General Credit Topics topics

Pay off debt, or buy a home outright?

thedaveytrain — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:33:38 GMT

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I am currently selling my home in Southern California, and moving to Portland, OR, where housing prices are much cheaper. I have been an out-of-work teacher for about three years, and I have accumulated approximately $50K in credit card debt over the past few years. I will likely net enough on the sale of my house to either buy a house or condo in Portland, outright, and put about $20K in the bank to live on until I find a job, or pay off all of my credit card debt and put about $30K in the bank. I'm 99.9% sure I will stay in Portland for at least a few years, and I'm looking at foreclosures, which will likely increase more in value than conventional sales. If I rent, it'd cost about $700-800 per month, and if I buy a condo I'll have HOA fees of around $200-300. I know I could always mortgage the new place down the road and pay off debt, or enroll in a debt counseling service, but I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to buy a home outright, and that is kinda exciting. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Negative Impact

magdiel1975 — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:56:55 GMT

Hi..

I recently applied for a credit limit increase for my creditcard and at first it was denied..but then I called back a few days later and after further review my request was approved. My questions are...

What happens to my credit score after something like this?

Will the first "declined" affect my credit score even though it was then approved?

Thanks for your input.

First Premier Contacts

llecs — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:22:43 GMT

Moved to Rebuilding Your Credit

Preventing identity theft

SFernandez13461 — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:45:18 GMT

I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, so I apologize if it's not.

I recently made the mistake of trying to reconnect with my half-sister who has been imprisoned for most of my life, mostly for drug-related charges. I was hoping she had decided to turn her life around, but quickly found that wasn't the case.

Throughout the one afternoon I spent with her she was asking me to let her use my name to get a job because it's difficult for her to find employment, and I said absolutely not. As the day progressed there was more trouble and I had to sever ties with her, and now I'm concerned she may try to steal my identity.

Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening? I've worked hard to rebuild my credit and I'm well on my way to doing so. I hate to think someone else might come in and destroy it all over again. I can't begin to think what kind of a mess she might make for me if it becomes a tax issue as well. I'm self-employed, so my taxes are bad enough when everything's straight.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

"Correct" number of open accounts?

vn25 — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:56:31 GMT

I was looking though my Credit Karma and the only negative factor according to them was my open accounts, they gave me an F.

I have 4 CC's and an auto lease. CSP, two chase freedom, and a costco card are my cards. One of the freedoms and the costco amex I am authorized user not owner.

AAoA is 93 months.

No baddies, late payments, etc. 1 HP.

So, should I lower my AAoA and go apply for some stuff? I really don't want or need more cards but if it helps my credit score along I do have a spare sock drawer i can fill with new cards. What do you guys think?

Using the Middle score for a Mortgage

llecs — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:22:33 GMT

Moved to Mortgage Loans

Credit score for $6K Loan???

goldencredit — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:31:01 GMT

Hey Everyone:

I'm hoping to get approved for a $6,000 loan unsecured personal loan. My equifax fico score is a 700. Sorry if this is a silly question, but does anyone know the credit score needed for such a loan? This is my first personal loan....and I'm hoping to borrow it from a credit union. Any feedback at all would be great, thanks!

Recent Collections Question, help!

webhopper — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:51:10 GMT

Moved to Rebuilding Your Credit Forum

Walmart FICO.. 620 but question

bobbyburns34 — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:45:40 GMT

says key factors affecting my score...

1. You have a public record or a collection on your credit report.

2.ou have relatively few accounts that are in good standing.

are these true?...

how do i check? i dont think i have anything i never paid. i remember i checked my score somewhere a year ago and it said i have nothing against me and i have no history since i had no cards..

im scared :(

Credit Sesame

HYPASS33 — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:08:06 GMT

Is this a safe site to be giving SS# out on. Anyone use it?

Im at a crossroads!What should I do now??? Pls HELP!!!!

trugem — Sun, 19 May 2013 17:59:41 GMT

Let me start by saying without the advice and help from everybody on here I wouldnt be where I am!!! Thank you so much!!!

I need advice pls... for the last 4 years Ive worked diligently on building my credit. started out with secure cards etc. At the present time I have a BOA visa signiture with a 10000 cl with a 0 balance and a chase freedom with a 3000 cl with a 0 balance. I use the cards for gas groceries and pay them off the next day. the pay off for my auto loan is 6900 at 261 per month at 6.7% and 27 payments left. I have equity in the bc I put 10000 down & carefully chose an acura bc of its resell value. Im trying to save money for a house downpayment while working towards the best credit score possible. I started out at 510 and now at 730. no baddies or lates at all. Im hesitant on doubling up on payments bc I realize the length of accounts are important. Im even considering paying off the car and selling it for kbb value putting 10000 towards a house (while the market is buyer friendly) and making a downpayment for another car since my credit is better than when I bought it, Id get a better rate.. The car is worth 17500 So what should be my next move?

I work hard and make sure I live within my means, Granted I see other women my age (40 in june) with there 300 handbags etc.. but Im 80% debt free. not many can say that. Id rather do without than to settle or live in debt

Doas a Cease and Dieses stop them from talking if YOU call?

Creditaddict — Sun, 19 May 2013 15:46:05 GMT

I know a Cease and Dieses makes it so they can't call you about payments and have to mail things but if you call into them can they still not discuss the account with you because of the dieses or wouldn't you be waiving it because you are doing the calling? Would you have to remove the cease and dieses to work with them?

