Now I understand what they mean by difficult...

[StartingOver10]

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@jmahoney wrote:

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@StartingOver10 wrote:

I agree with wpbguy...The homebuyers club is giving you advice that will work, but not work as well as the advice here.

If you drop your utilization to zero on all cards but one where the utility is less than 9% you will see a massive jump in your score. I used to think that was crazy advice until I saw it work. Yes, you have to have revolving credit lines for a decent score, but the 30% utilization will drop your score, especially if you have balances on more than one card. It does make a difference if you have a balance on more than one card. Pay off those cards and watch your score jump when the new zero balance reports on everything but one card. Make sure that card is less the 9% of the credit line. Some even say less than 5% of the credit line for the best results. Try it, you will see.

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Would it be beneficial to do this today, and then do a rapid rescore? I have no issues with dropping all but one account balance down to next to nothing.

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It is beneficial to pay them off but the balance has to actually report in order to get the score change. I am not exactly sure how the rapid rescore works, but I believe it has to report the new zero balance.

Is there anything else on your report (collections, late fees etc) that would hold your score down?

[jmahoney]

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@StartingOver10 wrote:

It is beneficial to pay them off but the balance has to actually report in order to get the score change. I am not exactly sure how the rapid rescore works, but I believe it has to report the new zero balance.

Is there anything else on your report (collections, late fees etc) that would hold your score down?

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There are some derogatory items on there, but none that are recent. The most recent one is from March of 2010 as a collection, an the oldest is from 2006 that is a paid, was 120+. There are a total of 8 derogatory accounts listed, 3 of which are tied up in the BK, and 17 non-derogatory accounts.

[ecalmese]

jmahoney;

i am in the same boat at your as far as trying to break the 620 credit score mark minus buying a home (no one is interested in giving me the time of day until i can get a preapproval). keep me posted on your process. i would like to know what it takes to get myself over the 620 median mark.

[jmahoney]

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@ecalmese wrote:

jmahoney;

i am in the same boat at your as far as trying to break the 620 credit score mark minus buying a home (no one is interested in giving me the time of day until i can get a preapproval). keep me posted on your process. i would like to know what it takes to get myself over the 620 median mark.

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Absolutely. We started out faily low on the totem pole (mid 500s) but have been climbing. Unfortunately, we haven't been climbing at a fast enough pace. It looks like this may be due to me placing too much trust in people rather than doing research on my own.

[StartingOver10]

Collections will hold your score down.

Were the collections for items in your BK or subsequent to your BK?

Go to the rebuilding forum to see what you can do to get rid of the collection.

I had one that came for a discharged item after my BK and all it took was two calls from me to get rid of the collection notation (it is a violation of the discharge injunction to have the colletion come after the discharge for a discharged debt). I am sure that is what is hurting your score now.

[jmahoney]

These were prior to the BK, but not included as part of the BK. It looks like we missed a few accounts when we filed.

[StartingOver10]

If you filed a Ch 7, then the accounts were included even if they were missed on the petition. This is good ammo to correct your credit report.

Did you file a 7 or a 13?

[jmahoney]

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@StartingOver10 wrote:

If you filed a Ch 7, then the accounts were included even if they were missed on the petition. This is good ammo to correct your credit report.

Did you file a 7 or a 13?

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We did a 13 on the premise that I was trying to do the right thing. I wanted to pay the debts, I just couldn't because I was out of work for so long. I probably should have taken more time to go through things.

[StartingOver10]

I don't know much about a Ch 13.

check the bankruptcy section and rebuilding section to see how others handled missed items in their 13. I'm sure there must be a way to get it so it doesn't impact you so hard. Don't do anything until you know for sure. The older the dates the less impact it has on your score.

[jmahoney]

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@StartingOver10 wrote:

I don't know much about a Ch 13.

check the bankruptcy section and rebuilding section to see how others handled missed items in their 13. I'm sure there must be a way to get it so it doesn't impact you so hard. Don't do anything until you know for sure. The older the dates the less impact it has on your score.

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I will most definitely do that. I've learned more in the past few hours pouring through this forum than I have in the past few months of dealing with this situation. The good news is, it looks like dispute remarks from both Equifax and Experian are both removed already. Much quicker than what I thought it was going to take!