need help...have an astonishing low score of 506

[Anonymous]

hey guys im new to this site and just checked my credit and WOW!!! but then again im only 23 and most of my debt occured when i was in the young and know it all stage...didnt care if something got turned in to collections and let me tell you , know im kickin myself hard. I have 3100 in collections but most of it is spread across the board..450 for my first credit card. 350 for phone bill back in 2007, and utilities from when i moved out of state...i was thinking of getting a credit repair company like lexington law but idk its all little things that would only take me like a month to pay off. the reason for my current rise in wanting to raise up credit score is i now have a family and want to purchase my first home possibly in the spring of next year. Any help and advice is greatly appreciated thank you soo much...ooo and as of right now i did the stupid thing as of closing my only 2 cc and after reading through recent post that was wrong thing to do ughhhh!!! soo frustrating

[Repo-ed]

We need a lay out of your current credit files.

Accounts and their ages.  Any current/deliquent. Collections (who is the CA). Any charge-offs?  Any current credit TLs on your CRs?  That's not a lot of money to pay-off, and though it won't raise your score paying them off, it will make it easier to request PFDs.

You came to the right place, and there's a ton of us that have been exactly where you are right now.  It does get better and it does get easier.  That's not to say it will be easy; it's just not the end of the world.  Time heals everything provided from this day forward you respect your financial future.

[tboy1977]

First thing you need to do is get a secured credit card with a REPUTABLE company (like Capital One or PNC or your local credit union) and build the limit to at least $2K.  Do NOT max out the card and in fact keep the utilization under 10%.  And pray within two years, the credit card will have a positive impact.

On the baddies, how old are they?  If they are older than statute of limitations (for lawsuits) you may be better off ignoring it a little longer and trying to get Lexington Law to get them off.   If the collections are significantly under five years old, try to negotiate pay for deletes.  DO NOT ADMIT OWNERSHIP OF THE DEBT!!  IF you agree to pay, say this doesn't mean I admit owing the debt.  Pretend you have to borrow the money from Mom and Dad.  Don't give them any reason to think of civil action as a potential solution.  Basically the ideal situation is  you say, you dispute the debt, you won't owe it, and you would zealously fight this debt, but you'll pay it if they delete the listing.  If you agree (in writing), then I'll borrow the money to pay it off.  Get any agreements to delete uon full payment IN WRITING!!

The good thing of just disputing them with Lexington Law is you never admit owning the debt.  If the collection agency (or even creditor) cnnot verify the listing, it gets deleted!  :-)

The other side of paying the baddies is (and this is especially true with collection agencies), once there is nothing left to get, they have little reason to expend time, money and effort verifying a bad credit listing.  They hijack your report looking for a payday, but after that,it's easier to dispute for delete.  This is especially true with the zombie and old debt collectors.  They buy the debt for 2 to 3 cents on the dollar and they to collect, hoping for success.

And FYI, I have seventeen months of positive payment history AFTER bk ch 7, no new collections and my score is LOWER THAN YOURS!!  I started at 420 (TU 405).  I am hoping for 600 by the end of next year.  Not entirely optimistic, but hopeful nonetheless.