Collections- Still confused on Mortg. Qualication

[Anonymous]

I am still a bit confused, and the more I read, the more confused I think I become. I am hopeful, somewhere along the way, stuff will start to sink in.

My husband and I have been working on our credit for a few months now. Hoping to purchase a home in about a year. We have good income (over six figures combined w/job stability) and will be able to have atleast 5-10% saved for a down payment in one year.

The problem, is our credit. When my husband lost his job in 2005 all hell broke loose. I was a stay at home mom, that had to go back to work, but was unable to make much money. When my husband lost his job again in 2007, all hell broke loose again. We are riddled with collections, many small $$ medical collections.

I started to payoff a cpl of them, but stopped after I read that would be harmful to our credit instead of helping.  They are from 2007-2008 as we struggled to stay afloat.

I have a few CC charge offs too.

So~ I am working on PFD's or complete removals, but of course, easier said than done.  If I am unsuccessful, and these remain on my report, what are my options?

Do I have to wait till they fall off?  I also read that medical collections are not looked at when applying for a loan, is that true?  I had also heard that FHA won't look at collections at all over 2 years, paid or unpaid.True, or no?

Does USDA have the same credit guidelines?

ANY help is appreciated. I hope this didn't come across too confusing...

[beb86]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I am still a bit confused, and the more I read, the more confused I think I become. I am hopeful, somewhere along the way, stuff will start to sink in.

My husband and I have been working on our credit for a few months now. Hoping to purchase a home in about a year. We have good income (over six figures combined w/job stability) and will be able to have atleast 5-10% saved for a down payment in one year.

The problem, is our credit. When my husband lost his job in 2005 all hell broke loose. I was a stay at home mom, that had to go back to work, but was unable to make much money. When my husband lost his job again in 2007, all hell broke loose again. We are riddled with collections, many small $$ medical collections.

I started to payoff a cpl of them, but stopped after I read that would be harmful to our credit instead of helping.  They are from 2007-2008 as we struggled to stay afloat.  I dont see how paying them would be harmful I mean try for a PFD but depending on how large they are you may have to have them paid to obtain a mortgage

I have a few CC charge offs too. this is probably a deal breaker for a mortgage 

So~ I am working on PFD's or complete removals, but of course, easier said than done.  If I am unsuccessful, and these remain on my report, what are my options? the will want to see at least 12 months of clean history 

Do I have to wait till they fall off?  I also read that medical collections are not looked at when applying for a loan, is that true?  I had also heard that FHA won't look at collections at all over 2 years, paid or unpaid.True, or no? for med collections start the HIPPA process

Does USDA have the same credit guidelines?

ANY help is appreciated. I hope this didn't come across too confusing...

---

hope this helps

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for responding!

To clarify, I still have a couple ?:

1. So I need the CC Charge offs to be removed before a mortgage? I have 3, they fall of in 1-2 years. ($500  $1500)

2. Do collection accounts over two years old need paid for FHA or USDA?

3. Positive tradelines:  We have never been late on anything since 2009. Rent is always on time (and we pay by check), but they don't report. I have  secured CC (had for 3 months), and I have an auto loan , 18 month loan, paid on time for 9 months so far. Does these three count as positive tradelines, even the rent which doesn't report?

[Shogun]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you so much for responding!

To clarify, I still have a couple ?:

1. So I need the CC Charge offs to be removed before a mortgage? I have 3, they fall of in 1-2 years. ($500  $1500)

 Those will probably need to be paid.  Try for PFDs, if not, pay them and then start sending GWs.

2. Do collection accounts over two years old need paid for FHA or USDA?

 My suggestion is to pay them now.  That way it's not a big rush to do everything when apping for the mortgage.

3. Positive tradelines:  We have never been late on anything since 2009. Rent is always on time (and we pay by check), but they don't report. I have  secured CC (had for 3 months), and I have an auto loan , 18 month loan, paid on time for 9 months so far. Does these three count as positive tradelines, even the rent which doesn't report?The rent isn't reporting, but that's not a bad thing.  Just keep paying everything on time.  What do your scores look like now?  You might want to get another revolving account since you say it'll be a year or so before apping.  You don't want any new credit 6 months before your mortgage.

---