In Dire Need....HELP

[Deuces101]

Hello all, I am new to this forum and would appreciate all those that respond to this post. I have just begun the process of rebuilding to purchase my first home. I am interested in the Fannie Mae HomePath Program which requires a middle score of 620. I ordered my an all-in-one report/score from Equifax. They report my Experian as 588 and my TU and Equifax as 544. Here are my questions:

1. Are the scores that Equifax provided the same scores that the potential lender will use?

2. I have 6 negative items on my credit report. 4 are collection items from medical bills in 2006. 1 is a willful repossession. I also have a utility bill from 2007. Is it better to contact the collection agencies and pay them in full?

3. The only positive item I have is a 1st Premier Credit Card. That has a limit on 300.00. No lates.  And I have student loans that are in deferment( I am still in college). How do I get other lenders to take a chance on extending credit to me ( to rebuild) when my scores are this low??

[Shogun]

1.  Sorry but no.  They are not FICO scores.  We refer to them as FAKOs.   I've seen almost 100 point difference in the 2 scores.

2.  You need to post more information on your baddies so we can figure out the best way to tackle them.

3.  You have a thin file of good credit.  You're probably gonna have to prove yourself a little more before a mortgage.

Someone on here smarter than me is bound to chime in, but that's how I see it.   Good luck.

[guiness56]

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@Deuces101 wrote:

Hello all, I am new to this forum and would appreciate all those that respond to this post. I have just begun the process of rebuilding to purchase my first home. I am interested in the Fannie Mae HomePath Program which requires a middle score of 620. I ordered my an all-in-one report/score from Equifax. They report my Experian as 588 and my TU and Equifax as 544. Here are my questions:

1. Are the scores that Equifax provided the same scores that the potential lender will use?  As Shogun pointed out, no they are not.  You can get your TU and EQ FICOs here.  EX has not sold their FICO to consumers since 2/2009

2. I have 6 negative items on my credit report. 4 are collection items from medical bills in 2006. 1 is a willful repossession. I also have a utility bill from 2007. Is it better to contact the collection agencies and pay them in full?  For the medical collections, contact the OC and see if they still own them.  If they do ask if they will accept payment and pull the accounts from the CAs

It is always better to deal with the OC when you can.  Contact the utility company and ask them the same thing.

3. The only positive item I have is a 1st Premier Credit Card. That has a limit on 300.00. No lates.  And I have student loans that are in deferment( I am still in college). How do I get other lenders to take a chance on extending credit to me ( to rebuild) when my scores are this low??  You can try for secured CCs.  They report just like a normal CC.

To add to what Shogun already said,  do you know what your states SOL is?  If you don't intend to PIF, be very careful about contacting anyone. 

Do you know what the DoFDs on these accounts are?

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[Deuces101]

Thank you both for responding.I will take your advice. First things first, I will get the real FICO scores and contact the OC's. I have a applied for a Capital One secured card and was declined. Someone suggested Orchard or Citi. The SoL in my state is 3 years. And the DoFD are all 2006/2007.

[payingoffdebt001]

Dont be shocked when you see your FICO score - when I first saw it I was, but I managed pick myself off the floor and dust myself off and keep on going forward with my rebuilding process.  We can do it!

My regular credit scores were around 570-580 but my FICO score one was as low as 489!!  

[Deuces101]

This process is a bit overwhelming. I just checked my fico scores on this website and they are actually a bit higher. Equifax is 567 and TU is 625.