Need help with rebuilding credit.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure where to start. My credit was ruined when my ex and I split. He let the house and everything go even though I told him he wouldnt have to pay child support if he just kept it all going until we sold. That is now off my credit but after I was so scared of my credit I didnt open anything. I had the mentality if I didnt have the money for it I couldnt afford it so I didnt have credit cards. Now when I go to apply for a car loan or a house they are saying I dont have enough established credit. I am trying to figure out the best way to do that without messing my score up. The last time we pulled my scores was 2/25/15 they were EX 596 TU 685 EF 657. I have a Capitol One card but am wondering which other cards I should try to help establish more trade lines? I was thinking about doing a CareCredit card but am nervous I will get declinded. Any help would be very appreciated. I have one public record that was paid 4/12 and it says I have 5 collections but they are all paid or closed? 

[thomasjm99]

First step...I would pull all 3 of your reports from www.annualcreditreport.com if you haven't in the last year and see what's actually on there to make sure they are accurate. Something seems strange with the disparity between EXPERIAN and the other 2, so maybe there is something on that report that is not correct. If you do have any baddies, paid or not, search the forum and try to use PFD or GW techniques to have those removed where possible. In some cases, if they are near the SOL in your state, the best bet is to just wait for them to fall off that way or you could get an early exclusion from the CRA's...

From there it's really about finding what type of credit best suits your needs. If all your scores end up between 650-680 you should have quite a few options available to you. I'd search the forums and do a lot of reading/research to determine how best to move forward in establishing more positive tradelines.