Help, Credit Advice . Looking into refinancing a home ( CALIFORNIA)

[Anonymous]

Hello Everybody,

Well my name is Lily and I am here because I need advice on impoving my Credit Score. My parents are in DEBT and they are loosing our home the only hope we have is Refinancing, My father wants me to give it a try. I am the only one with a Decent Credit Score.

My Fico is 585.

The only problem is that i have credit card debt, i have never been late or missed any payments. the problem is that i have used more than my 30% on the cards.

I am carrying a balance on probably 10 cards.

Recently one of my dogs got sick and we couldnt affor the vet bill so i applied for several cards and i believe that had a negative impact on my credit.

can someone give me advice on how or what will help me  improve my credit.

Thank you very much.

BTW: My total debt is about: $7,000 (credit Cards) and i have an auto loan of ($19,000)

[Anonymous]

Do not take this the wrong way, but DO NOT DO THIS.  You taking on a 30 year note for your parents will not only affect your ability to get credit for the next 30 years, but will also make you responisble for the payment.  In most cases where people are having issues and need to refi that house to stay afloat, all it does is put off the inevevitable.  The credit debt, etc is still there.    On top of that, you would be puttin yourself at risk if they missed payments in the future or if something happened to them and you could not afford the payments.  If they have alot of other debt that is pulling them down then they need to either attempt to negoatiate with the creditors or talk to a BK attorney.  Any parent who would have too much pride to consider BK but would consider putting the debt on their kids has some serious issues that need to be addressed.

That said, if you are at 585, there is more than credit debt holding your score down.    MAybe if you had 10 cards all over their limits, but if you are running 30% or so utilization then it should not hold your score down into the 500's.  Again, if they are sitting at 95% then maybe.  Bottom line is that you are about 70 points or so shy of what it would take (and for a refi it may be 680..not sure.  depends on the type of loan, etc...)  Unless your utilization is really high, you are not going to gain 70 points by paying doen 30-40% utilization.  Are there any other baddies in your past, or is it just all the new accounts you think holding your score down?

In the end, co-signing or taking on someone else's debt is only something you do from a postion of  strength when you know you can afford to do so on your own and are in a position to fullfill the obligation and to keep on top of the obligation.  It is not something you do in a rash decision or when in a bad position yourself.  If your parents want to keep the home, they can file BK, protect the home, rework payment ont he old debt as well as any past due on the home.  If you really want to help them, kick a few $ per month extra to them to help them pay off the $ early and get back off their feet.  The calls stop, the charges stop right away, their credit will take a big hit, but start receovering pretty quickly, and you will not be legally tied up in the mess.

Jus tmy 2 cents but I think you will find pretty much the same advice from everyone here (or if you were to ask outside council of some sort)

[mauve]

I agree.  Do you have income to support those payments?  Are we talking about transferring ownership to you and you planning to pay the full note out of your salary?  You don't provide info about those which makes me suspect you don't have enough income to pay these expenses.  If you really are going to try to do this, you're going to need to 1) get those scores up, 2) be fully prepared to pay for the payments in full without relying on your parents to contribute and 3) not allowing them to guilt you into further dragging your credit down.

It sounds like you're desperate to help them out.  They have other options, whether or not they realize it.  Please do not sacrifice your future for their problems.