topic Re: Getting to 720 in Mortgage Loans

Getting to 720

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:52:07 GMT

Looking for any advice on how to get my scores up....

In August I met with a mortgage broker for pre-approval for a jumbo mortgage. My scores were around 680 and he asked me to pay down my credit card balances and settle 2 minor collections and I should be able to get my scores to around 720 or more within a few months.

Fast-forward to Oct...we found a house we loved, signed a contract and contacted our broker. We had paid down the cards, paid off the collections and paid off one small student loan to eliminate that monthly payment. We all expected my scores to be up, but the broker had bad news...my scores had dropped 100 points! The student loan company that I had just paid off had reported a 30-day late.

What I found out was that I had inadvertently missed my June payment, and so each payment thereafter was applied to my previous month's bill. By the time October 31 came, my payment was 30-days late. On November 1 when I called to pay off my loan, it had already been reported as late, but I had no idea. I explained to several people at the student loan company that I was in the hospital for 2 weeks in June and recovering several weeks thereafter. The payment must have been overlooked. I begged, pleaded and cried, but nobody would agree to remove the 30-day late.

We had to cancel the contract. The sellers took the house off the market in December, with plans to re-list it in the spring. So, we are doing everything we can to get my scores up to 720 with hopes of making another offer in the spring.

Since 2/7, I've paid down more credit card balances, so my remaining debt is as follows:

BOA Card: $836/$8900

Citibank Card: $821/$9000

PenFed Card: $10,057/$28,900

Auto Loan: $25,760

Student Loan (US Dept of Ed): $24,709

Student Loan (US Dept of Ed): $26,024

(The 2 student loans used to be reported as one loan, but recently started reporting as 2. I'm not sure why since this is a consolidated loan.)

My available credit on credit cards is $80,789, so I calculate my overall utilization is around 14.5%. Am I calculating that correctly?

Earlier this week, I sent a goodwill letter to the student loan company for the 30-day late. If they don't remove it, how long can I expect this one 30-day late to affect my scores? I have no other late payments.

I can probably pay off the remaining credit card balances within the next couple of months, but I'm not sure if that will help my scores enough to make a difference for me. Any thoughts on this? Should I try to pay off something else instead?

Any other ideas on how I can increase my scores? Are there any lenders that will do a jumbo loan with a score of less than 720?

Re: Getting to 720

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:55:49 GMT

I'd try doing a search of the student loan company here to find examples of goodwill and asking members who've had success for contact information.

Re: Getting to 720

rckstrscott — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:28:10 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Looking for any advice on how to get my scores up....

In August I met with a mortgage broker for pre-approval for a jumbo mortgage. My scores were around 680 and he asked me to pay down my credit card balances and settle 2 minor collections and I should be able to get my scores to around 720 or more within a few months.

Fast-forward to Oct...we found a house we loved, signed a contract and contacted our broker. We had paid down the cards, paid off the collections and paid off one small student loan to eliminate that monthly payment. We all expected my scores to be up, but the broker had bad news...my scores had dropped 100 points! The student loan company that I had just paid off had reported a 30-day late.

What I found out was that I had inadvertently missed my June payment, and so each payment thereafter was applied to my previous month's bill. By the time October 31 came, my payment was 30-days late. On November 1 when I called to pay off my loan, it had already been reported as late, but I had no idea. I explained to several people at the student loan company that I was in the hospital for 2 weeks in June and recovering several weeks thereafter. The payment must have been overlooked. I begged, pleaded and cried, but nobody would agree to remove the 30-day late.

We had to cancel the contract. The sellers took the house off the market in December, with plans to re-list it in the spring. So, we are doing everything we can to get my scores up to 720 with hopes of making another offer in the spring.

Since 2/7, I've paid down more credit card balances, so my remaining debt is as follows:
BOA Card: $836/$8900
Citibank Card: $821/$9000
PenFed Card: $10,057/$28,900
Auto Loan: $25,760
Student Loan (US Dept of Ed): $24,709
Student Loan (US Dept of Ed): $26,024
(The 2 student loans used to be reported as one loan, but recently started reporting as 2. I'm not sure why since this is a consolidated loan.)

My available credit on credit cards is $80,789, so I calculate my overall utilization is around 14.5%. Am I calculating that correctly?

Earlier this week, I sent a goodwill letter to the student loan company for the 30-day late. If they don't remove it, how long can I expect this one 30-day late to affect my scores? I have no other late payments.

I can probably pay off the remaining credit card balances within the next couple of months, but I'm not sure if that will help my scores enough to make a difference for me. Any thoughts on this? Should I try to pay off something else instead?

Any other ideas on how I can increase my scores? Are there any lenders that will do a jumbo loan with a score of less than 720?

30 day late payments will affect your score for 2 years.. Your only play at this stage is to contact the student loan company, probably via letter or internal email address, and plead your case on why they were late and ask for those late payments to be removed.. Your UTIL at 14% is just about at the FICO score threshold for the most points you could gain from the credit cards.. if you can get all of them paid down, but one showing 9 percent or lower you will get more points, but I doubt it will be a whole lot..

Another thing you could do; is try to good will the collection accounts off your credit. Just having them paid will do nothing for you credit score. If they are still there, but showing as paid, you really want to try to remove those. If you can you will get a score boost.

Re: Getting to 720

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:26:21 GMT

Ok, thank you!

I just found my file with my original dispute letters regarding the Tmobile collection. Every time I disputed it, it would be sold to another collector. Should I send my original letters to the credit bureaus and see if they'll simply remove the collection? Or should I tackle it with the final collection agency directly?

Re: Getting to 720

my25reasons — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:55:07 GMT

Just the little I can offer - All consolidated student loans were transferred to a different lender. They have split up the loans to report as unsubsidized in one amount and subsidized in the other. Should not affect your score at all, as the amounts are the same, but make sure the old accounts are reporting as closed. There has been a problem with duplicate reportings and all other kinds of crazy stuff.

Re: Getting to 720

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:01:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Ok, thank you!

I just found my file with my original dispute letters regarding the Tmobile collection. Every time I disputed it, it would be sold to another collector. Should I send my original letters to the credit bureaus and see if they'll simply remove the collection? Or should I tackle it with the final collection agency directly?

Look into MOV or DV methods in the rebuilding section. A debt sold that many times may bot have the paper trail necessary to prove ownership.