In need of some advice...

[Anonymous]

I started to repair my credit in February of this year in hopes I could get it high enough by August of this year to buy a new home. I started out in the 530's. I have added a capitol one secured card and it has raised it up a bit. I have also started working with Lexington Law which a lot has been removed. I still have a Wells Fargo car loan charge off for 1300, a 100 collection for Time Warner , and a apartment collection for 1800 that I'm hoping will be removed soon. Also, I have a Great Lakes student loan that has a 120 day late in  2013.

I was able to get a new car loan but I really need to purchase a home soon any thoughts on what my next steps should be? I'm defently aware I won't be anywhere close to buying a home in August. But what would be my best next move to improve my score the fastest? Should I get another secured card or should I start paying the wells Fargo charge off? And if I start paying the charge off how do I go about it?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

If funds are tight, it may be best to ditch Lexington Law and dedicate 2 or 3 hours a day reading this forum and other sites across the net on how to improve your credit on your own and you can use the money that you are paying Lexington to get things paid off quicker. I understand the DYI method is not for everyone though, but it is something to consider.

You should really post the dates of the negative accounts on your reports as it will help get you better advice.

The 120 late on your loan= send a goodwill letter asking for forgiveness and removal of the late

The $100 collection= offer a "pay for delete" (PFD) agreement (you pay and they remove)

The auto loan charge off= make sure it doesn't get sent to a debt collector as well (then you would have another collection in addition to the charge off on your reports) The age of this account will have a lot to do about how you could proceed. If it is very old, they may settle for less. If it is new, then you will probably have to pay the full amount. Either way it is worth a try to offer a "pay for delete". You need to have the full amount and be ready to pay it before starting negotiations. It would not be the best idea to enter a payment agreement on this, but if absolutely necessary to go that route, make sure you never miss or be late  on any of the agreed payments. Entering a payment plan will also give you little to no bargaining power.

Get a couple more credit cards even if they are secured. Just make sure they report to all three bureaus regularly.

Another area of concern is that if you decide to start working on this yourself, what is Lexington doing? If you and Lexington are both working at the same problems it may cause problems as you may not be on the same page.

Also, you said that the apartment collection should be removed soon, so I am assuming that you have that taken care of in one way or another. If your current plan fails you will want to try to get a pay for delete agreement with that as well. Depending on its age, maybe they would accept less than the full amount owed, but before any negotiation, make sure you have the full $1800 to pay them right away in case you do come to terms.

The fastest way to improve your credit in your situation is to clean your report of collections as they are very damaging.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to MyFico!

Are any of these accounts being updated monthly?  What are the DOFD's? SOL?  IMHO, Lexington Law is a waste of money.  You can do everything they do for the cost of some envelopes, stamps and time reading this forum. 

Look at getting 2 more cards, preferably unsecured.  Cap1 is a good place to go for those.  If you dont qualify for the unsecureds than get two more secured cards, look for cards that will graduate to unsecured and report the all 3 CRA's.  Keep a $0 balance on two and <5% on the third. 

Start sending GW letters/emails to Great Lakes to get that 120-day late removed.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/GW-letter-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-GW-Success-Sto...