Trying to be an adult but my credit is shot

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have to disagree with some. It's going to be hard work but it can be done. I had a ton of stupid collections when I started rebuilding and in one year I was able to purchase my dream home. It just took a lot of hard persistent work. You have to start with one collection at a time. Pull your credit report and get on that phone and negotiate to PFD. Make sure you have the money to pay each time you call a creditor because if you can tell them you can pay immediately you might get good results. I started with the original creditor and didn't waste time with the collection agencies until I got that.... We can't accept payments anymore because you account is no longer in our system. I'm not saying your situation is like mines but I no I wrote letters, made arrangements, called creditors and now the only baddie I have is a paid charge off from First Premier and 3 late payments on my student loan that are a little over 2 years old. It will get frustrating but read the forums and different websites on how to handle debt collection. Good luck to you and congratulations on your marriage. Hopefully you get to a place where you can say WHEW! My credit is back on track!!!!!

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Now this is what I meant when I said help is on the way!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have to disagree with some. It's going to be hard work but it can be done. I had a ton of stupid collections when I started rebuilding and in one year I was able to purchase my dream home. It just took a lot of hard persistent work. You have to start with one collection at a time. Pull your credit report and get on that phone and negotiate to PFD. Make sure you have the money to pay each time you call a creditor because if you can tell them you can pay immediately you might get good results. I started with the original creditor and didn't waste time with the collection agencies until I got that.... We can't accept payments anymore because you account is no longer in our system. I'm not saying your situation is like mines but I no I wrote letters, made arrangements, called creditors and now the only baddie I have is a paid charge off from First Premier and 3 late payments on my student loan that are a little over 2 years old. It will get frustrating but read the forums and different websites on how to handle debt collection. Good luck to you and congratulations on your marriage. Hopefully you get to a place where you can say WHEW! My credit is back on track!!!!!

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Now this is what I meant when I said help is on the way!

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I just hope that wiltrout will read this ....

If not , just more knowledge for us all...

Thanks again jdana70

[Anonymous]

It's really all about time and knowledge when it comes to this stuff.  If you have the time to read, and thus improve your knowledge of credit and the system you'll position yourself to improve your profile and hence your scores.

A friend of mine and I had nearly identical 620-630 scores about a year ago.  We both talked about wanting to improve our profiles and scores.  I started reading a lot and taking action... writing GW letters, lowering utilization, basically doing the things necessary to improve my score where he didn't do anything other than continue to pay his bills on time.  In a year my scores made it to the 730's and he made it to the 650-660 range.  What you put in is directly proportional to what you get out.

[RonM21]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I would read ...read...read...all the info you need is here..and you need a lot of info.

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No matter how it is you decide to move forward, always do this! It's amazing how far you can come reading up on these forums.

[Hokies2379]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have to disagree with some. It's going to be hard work but it can be done. I had a ton of stupid collections when I started rebuilding and in one year I was able to purchase my dream home. It just took a lot of hard persistent work. You have to start with one collection at a time. Pull your credit report and get on that phone and negotiate to PFD. Make sure you have the money to pay each time you call a creditor because if you can tell them you can pay immediately you might get good results. I started with the original creditor and didn't waste time with the collection agencies until I got that.... We can't accept payments anymore because you account is no longer in our system. I'm not saying your situation is like mines but I no I wrote letters, made arrangements, called creditors and now the only baddie I have is a paid charge off from First Premier and 3 late payments on my student loan that are a little over 2 years old. It will get frustrating but read the forums and different websites on how to handle debt collection. Good luck to you and congratulations on your marriage. Hopefully you get to a place where you can say WHEW! My credit is back on track!!!!!

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I second this.  I had 21 collections 2 years ago.  Only one aged off, the rest were pretty fresh.  With hard work, sacrificing things (do I pay this old collection in full or do I take a trip?, I gave up several trips) not being afraid of asking creditors for things and reading up (mostly other places, but some here) I now have 0 collections on my report and 100k of available credit and a low interest car loan.  So, yes, it can be done.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It's really all about time and knowledge when it comes to this stuff.  If you have the time to read, and thus improve your knowledge of credit and the system you'll position yourself to improve your profile and hence your scores.

A friend of mine and I had nearly identical 620-630 scores about a year ago.  We both talked about wanting to improve our profiles and scores.  I started reading a lot and taking action... writing GW letters, lowering utilization, basically doing the things necessary to improve my score where he didn't do anything other than continue to pay his bills on time.  In a year my scores made it to the 730's and he made it to the 650-660 range.  What you put in is directly proportional to what you get out.

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It's funny because my friend and I had talked about cleaning our credit up when I started. I was serious about mines and I guess she wasn't as serious as she made herself to be. I worked hard. Just like you, I put off trips and events to pay a bill that I owed. Once I got my credit in order and bought my house my so called friend stop being my friend. I guess she got mad because she talked a good talk but didn't walk that walk. Anyway, hard work and dedication is the key. My scores have taken a little nose dive but that is due to an increase in credit apps and my mortgage. It's getting back on track but you couldn't pay me to be late or default on a loan. I appreciate my credit now but in my teens I didn't understand how important credit was.

[Anonymous]

No that was my first late payment and only on my score

[Anonymous]

Thank you everyone. Great input and help. I have started reading everything I can and I am going to start working my way up. Will take some time but I realize now being stupid when I was younger is effecting me know. I have a good job and the money to pay everything but will work at one thing at a time. I think the late payment is what bothered me the most. I gave my girl her wedding and now I want my house will take some time but will be working on it and reading reading reading like you all have said, thank you once again

[Anonymous]

Check out this thread. This person was able to get alot of the collections off of his/her report. He/She details the entire process and some of the things he/she would have done different. I read through the whole thing and it was very informative. 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/CREDIT-REBUILD-PROJECT-LOG/td-p/290152

EDIT: And this is the forum for rebuilding: 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/bd-p/rebuildingcredit

[torry590]

This can be done!  I am 8 months into my rebuild (started in Oct 2015 on accident with my car loan)  I obtained several small rebuilder CCs, my score was in the high 400s (lender pulls) at the time, I am now over 600 on all three CBs.  I had 14 collection accounts, I am now down to Two (only showing one on each bureau), sort of high utulization (my score would be higher). Good luck! It CAN BE DONE!

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I also have a repo from Toyota Financial services with a 10K balance from 2013 showing on TU and EX only.