I'm a service member with bad credit.. I need help...

[Dirtbk80cc]

Hi everyone, I have been reading thread after thread after thread trying to figure out what I should do.

I am trying to repair my credit because after bootcamp, I could not find a job for the longest time and not being able to make all my payments on time severely hurt my credit score. Two weeks ago I learned about myfico.com and it has helped me tremendously so far but I do not know the next move!

What can I do to help out my score to purchase a car within the next couple weeks?! My buddy is finished with his military contract and I no longer have a ride to drill. I need a reliable vehicle to go to my unit every month for drill which is about 300 miles away.

Here's a quick run down. I apologize because I'm learning all of the terminology :-)

I have one credit line ( CL?) from Bank of America with a balance of $771 (limit was 1,500)  (opened Mar, 2007), current status "pays account as agreed", account closed by grantor

2 30 days late (Feb. 2012)

8 60 days late (Oct,Sep,Aug,Jul,Jun,May,Mar all of 2012 and one Mar 2011)

2 90 days late  (Apr 2011, Apr 2012)

Another CL from Capital 1/Best Buy

balance is now $0 ( paid it off Mar 29 2013)  current status - bad debt/collection, account closed by credit grantor
3 30 days late (Sept&Jun 2012, Dec 11)
2 60 days late ( Oct&Jul 2012)
4 90+ days late (Nov&Dec 2012, Jan-Feb 2013)

Another CL from Capital 1/HSBC

balance is now $0 (paid off March 29th, 2013)  limit was $1,250, status "pays account as agreed" account closed by credit grantor

2 30 days late ( Sept&May 2012)

2 60 days late (Oct & June 2012)

and Cb/express

Balance $0, limit of $120, opened Mar 2005 and closed Oct 2009, status is "Pays account as agreed"

4 30 day late (Jun & Mar 2009, Dec & Aug 2008)

1 60 day late (Jul 2009)

2 90+ days late (Sept & Aug 2009)

I wrote a goodwill letter to Capital 1/HSBC, but I have yet to hear anything back... Should I call them? I do not know who to even call.

Also, any suggestions to try to repair my score in the shortest time possible? I am making decent money now and have no problems making payments on time and paying off my last card ( BofA $771).

Please help

[electra]

GW letter campaign for all. If they say "no" or "we don't do that" just keep trying.  (BofA will be tough though.)

Do you have any open CC accounts? Join Navy Federal and see if they will give you an unsecured card.  Keep the balance reporting between 1-9%.  What's your FICO score?  They also have great rates on Auto Loans and are the most forgiving/generous to those with poor credit.

[Dirtbk80cc]

Thanks!!

I have a Space Coast CU card with $300 limit and it's paid off $0 balance due

I also have a Navy Federal Checking account and the $500 NavChek Advance but I owe about $450 on that one

And I have student loans of $20k that is current and status is "pays account as agreed"

My score is a 578 right now.

Do you know where I can find the right phone numbers, address or fax numbers to send the GW letters to the right place?

What should I put in the GW for the others since I have multiple negatives per account? Do I ask them to remove the late payments? Because, from what I understand... and I could be wrong, If they delete the CL, it would negatively affect my score.

[hausfrau]

Have you tried accessing militaryonesource? They have people you can talk to about the next steps to take to help your credit. You basically join the site, call the hotline, and set up a time for a person to call you and give you some help. It is free. 

[RSCo]

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@Dirtbk80cc wrote:

Hi everyone, I have been reading thread after thread after thread trying to figure out what I should do.

I am trying to repair my credit because after bootcamp, I could not find a job for the longest time and not being able to make all my payments on time severely hurt my credit score. Two weeks ago I learned about myfico.com and it has helped me tremendously so far but I do not know the next move!

What can I do to help out my score to purchase a car within the next couple weeks?! My buddy is finished with his military contract and I no longer have a ride to drill. I need a reliable vehicle to go to my unit every month for drill which is about 300 miles away.

