NFCU and mortgage questions

[Skye12329]

So the husband and I are trying to buy a home next year. We were doing good on not applying for anything but long story short we had exhaust resources on a family member so our scores plummeted due to high utilization. We currently have perfect payment history but sadly might take a 30 day late on one card on his credit because we can't afford the payment so we tried applying for a small loan to cover the payment but both my credit union and one main financial denied it due to the utilization.

Our scores are in the low 600s due to this utilization like mine are 600-614 across the board and his now are 600-642 across. Transunion being our highest. BTW ignore the cards in my signature they are closed and we only have a few cards not listed.

My questions are:
1. Should I apply for NFCU membership? We were trying to avoid any more inquires but i will explain.

2. Our card payment that will hit the 30 day is due on the 12th figured it might be a shot to apply for a product and do a BT or a small loan to avoid the hit. We could have the loan paid in a few months.

3. Do they do first time buyers mortgages if so would someone recommend them over like bell mortgage or summit which is local here and specified in mortgages. Because we would need a 640-650 midscore currently to qualify according to bell and summit which seems possible by next year for us.

4. If I applied for a card or something and the membership to try and prevent the 30 day and maybe attempt to improve our scores. Would it do more harm than good when we apply next year? I already took 1 inquiry this month on TU from my CU for the attempt at a loan. I have about 20-30 inquires currently BUT that's because most of those are car shopping. Long story why I let the dealership pull. Still salty about it but I learned my mistake.

[Anonymous]

I can't answer your other questions, but I am a member of NFCU so I can tell you about that part. 

When joining NFCU, they will do a hard inquiry on your Transunion for membership. Even if you apply for the BT the same day, they will do another hard inquiry for that. Some people are noticing that for some products, NFCU is now pulling Experian reports. 

I applied for a secured card through NFCU back in March, and they pulled my Transunion and Equifax for the card even though it's secured. 

[Anonymous]

Not ideal but can you take a cash advance on one of your other cards to pay the minimum payment on the card you're in jeapardy of going 30 days late on?

It's basically rearranging your debt, and isn't close to being a great idea, but it'll give you a few weeks of breathing room to figure stuff out. 

It might help if you list the cards you have and the balance/limit for them.  others that are smarter than me might be able to offer up a much better idea. Also, asking in the rebuilding forum would probably offer more ideas for the credit card.

Good luck

[Skye12329]

A cash advance currently because everything is used due to my sister being in and out of the hospital. We exhausted everything since we are her guardians but here's our current lineup:

Affinity FCU - 7400/7500 - joint
BOA - 500/500 - me
CareCredit - 0/500 - me

Amex gold - 2000 - issue here - husband
Amex silver - 300/500 - husband
Costco - 2000/2000

Yes I know it was stupid doing this but I had to do anything I could for her. Usually we can do 2k a month but this was a wrench thrown into our plan and we had the money to pay the card but life happened. It would be his first late ever so I'm wondering if this would ruin all chances for a home?

[Anonymous]

What's the payment amount that's due?

Can you liquidate, sell, pawn or otherwise get rid of something you own to cover it?

Your sister's medical debt might have been better off to arrange payments on rather than put it on credit.  Almost all hospitals will accept payment arrangements within the affordability range of the person responsible for them.  Recently (2016) had a friend with a $25,000 hospital bill and I told them to work out arrangements rather than max out his credit.  They told him $50 a week is the minimum they'd accept.  He's paying $400 a month.

[Anonymous]

I think when thinking about a mortgage, avoiding the late payment is the most important thing. 

I'm just in the researching phase and planning on buying a house this summer, but everything I read said you couldn't have late payments within a year or so.  That may not be 100% true though. 

What is the minimum payment due? If you can qualify for Paypal credit you can possibly send money to your husband or vice versa.  It's a hidden tradeline which means although the inquiry hits your credit the actual account doesn't and if qualified you can use it immediately. 

Just tossing out ideas.  There doesn't seem to be any great fixes, so basically you're just looking to do whatever you can to avoid the late payment.

[Skye12329]

We are trying to pawn and sell things. The minimum payment is 1200 so it's not like gigantic. But still a bit much.

The PayPal thing might work. If so how do I do it and advance it? Didn't know about the payment arrangement. She didn't have a job, and insurance covered so much. This is our first time for anything dealing with a hospital before.

[Anonymous]

Almost ALL hospitals and doctors WILL offer payment arrangements, but you have to ask.  Sometimes you have to ask twice, two different people.

When I earned my most in my life EVER (6 figures, strong) I had $4000 in medical work done and my insurance wouldn't cover it (pre-existing).  At the clinic during check-in I asked if I could arrange payments and she asked my income (I was honest) and said "Can you afford $100 a week?" and I got the arrangement, no interest.  Paid it off in 60 days, but it was nice to know even with strong income back then, I still qualified for help.

Also, I hate to ask but it's here: does your sister have any assets SHE can sell?  Or any credit lines she can temporarily borrow from?

[Skye12329]

She has literally nothing. No job, no assets, a car that is 27 years old, credit lines are all closed.

[Skye12329]

And Im not able to pull from my retirement account unless it's a home loan per the error I'm getting when accessing my 401k it's through Fidelity.