To save or not to save?

MostlyCloudy — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:53:44 GMT

Ok so for starters, I am not in a critical situation here, I'm just becoming more financially savvy in my older age and plain ole dont like the idea of wasting money anymore. That being said, here's the situation:

I bought a car for 40k a couple of years ago. I currently owe 30k, and the car is worth 27k private party at best. So I'm a little upside down. My monthly payment is $520. I'm not really fond of this anymore, and feel I would rather have less car and more money. The question is, am I really saving that much?

I am interested in purchasing a used car for 15k, or apporixmately half of what I owe. However to roll the negative equity into this purchase would of course keep me upside-down. My montly payment is projected to drop to $350 if I do this. Not too shappy, $170/month savings aint bad, plus there will also be fuel/insurance/maintenance savings with such a cheaper car. I'm still upside-down, but at least my payments are more manageable.

The real question here is, WOULD YOU DO THIS???

I am still in love with my current car. It's a fully loaded Mustang with all the bells and whistles, and just plain ole fun to drive. Even my wife doesnt want me to sell it because it's so beautiful. I'll have it paid off in 5 years, and what a helluva car it will be to have with no payment. But I'll also be $10,000 poorer than I could be if I bought an alternative car instead. Of course thats $10,000 spread across 5 years, or $2,000 per year in savings. Thats a fully paid vacation every year no doubt. $10,000 is also my full line of credit completely paid off. It sure would be nice to not only escape from car debt in 5 years, but also escape from credit debt as well. I'd be virtually debt free from 2 sources at the same time!

So I ask again, WOULD YOU DO THIS???

I know this is an awfully subjective question to ask, and requires oh so many details as to my personal finances and so forth. I mean how the heck are you guys supposed to know if I need the money or not. Some of you may be doctors and the others pizza delivery guys. $10,000 to one person is $1000 to the next. But, just in general, do we like the idea of my "being smart" and dumping the sports car for the Prius (my replacement car of choice lol, talk about a change of pace), or am I perhaps being a bit too frugal here and maybe keeping the dream car and being happy with it after it's paid off might be a better expenditure of my resources?

/stuck in a dilemma

how long will 30 day late stay on my CR

ezdoesit — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:44:51 GMT

I had multiple 30 day lates with Ford Motor Credit. Sept. 2006 - Feb. 2007 all consecutive. I accidentally missed a payment I didn't realize it so I continued to pay late based on my initial late payment. Question is when does those come off my report Sept. 2013 DOFD or Feb 2014.

DTI?

NiNoMArksLA — Sat, 18 May 2013 06:43:50 GMT

Hello I see on alot of credit sites that everybody ask's how's your Debt To Income Ratio What's That Mean??

Any general advice?

Darksyde25 — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:24:10 GMT

Soo...I decided to join the forums. I need MAJOR credit help.

First of all, I have terrible credit scores (and I always make them worse with inquiries). At the moment I have a mortgage loan, car loan, and way too many CapOne credit cards. (Platinum VISA, Platinum MC Rewards, BestBuy MC(from HSBC), Household (from HSBC), and SonyCard) and one Barclay Rewards for Avg Credit)

Im pretty sure I have roughly 20+ inquiries on my report right now on TU (6 were from obtaining a car loan last year)

I have a bunch of late payments (some on the mortgage, some from old car loans (paid + closed), none from CCs however) I have gotten better on paying them on time, new car payment has no lates, its tough sometimes my wife doesnt really work (some subbing) because shes working on her Masters for teaching, and my income isn't that great.

I have some old accounts that went to collections, one was BoA that Cach LLC has now (think this will hit SOL next month), one was Merrick charge-off (TU shows scheduled to drop off 4/2014), and also a judgement which was paid and TU shows a drop off date of early next yr.

All of my credit cards except SonyCard and Barclay have $500 limits (typical CapOne it seems) and are at probably 85% util... Sony is $750, and Barclay $1300. neither have balances... Both of which I just got approved for which crappy credit scores somehow.

I want to get my credit score to 700 and then higher as quick as possible. is it possible and what do I need to do? I'd like to have much better cards and get rid of my CapOne cards sometime (would like a SW Air Chase, better limits etc)

I feel like I'll never get anywhere, but I know...STOP APPLYING! done!

Pay For Deletion Over The Phone (Rerecorded Convo)

llecs — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:17:22 GMT

Moved to Rebuilding Your Credit

Thinking of credit monitoring service

ashtray91 — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:59:01 GMT

I'm thinking of signing up for a service that will monitor my credit report, but not sure which one to choose. I was wondering if anyone had any personal experience with any of them. Thank you for your help!

Advice on which to pay down first...

zeusta20 — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:12:17 GMT

I just recently got approved for an auto loan and I wanted to pay it down sooner than my 60 month term. I have about 6k dollars in credit card debt. (using about 27% of my UTL).

Should I make extra payments to pay down my car or would it be a better idea to shift those extra payments to pay off my credit cards sooner?

trustedid.com???

eagles08 — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:52:50 GMT

I want a service where I can view an updated report from all 3 bureaus daily! I don't care a lot about a score but I just want to see my up to date report and all my HP and SP and I'm very interested in these. Who's pulling and when. Does anyone know about trustedid.com? Is it any good and offer the aforementioned services? They have somethin about essentials I'd services but it all seems like the services I want for a decent price. Any idea about trustedid.com or have suggestions about different services? I appreciate any advice.