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My husband and I have both been through credit hell due to a divorce. We just recently got our credit scores and we're both riding mid 500's. We are trying to purchase a much needed bigger home but due to our credit are fearful we can't. All that is on our credit report is a few old credit cards and medical bills (quite a few of them since we have 5 kids). We have no mortgage, no revolving accounts, no credit cards. We rent and have utilities. We don't even have a checking account or savings.
We are ashamedly ignorant when it comes to credit scores and that is changing today. I would greatly appreciate any insight from others into what we can do to get our scores up where they need to be. We are hoping to reach mid 600's soon in order to finance a home.
I will admit in advance I am pregnant with #5 and am off work now due to the pregnancy. We are now on a fixed income and don't have a ton of surplus to pay a ton on these bad debts. Any insight and wisdom would be super, greatly appreciated. Thank you tons in advance.
Eva
Welcome to the forums!
I'd suggest reading the following:
Common Abbreviations
Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.
and What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.
If you haven't done so, I'd recommend pulling a couple sets of reports. First pull both of your (and his) FICO scores. The only place you can get your TU and EQ scores together is via myFICO. It is impossible to pull your EX FICO score on your own. You'd want to know where you stand. The other set are your free reports via annualcreditreport.com. Those reports have more detail info like drop off dates on TU and EX, DOFD on EQ, soft pulls, more account info, and the full 7 yr history (rather than FICO's 2).
I'd also recommend a banking relationship somewhere. It goes a long way if you choose to buy in the future. I'd recommend your local hometown bank or CU.
Read through everything and tackle the items listed on your two FICO reports. On page 2 and 3 you'll see a list of things that are helping and hurting your score. I would focus on the items listed first in the negative section.