Bad credit.

[lsjohns00]

Hello all,

I am currently trying to rebuild my credit file with credit scores in the 400s. I know most of it is due to collections and payment history. Is there anything that I can do to turn this around in the next year or so? I am a little ashamed because I knew I was digging a hole for myself.

[drvbasic]

Hi, I am in the same boat as you...my credit is horrible. I have been calling Customer Service and trying to get them to remove old lates...on some companies it works on others it doesnt. One thing i learned is that first get whatever accounts that are late make them current and then try and fight for the lates to come off...it is easier to get lates off when you have made a couple of payments or your balance is decreased or you make a big payment and say that you are trying to fix your credit and give them some type of story why all this happened and that you are really responsible and if they can help by removing the lates to help you rebuild credit...this normally works with CSR who are in the US - not too much with the foreign ones.

Also pull your credit reports so you know exactly what to fight. GW and PFD seems to work for alot of people. That is what I am going to be trying next. And remember make payments on time even if it is a minimum payment...first work on getting some positive payment history and then worry about bring your debt down...outstanding debt is one thing and it is always good to have your utilization low but it is kind of irrelevant when you have 90 day lates.

Good luck

[lsjohns00]

Thank you for your response. I recently relocated and sold my house so I hope that doesn't hurt me. I also paid down my one credit card and caught up on all my revolving accounts. I hope this helps me. By the way what does GW stand for? Thanks again.

Lsjohns00

[drvbasic]

GW- Goodwill

PFD - Pay for Delete

If you search the forum you will find some really good information about both. I have to try and GW about 70 baddies hehe

[Anonymous]

First, what state are you in and what state were the debts incurred in?

It would help it you could post the deails of each account (collection, lates, etc) - then we can all chime in with our best course of action.