topic Re: 450 credit score? Help... in Rebuilding Your Credit

450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 11:47:21 GMT

Okay so me and my boyfriend are trying to rent an apartment and we went through the credit check and it says pending so we have to wait for a call to say approved or denied.

I'm afraid it will be denied because of my extremely low score and I'm only 20! And in college. I screwed up so early.

So the only things on my credit report is:

750 $ Sprint Fee from cancelling my Sprint service because me and my mom could not afford the entire bill. I was working hardly any hours at my last job and we had to break the contract. This was two years ago.

And a 250$ Capitol one secured card that I couldn't pay after I lost my job. (I'm paying that off this Friday)

I also have 6 Hard Inquiries from two years ago that will be gone by December.

I have student loan of 2,300 on there but it's subsidized so I don't even have to pay it until I'm out of school (which is forever) so why would they count that against me if I don't even HAVE to pay it yet?

That's all I have... And I have no family AT ALL to help me by putting me on the credit card, co signing, or anything. My bank is Mission Federal Credit union.

What do I do rebuild? I'm super worried. I was close to a 700 when I got my first secured credit card, and then I lost my job. /: help?

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:06:20 GMT

Your biggest problem is you have very little reporting. The inquiries won't count against you. They only factor into your score for the first 12 months. Cap1 is very forgiving. Call them and see what they can do to help. Your student loans won't really count against you since they aren't reporting late, who has you cell account now? Is it in collections? That's really going to be your biggest hurdle.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:09:02 GMT

Hi! Thank you for replying. I'll call Capitol one and see if I can work it out with them. And my phone company now is T-mobile but I broke contract before I was with t-mobile. My current phone company isn't in collections.

I have no idea what to do about that huge sprint charge. It doesn't make sense. I'll never be able to pay off that much, even in payments on top of my other bills.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:09:33 GMT

Oops. Hit the wrong button. You van get a secured card through Open sky with no credit check. Also see if your credit union offers a secured card. Hopefully the apartment will approve you, you may just have to pay a higher deposit. Good luck!

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:10:46 GMT

Is the sprint charge in collections?

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:11:38 GMT

The Sprint Charge is in collections, yes. Unfortunately. It went to collections a month after I cancelled the contract two years ago.

And I'll check open sky. Thank you !

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:12:50 GMT

Ok now, is the sprint charge in your name? Or your mom ? Who is primary on that account?

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:14:07 GMT

The Sprint bill is in my name. It was all signed under my name. I just had my younger brother on my contract and my mom was giving me money for his bill. It's high because I had to cancel two lines, and not just one.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:19:07 GMT

Ok I would start by sending the collection agency a debt validation. If its with midland or portfolio you might have a good chance of it being deleted if they can't validate the debt. It doesn't mean you don't owe the debt, but collections have to prove the debt before they can collect it. And midland and portfolio just got spanked for their collection practices.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:24:48 GMT

How would they validate the debt? Sorry for the questions, I'm just curious. I'll look into debt validation. Thank you again for helping.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:27:41 GMT

You send them a debt validation letter I recommend certified mail with return receipt. There are some great examples of fv letters on here. It details everything they need in order to prove the debt. If they can't prove it, they can't collect it.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:28:32 GMT

Sheesh. Pardon my typos. My phone has a mind of its own and I am still working on my first cup of coffer

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:35:41 GMT

Oops! I'll look that up now and probably send the letter today.

One final question if you can answer and I'll
Let you get back to that coffee, haha Uhm
So it shows the same Sprint account being reported on Equifax and Transunion, is that normal?

On the Equifax one it says this "This agency did not report an open account to this bureau." what does that even mean?

Okay off to get the letter. Thank you in advanced.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:42:24 GMT

A creditor or collection agency can report on all 3 if they chose to. Are you looking on credit karma by chance? I have things show up like that on ck. It means (at least on mine) that the reports aren't identical. So for instance I am trying to get Midland funding removed. On my Tu, it shows as Midland Funding with no match on EQ. EQ shows Midland Fund with no match on TU because they aren't identical.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 12:48:36 GMT

Yeah I'm looking at Credit Karma. So they're different. Okay got it. Thank you so much for everything.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 15:40:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Okay so me and my boyfriend are trying to rent an apartment and we went through the credit check and it says pending so we have to wait for a call to say approved or denied.

I'm afraid it will be denied because of my extremely low score and I'm only 20! And in college. I screwed up so early.

So the only things on my credit report is:

750 $ Sprint Fee from cancelling my Sprint service because me and my mom could not afford the entire bill. I was working hardly any hours at my last job and we had to break the contract. This was two years ago.

And a 250$ Capitol one secured card that I couldn't pay after I lost my job. (I'm paying that off this Friday)

I also have 6 Hard Inquiries from two years ago that will be gone by December.

I have student loan of 2,300 on there but it's subsidized so I don't even have to pay it until I'm out of school (which is forever) so why would they count that against me if I don't even HAVE to pay it yet?

That's all I have... And I have no family AT ALL to help me by putting me on the credit card, co signing, or anything. My bank is Mission Federal Credit union.

What do I do rebuild? I'm super worried. I was close to a 700 when I got my first secured credit card, and then I lost my job. /: help?

During rebuilding, IMO its far more important to establish NEW ACCOUNTS, than it is to try to get old accounts removed. Start off with Open Sky, as one other poster suggested. I would also suggest a secured card from SDFCU. Once you get a couple of secured cards reporting your score will jump way up, regardless of your derogs. You'll still be in the toilet, like most of us, but you'll be in the bowl, rather than the the sewer.

Did the Cap One card go to Charge Off status?

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 20:34:16 GMT

From my experience with apartments in NYC, I would say to tackle any reported collections and try to open a secured credit card. Most rental places here do not want to see any collections. Everything else can be worked on in time.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 21:40:08 GMT

My wife and I just went through the whole aparment hunting thing. Here's what we learned. Don't get your heart set on a given apartment. Have some choices. Our first choice denied us. We went to the 2nd choice and they required a risk fee equal to 1 months rent. It's what we have to pay for not having stellar credit. Having the options makes the difference. I also think it helps that I had all my ducks in a row and disclosed everything to the rental agent. When she asked for proof of income, I was able to send it immediately without delay. That seemed to imress her.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 01:58:28 GMT

It went to charge off, I'm paying it off this week.

Re: 450 credit score? Help...

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 01:59:19 GMT

Okay thank you! I'll keep that in my mind. I appreciate the comments