Can we refinance?

[Anonymous]

Okay, so we took on a TERRIBLE loan in February. Lousy rate (16.95 I think), and overpaid for car as well as rolled over negative equity on our trade. Looks like we owe about 7,000 more than the care is worth on Trade-In (I don't know which value is looked at for ReFi). DH scores are about 660, mine are lower, 636, 641, and 581 for TU (I don't understand why my TU is so low. Anyway, I was wondering if it's possible to ReFi with these scores, and the negative equity. Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

Have you pulled your MyFico report?

There should be a section "What your scores mean to you" where you can see what rates can be expected with your scores. If there is a big difference, then you're probably better off refinancing.

I have a 13.95% loan with Cap 1 since 2006. My score then was in the low 600's. I am waiting to get my scores up to the 700s to either trade in for a new car or re-fi. I've been getting re-fi letters every week since the start of the year and the most deductions was about 2%, which is around $20/month so it isn't much. If my score goes up to 700's say 720, I could probably get a better rate or even 0% if I trade in for a new car at the end of the year. If I re-fi now, my scores will be lowered and my goal of 700's will be further away.

[Anonymous]

You need to double/Triple up on payments and get your balance down.  This will get your trade-in value more inline.  It should also improve credit scores as this could take as long as a year or more.  Refinancing is not the answer here.  CASH,CASH,CASH.