In Need of Help

[Anonymous]

Hey, everyone. I was very reckless when I was younger and I didn't put much thought into my credit. Because of neglecting some debts I have been left with a poor credit score. It is somewhere around 580. I am wanting to buy a house within a years time and am trying to get myself in shape to do so.

As it stands I have a car loan that is in good standing with no missed payments. I've had it for about 2 years. I have a few accounts in collections which include:

$1265 for medical services that is 3 years old
$865 for medical services that is 3 years old
$465 for medical services that is 9 months old
$360 for medical services that is 4 years and 5 months old
$180 for a cable bill that is 4 months old

The only line of credit that I have is for my car loan, which is in good standing. I went to my credit union and applied for a small secured credit card with a limit of $250. I plan on setting it up to autopay my cell phone bill which is $60/mo and have it paid in full automatically from my checking each month.

I'm not sure what else I can do to improve my score in a years time so I can move forward with getting a house. I'm worried if I pay off my debts in collections that it won't help because they'll still stay on my report as a derogatory mark.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[medicgrrl]

You can try for PFD on the collections.  By leaving them unpaid, they report every month as currently past due.  Once they are paid off, they will not update any longer, therefore in 1 year you would show your last derog as being 12 months vs right now it shows as currently past due.  Paying them will definitely raise your scores over time.

[Anonymous]

Welcome, Dragonautt!

+1 to what Medicgrrl said. I would try PFD on them one by one. 

[Anonymous]

3 revolving accounts seems to be the agreed upon answer for Ficos algorithm, so getting two more accounts soon so all three are aged over a year when you're ready to apply will help. Also they should provide a nice boost to your score while you're working the collections as long as you keep two reporting a $0 balance and one reporting less than 10%.

Try the discover and cap1 prequal site. You maybe able to get two secured CCs. they will unsecure before the year is up which that on it's own is another boost during a manual review. I started my rebuild with a secured discover. its cashback offer, and their customer service has made it my favorite card. On the other side cap1 has been nice to my wife during her portion of our rebuild. Tonight they just PCed her platinum card to a Quicksilver so she gets cashback without the AF. This keeps her at 4 accounts in 24 months because she is saving that last one for a Chase Freedom or Chase saphired Prefered depending on how well her scores do in the next year.

[Anonymous]

Try the pfd method. The cable bill is very low and can go away  quickly.  If not pay and try GW letters.  There is a section about GW letters. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hey, everyone. I was very reckless when I was younger and I didn't put much thought into my credit. Because of neglecting some debts I have been left with a poor credit score. It is somewhere around 580. I am wanting to buy a house within a years time and am trying to get myself in shape to do so.

As it stands I have a car loan that is in good standing with no missed payments. I've had it for about 2 years. I have a few accounts in collections which include:

$1265 for medical services that is 3 years old
$865 for medical services that is 3 years old
$465 for medical services that is 9 months old
$360 for medical services that is 4 years and 5 months old
$180 for a cable bill that is 4 months old

The only line of credit that I have is for my car loan, which is in good standing. I went to my credit union and applied for a small secured credit card with a limit of $250. I plan on setting it up to autopay my cell phone bill which is $60/mo and have it paid in full automatically from my checking each month.

I'm not sure what else I can do to improve my score in a years time so I can move forward with getting a house. I'm worried if I pay off my debts in collections that it won't help because they'll still stay on my report as a derogatory mark.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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For the medical collections google the HIPAA Letter Process follow it exactly as laid out. If you have problems finding the website or any questions PM me.