (this will be paid off in 3-4 weeks)

Credit Limit $1,500

Credit Utilization 93.47%

 

Macys

Opened 2-18-12

Balance $0

Credit Limit $100 (If you dont use it then they reduce it, Should I close ?)

[RemzRR]

Defaulted Loan

Fairwinds Credit Union

Unsecured Loan

Opened 4-19-2013

Balance 1080 ( Should be paid off in 3-4 Weeks)

Charged Off Yes

 

Are those phone numbers to order reports open 24/7 ?

[RemzRR]

how late are those phone numbers open till ?

[tweak]

Are those phone numbers to order reports open 24/7 ?

 

Yes - 24/7.

Automated.

[tweak]

Defaulted Loan

Fairwinds Credit Union

Unsecured Loan

Opened 4-19-2013

Balance 1080 ( Should be paid off in 3-4 Weeks)

Charged Off Yes

 

This is very recent.

Unfortunately, the charge-off will continue to hurt you (even after it is paid off).

It is allowed to report for 7 years after Date of First Delinquency (DoFD).

 

Do you still have a relationship with this CU?

(e.g. a checking account, or anything else)

[tweak]

Bank of America

Opened 9-28-2007

Balance $0

Credit Limit $500

 

Capital One

Opened 12-15-2012

Balance $1402 (this will be paid off in 3-4 weeks)

Credit Limit $1,500

Credit Utilization 93.47%

 

Macys

Opened 2-18-12

Balance $0

Credit Limit $100 (If you dont use it then they reduce it, Should I close ?)

 

Keep the Macy's account open.

 

Wait until everything (Cap1 and charged-off loan) is paid off in 3-4 weeks,

and both have reported to the credit bureaus (CRAs) as $0 balance.

 

After you pay off Capital One, call the Executive Office (EO) and ask for a credit line increase (CLI).

Ask for a $3000 limit.

EO: 800-955-1455

 

After those two are paid and have reported,

ask BOA for a CLI.

 

Hopefully others can advise you on BOA.

 

After you get your reports and know more about the charged-off loan,

we can advise you better on when you might want to apply for new credit, and what you might get approved for.

[RemzRR]

When calling those numbers shoulf i also order credit scores since credit karma uses another scoring model??

[tweak]

When calling those numbers shoulf i also order credit scores since credit karma uses another scoring model??

 

NO.

 

The scores they sell are meaningless FAKO scores (just like Credit Karma). No lender uses them for credit decisions.

 

Just buy the reports - you can worry about scores later.

 

The first step is to order your official credit reports.

The best way is to call these automated numbers: EX 888-397-3742, EQ 800-997-2493, TU 800-888-4213

Buy the reports only ($11/ea) - do NOT buy the scores or other products.

Edited May 20, 2015 by tweak

[RemzRR]

Still a relationship with Fairwinds as in they havent sold the debt to a third party because i promised to pay but not checking accounts/savings with them

[RemzRR]

Ok thanx wont order the credit scores then. Is it possible to dispute the charge off after paying it. Or are disputes just meant to remove incorrect items??

[tweak]

Still a relationship with Fairwinds as in they havent sold the debt to a third party because i promised to pay but not checking accounts/savings with them

 

Okay.

 

I can't give you a solid answer until later - when you see how this charged off loan is reporting

and have the DoFD and date of CO.

 

Probably your best bet will be to ask for goodwill (GW) after it is paid off. This is because it is very recent, the CU will have good records, but you will have paid them in full.

 

The reason I asked if you had a current relationship is that the CU might be more receptive to help you out (GW) if you are a current customer (checking or something like that).

But do NOT open any account with them (if you even want to try this) until after your loan is paid in full -- otherwise they might drain your money out of the new account.

 

You _might_ be able to dispute the CO -- but wait until after it is paid and after you tell us how it appears on your credit reports (after you receive them).

However, the CU probably has good records, and COs are very hard to get deleted with a dispute.

 

You can still build credit with a paid charge-off reporting, but it will be harder, and you might get denied for new accounts for awhile (until the CO is a couple of years old).

Of course it would be ideal to get rid of this charge-off if possible.

[RemzRR]

Damn if thats the case ill make sure to pay it off this month before they report the next month meaning in 2 weeks not sure of their cycle

[RemzRR]

Would it be best in the meantime to get a secured credit card for about 500 minimum as well in the meantime which wont affect with my schedule of paying off Cap1 and CU??

[tweak]

Let us know when you receive your credit reports.

 

I don't think you need a secured card.

 

Pay off your Cap1 card and the charged-off loan (as you planned to do).

 

Then figure out when both of these have reported $0 balances to the CRAs.

Most creditors report on the same day each month -- usually the statement date.

When you receive your credit reports, you can look at the "date updated" for each account, and compare that to the statement date for each.

You might be able to tell when they have reported by looking at Credit Karma.

If not, we can give you tips to check and see if they have reported to EX, TU, and EQ yet.

 

After you have verified that they have reported $0 to all 3 CRAs,

ask for the CLIs from Cap1 and BOA.

Edited May 20, 2015 by tweak

[RemzRR]

Thank much appreciated. If i only knew about this site sooner. How good are those law firms/credit builders ? $1200 upfront and $100 a month. Jus curious and would never sign up for these since you can do what they are doing jus the same.My friend was excited after paying this and jumping 15 points after a few months.....

Edited May 20, 2015 by RemzRR

[tweak]

Thank much appreciated. If i only knew about this site sooner. How good are those law firms/credit builders ? $1200 upfront and $100 a month. Jus curious and would never sign up for these since you can do what they are doing jus the same.My friend was excited after paying this and jumping 15 points after a few months.....

 

Happy to help.

 

Those law firms don't get much love on this site.

You can do a better job yourself. anyway.

Usually they just send off blanket disputes willy-nilly, and the low-hanging fruit falls off.

But then the sticky negatives become much harder to get rid of.

Sometimes those firms do more harm than good.

 

In your case, you only have one negative to deal with.

And you've come to the right place!

[RemzRR]

Got 2/3 credit reports in hand...

Edited May 23, 2015 by RemzRR

[RemzRR]

I have the Experian coming thru in the mail and the other two were grabbed online via annualcreditreports.com which the 2nd number redirected me to.The FCU is being reported as a chargeoff. I have 3 weeks to pay this off and move on to the next

[RemzRR]

i am paying the charge off tomorrow. I called into the collections department and the rep said it will be marked as Paid In Full....is this what i am looking for?

[AnnMichele]

I think a PFD would be better.

[tweak]

i am paying the charge off tomorrow. I called into the collections department and the rep said it will be marked as Paid In Full....is this what i am looking for?

 

 

I think a PFD would be better.

 

A delete would be great if they'll do it.

But the OP has already been paying on a recently charged off loan.

 

For now, the best you can likely get for now is paid in full and a $0 balance.

You could always ask if they'll delete it from your credit reports.

 

Later on, you can either try goodwill (GW) or attacking the credit reporting (and hoping there are errors or they don't respond because they already have their money).

Cross that bridge later.