credit after BK not improving?

[Anonymous]

I'm new to this forum and glad I found it.  I am seriously confused!  I (and the DH) filed for BK and it was discharged (CH 7) just over 2 years ago.  I have gone through numerous steps of making sure my and DH info reports correctly to our credit.  I have been working my butt off for two years and our credit is not getting better!  My vehicle recently broke down and I thought an auto loan would be no problem - yeah right!  Now I am freaking because we were waiting for our 2 years to pass so we could get a mortgage.

Here is an overview...DH's credit was the real problem (had a CH 13 back in 2002, a repo, and numerous collections), My credit was in the low 600's but all of our credit was in my name and I was only 25 when we filed the CH 7 in 2005.  We reaffirmed 2 auto loans after the BK.  I opened 1 credit card w/ $1000. limit as a joint accnt w/DH.  ALL of my accounts (even b4 BK) show never late payments, paid off 2 student loans and 2 auto loans before the BK.  I recently had to get another auto loan, so now I have VERY NEW credit.  But when we went to get the auto loan we were flat turned away by the Ford dealership.  They could not get us approved w/ anyone.  I was shocked! 

Both my and DH current credit reports show no unpaid collections, no late pays, low balance on the credit card, but high installment debt. I should also mention the repo on DH credit is past 7 years and is no longer reporting.  What can I do to ensure a mortgage loan within the very near future?

Also, is there any way to get old collection accounts already paid in full removed from CR?  And would this help our scores?  I can't think of anything else to do!  Would I contact OC or CA?

[kilogram]

What are your FICO scores?

[Anonymous]

I actually haven't even looked at my or DH's scores yet.  I wasn't even concerned about the scores because I knew I was doing what I needed to do to improve our credit.  But that is the very next thing on my forever long to do list after the lastest blow.  I was trying to wait to see them when all the credit repair was done.  Now that I have done everything, I feel like a fool for not monitoring my score this entire time.  At least then I would have seen my hard work paying off (or known that it wasn't).

I can say that I used to work in the lending profession and based on the interrest rate of the new loan, I would guess my score is still in the low 600's.  I think the major problem is w/ the DH.  We had to get the auto loan w/me as the primary.  The problem there is that he has all the income and I'm guessing his score will pop up in the low 500's.

So now we want a mortgage loan, but I'm out of ideas to improve his credit.

I can say this also and it brings up a question I had forgotten about... I did get copies off all scores in 01/2007 and his scores then were 516 (Beacon), 536 (Empirica)  but his Fair Isaac was a big fat zero w/a memo stating "Unauthorized Score Request."

What would make this memo show without a score to a potential lender?

[Anonymous]

If the repo was only in DH's name have you considered just doing the car loan in your name?  Your scores may be higher and therefore you may be able to get a better rate. 

[Anonymous]

That's what I did.  The problem is we were planning on getting a mortgage this spring and he makes about 80% of our income.

[Anonymous]

To get a decent rate in today's credit world, you'll need a 720. Are you able to join a credit union? CU's will be your best option to improve your credit.

[Anonymous]

Have you considered an FHA loan?  They don't look at credit scores.

[Creditaddict]

you need more credit to build better history, 1 credit card is to easy to be over 9% util. which will bring your score down.  The new auto will help, but get about 2 or 3 more credit cards.

[Anonymous]

More positive tradelines. Get 10 cards if you want but live within your means. More credit is better. More credit doesn't mean more debt.