New to MyFico, need advise as to rebuilding my credit please !

[ylianag1205]

Hey guys !

I'm taking the credit bull by the horns and have started to take steps towards rebuilding my credit. My scores are currently as follows: Experian 627 Equifax 597 Transunion 567.

My nightmare began 6.5 years ago, my freshman year of college, when I maxed out 3 credit cards and had a utility bill under both my name and my roomates name. Long story short, I gave her my share of the bill and the bill apparently wasn't paid for about 5 months. Interestingly enough, around that same time, she dropped out of school and moved to LA to become an actress leaving stuck with the bills.

Four years later, I graduate school and its WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD. 4 baddies on my credit report and 30k owed in student loans. My first job out of college sucked and I was making the bare minimum and obiviously falling behind and making absolutely NO payments toward anything. This went on for a year and a half.

Fast forward to this year, I'm 24 now, I got a great job 3 months ago, 70k and began fixing this mess.

--My student loan was in a derogatory state for about 2 years, my account is now being handled by another company called Great Lakes under the Dept. of Ed umbrella and I set up auto payments about 5 months ago so I am now on track with that. My credit report still shows my derrogatory account with the Dept of Education though, how can I get that off?

--I settled with Midland who was handing the utility and 1 baddie credit card, now my credit report states " Legally paid in full for less than the full balance".

--Another credit card baddie I settled and was removed.

--The last baddie I settled and now states "paid as agreed".

Keep in mind these accounts are all from 2007-2008. Are they going to just automaticaly drop off at the 7 or 8 year mark?

Also, I got a secured Capital One credit card 2 months ago which incresed my score by about 16 points.

Applied for Barklay card and Discover and got rejected for both. So I have about 4-5 inquiries.

I just want to get past my adolescent mistakes.

My goal is to reach 700 in the next 6 months to me able to get a car loan and unsecured credit card. I need some serious advise and guidance. How can I expedite this now that I have the funds to do so?

Thank You !!

[Burned2manybridgesB4]

Welcome to the forums. You're off to a good start. Taking command is the hardest step.

My advice? READ!!!

Others will jump in, and throw their two cents in. Don't expect a cure overnight...it takes time, and plenty of patience.

[roniram]

You know the saying time heals all wounds? It does apply in your case. Your goal for 700 FICO in six months is admirable, but will be very difficult to achieve. First, get copies of your credit report. Next, try to goodwill the collections you paid off (search goodwill in the forum). Try to keep your credit card utilization between 1 and 9 percent. Then after a few months, see if they will make it unsecured. Also, after a few month of making your school loan payments, see if they are willing to adjust your payment history. Others might give you advice, but that is where I would start.