Rebuilding Your Credit

[angie3312]

In january I had a credit score at TU..of 597..I had really no credit posted to it - I am disabled and havent applied for any credit in yrs...but I did have one inquiry removed--and had a neg. collection of $161 that was over ten yrs old removed along with an old cable bill , also a neg collection..but once TU removed those items my score plumeted 597 points???? How can that be?

         I called TU and they cannot even tell me what happened or what they removed, I already knew thru my monthly credit watch ... but they did not know how it happened and say nothing can be done...

My husband and I were tright in the middle of searching for mortgage loans..we applied to one..and still with my 597 score and my other scores we had a fico of 662 (good enough for our area along with equity in 14 acres we own) but when we went to another bank to see what they said my score was a ZERO!

How in the world do I come back from this???

[ivyalmighty]

Angie,

If those two collections were the only things listed in your credit profile, then by having them both deleted, you lost all history. You don't mention having any positive things on your credit, like a current credit card or auto loan or anything like that... Was there anything else on your credit at all besides those negatives?

[ivyalmighty]

See, technically the scores can only drop to like 300, so having a "0" doesn't mean you have the worst possible rating in the world, it simply means you don't have a rating at all.

[angie3312]

no since being w/out a job & being disabled i have had no credit, only my husband...now i guess i have lost all the points i had....i  cannot believe it was better to have the baddies than nothing,,,

 is there a card that a person with a zero score could get to start it up?

[TheNewWorldMan]

As someone else already pointed out, a score of zero is truly a null value. It's not worse than a 300 in the same way zero degrees Fahrenheit is colder than 30 degrees.

I would recommend four or five credit cards. Why that many? Because right now you're a credit newbie--getting new accounts doesn't hit your average age of accounts because you're at zero now. 0/0 is the same as 0/4.

If you build positive inertia, then bumps down the road won't hit you nearly as hard. When you do get a new account, your average age of accounts won't take nearly as big a hit.

[angie3312]

thanks for the advice..but where do i start? i have no idea what cards are the right card for "newbies"- i need to get a few so where could I, should I look?

thankyou again..the help is appriciatted...

still wanting to bang my head on a wall--in beginning of yr i had almost a 600 score now i am climbing the mountain all voer again...

angie

[Jesedmotherof5]

look at whogaveme credit.com to see who pulls the reports for EX EQ, GEMB always pulls EQ.

Easy cards Orchard, HSB, hooters cap 1... also see secured cards... Its like your 18 all over again... I wish I could go back to NO credit... maybe see if hubby can add you as an AU on his biggest CARD. Then go on ap spree. Put your household Income that hubby makes.

[sidewinder]

Does your husband have an account without any negatives on it(preferrably a few years old) that he can add you onto as a joint account holder?

What are the minimum requirements for a FICO score?

There's really not much to it; in order for a FICO® score to be calculated, a credit report must contain these minimum requirements:

• At least one account that has been open for six months or more
• At least one undisputed account that has been reported to the credit bureau with in the past six months
• No indication of deceased on the credit report (Please note: if you share an account with another person this may affect you if the other account holder is reported deceased).

[stef37]

Angie, if you have a banking relationship with a credit union in your area, that would be a great start.

I agree with the other's about your husband adding you as an authorized user if he has cc's. It would take 6 months of reporting for a score to be generated and I am not sure how long it will be before you actually apply for your mortgage. If not DH, do you have a parent or sibling that could add you, even if only temporarily?