Started Last Week

[jarmll]

So, after 32 years of living I decided to start taking care of my credit. Generally speaking the last few years I have THOUGHT about it, but it did not really hit me until about 2 years ago my wife and I could not get approved for a mortgage. For some reason I thought the old bills didn't really matter because I could get approved for car loans between 11-18% all day long. Now we are in a contract for deed and SICK of the owner, so the plan for this year is to get my score as high as possible as quickly as possible to buy the property with a VA loan. 

You guys have any general advise? I paid one of the old creditors off last week with a settlement and my score went from 546-574 within just a couple days! That got me pretty excited at the possibilities! I guess my goal s 700 FICO

[Kartel34]

I believe VA loans requires a credit score of 640/650. That may have changed but you can go to military.com and they have all the information you need About VA home loans.

[jarmll]

I spoke with them when we got turned down on the mortgage almost two years ago and they said 620, then I talked to another person last August and again they said 620. I would rather apply with a 650 to be safe, but my goal is to apply by May 2013.

Additionally I think my scores should go up again by the end of this month because I have two credit cards that were maxed out that I paid down to $100. The total credit available is $1700. I am not sure exactly when they report but I had $95 available credit on them and now they are almost completely paid down. Not sure what exactly that will do for my score, but 20-30 points would be pretty awesome!

[Bleety17]

Have you sent a GW letter the the collector you just paid off?

[jarmll]

No, am I supposed to? I am new to this and have no idea what to do except the good old fashion PAY! LOL!

The creditor I paid off removed the record by the end of the week, really I was amazed at how fast they were.

One problem I am having is with a med bill for my wife that she incurred BEFORE we got married, now it is somehow on my report. I don't think I am responsible for said bill and I do not believe they can report it on my credit report. Sent a dispute, but we shall see. Might go directly to the hospital with our marriage certificate and make demands.