Here's a quick run down. I apologize because I'm learning all of the terminology :-)

I have one credit line ( CL?) from Bank of America with a balance of $771 (limit was 1,500)  (opened Mar, 2007), current status "pays account as agreed", account closed by grantor

2 30 days late (Feb. 2012)

8 60 days late (Oct,Sep,Aug,Jul,Jun,May,Mar all of 2012 and one Mar 2011)

2 90 days late  (Apr 2011, Apr 2012)

Another CL from Capital 1/Best Buy

balance is now $0 ( paid it off Mar 29 2013)  current status - bad debt/collection, account closed by credit grantor
3 30 days late (Sept&Jun 2012, Dec 11)
2 60 days late ( Oct&Jul 2012)
4 90+ days late (Nov&Dec 2012, Jan-Feb 2013)

Another CL from Capital 1/HSBC

balance is now $0 (paid off March 29th, 2013)  limit was $1,250, status "pays account as agreed" account closed by credit grantor

2 30 days late ( Sept&May 2012)

2 60 days late (Oct & June 2012)

and Cb/express

Balance $0, limit of $120, opened Mar 2005 and closed Oct 2009, status is "Pays account as agreed"

4 30 day late (Jun & Mar 2009, Dec & Aug 2008)

1 60 day late (Jul 2009)

2 90+ days late (Sept & Aug 2009)

I wrote a goodwill letter to Capital 1/HSBC, but I have yet to hear anything back... Should I call them? I do not know who to even call.

Also, any suggestions to try to repair my score in the shortest time possible? I am making decent money now and have no problems making payments on time and paying off my last card ( BofA $771).

Please help

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Thank you for serving to protect this countrys' present day and future...   You're awesome and I wish you the very best..

[Dirtbk80cc]

Thank you very much for the support! It means a lot. Thanks!! :-)

[hausfrau]

If you have the navfed account, maybe you should call into them, give them your credit report info and check to see what your chances are of getting a car loan with them. Before you let them do a HP on your account. If you HAVE to get the loan before you can clear anything up, carmax has been pretty good to me , and you can always refi with nfcu after you've cleared up some bad stuff. My hubs is TX ARNG, so, also much love for your service.

[dddewdrop]

    First, as others have said, thank you for your service to our country. The quickest way to improve your score is to pay down the stuff that is credit card related, the cards you have open still that have balances and the stuff that is credit card debt that is closed. Uiltilzation percentage is huge and lowering yours is the quickest way to pop your score. Also try to find someone with good credit who is willing to make you an authorized user on their credit card. That will instantly add points to your score. You can assure them that it is of little risk to them. At the same time a GW campaign would help. Any others that you owe on that are close you may want to try so PFD strategies. That is you write to them, explain you have a limited amount of money to pay back a bunch of debts but that you will pay that debt in full in exchange for them deleting all record of that from your credit report. The bills should have customer service numbers on them and you can also use internet search engines for any info on where to send GW letters and PFD letters to if you can't find the info by calling customer service numbers.

     If you are having difficulty paying off debt then you may want to find a way to have more income. Maybe by taking a second job. If you are going to get a car loan you may want to consider a cheaper car, borrowing a car from a family members, or borrowing money from someone you know or are related to other than a credit card company.

     Jumping right back into more debt applying for a car loan seems like the wrong direction to go in if you can at all avoid it. When you borrow money from other people to accomplish things, you are ultimately making other people money. Best to get out of debt completely and start to accumulate assets to make yourself wealthy. That being said you may need a car but a car is a depreciating asset so thus best to get the cheapest one you can find and use other excess money to get completely out of debt.   to To build wealth, find  ways to put your money into appreciating assets and watch it grow. Good luck.

[guiness56]

You only have one account that was CO'd or sent to collections.  There others just have late payments and say pays as agrees.

Other than the first one you listed, they are all paid.

For the collection one, start sending out GW letters.  For the ones with late payments you can also send out GW letters for the lates.  Late payments fall off 7 years from the date of occurence.  When the last one falls off the account will become a positive account again and stay for up to 10 years from date closed.

You only listed the open date of one account.  It was in 2005.  If you were to get any of these TL removed it would affect your AAoA.

I would pay off the first one since it affects you utilization.

Were you ever deployed when any of these accounts became late? If so, were they all opened before you deployed?