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project94
New Member

credit questions

Alright i'm 24 years old and i've screwed up my credit and would like to bring my score up because i would like to buy a home in the next year. Credit scores are trans-558 equifax-521 experian-554. i had 3 credit cards 1 through my credit union $1000 limit with a couple late payments, no balance on this account at this time. also have a car loan through this credit union with a remaining balance of $7200. which shows no late payments. My other two cards are bank of america visa's, one with a balance of $7000 and the other is $3000 both show multiple late payments. Bank of america is who i bank through. I recently paid off the $3000 card and have just started paying $1000 every two weeks on the $7000 card so i can hopefull pay this one off within the next couple months. Basically i'm just wondering where i should start to try and rebuild my credit. i'm new to this but maybe gw letters?? any help is greatly appreciated.
Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
Boswd
Valued Contributor

Re: credit questions

yes goodwill letters are always worth a shot.   But you are heading in the right direction.   Getting the balances down on your credit card, have your main goal be between 0-10% Utilization on them.  There you'll see a nice bump in  score.
 
Also things to work on and/or keep up is keeping your nose clean.   Make sure all your bills this includes ALL your bills ( Utlitly, cell phone etc.)  are up to date and current.  Lower your Debt to Income Ratio where possible. Don't apply for any unneccsary credit during this time.  Make sure your checking account remains spotless    Build up your reserves, savings, checking, IRA and/or 401K and build up your down payment funds.  
 
All this will go along way towards approval.   Remember your score is only one aspect of the mortgage process,  they take everything into account, so keep everything current
Message 2 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: credit questions

Looks to me that your biggest negatives are payment history and possibly utilization.You are making good progress paying down your debt.First off get updated copies of all three of your credit reports. For the late payments,I would suggest some good will letters to someone high up the chain of command. I would also think about adding one or two accounts to offset the bad. A good way would be a secured card thru that credit union you mentioned.
Message 3 of 6
SmartCookie
Valued Contributor

Re: credit questions

Welcome aboard!
 
Make sure you know that when the scores count for anything... only FICOs matter not FAKOs that you might get from other sites.
 
For open accounts try calling and asking for GW before you write a letter.  Sometimes it's as easy as that, especially with lesser lates.  The credit union might be easy to do this with.
 
If you have any closed accounts with balances, once you've paid them in full you've lost most leverage with GW.   Try for GW before that point, and consider a PFD once the balance is manageable if deletion of that TL would benefit more than keeping it on with derogs.  Oddly enough sometimes a bad account is helping you more than hindering you.
 
Keep the car loan pristine... that is one of the harder things to GW.
 
Once you have paid the cc's off keep them all reporting by using them 2-4x a year.  Try to only keep any regular balances on 2 and aim to keep under 10% UTI reporting.
 
Any cards you do have now you can call up and as them if they can consider you for a CLI without a hard pull.  If so, grab it.
EQ 787 EX 781 TU 737 11/17/07 *** I am not an attorney. If I was, I might not clip coupons. If you want legal advice, consult an attorney. If you want my personal opinion, feel free to consider my posts***
Message 4 of 6
project94
New Member

Re: credit questions

thanks for the advice everybody. i have a couple more questions though. Someone said to call the creditor instead of writing a goodwill letter. Should i just ask if they can remove the late payments from the record?? another thing how often is it ok to check status of your credit?? does it affect your credit if you do? how long does it take to show progress, as i said i paid off one card about a week ago, is it too soon to show on my score? again thanks for any help!
Message 5 of 6
Boswd
Valued Contributor

Re: credit questions

By you checking your score even daily doesn't affect it, they are considered soft pulls not hard pulls.
 
How quickly your reports updates depends on how quickly your creditor's report to them in order to see progress. 
 
It may be too soon for your score to reflect your latest paid off credit card but again that depends on when your creditor reports each month.   If they report let's say today, then by as early as next week you may see the change.
Message 6 of 6
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