topic Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad in Rebuilding Your Credit

540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need advise

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:14:08 GMT

Experian Start date 10.13.18 10.21.2018 11.7.2018 11.9.2018

Credit Score 550 530 532 540

Creditor Account Amount Opened

Convergent Outsourcing Sprint $107.00 2/1/2016 Removed 10/21 .18

State Collection Service Hospital Bill $566.00 12/1/2015 Removed 11.12.18

Tek-Collect School bill $285.00 1/1/2017 Removed 11.12.18

Trident Asset Mgmt Verizon $233.00 2/1/2015 Removed 10.21.18

Wells Fargo Bank revolving Wells Fargo $182.00 3/1/2013 Confirmed 11.12.18

Jefferson Capital Systems Verizon $2,862.00 6/1/2018 Confirmed 11.9.2018

Transword System Electric bill $388.00 8/1/2015 Confirmed 10.25.18

I’ve got four objectives:

*To have good credit and to never have bad credit again

*To buy a car next year(SUV @40k)

*To buy a new house

*And my credit card dream-An American express card

Earlier this year(six months ago) I applied for and received a Capitol One Platinum secured card. I used $1000,000 as a deposit and thus that was my credit line. My credit score suffered however because I didn’t realize until two months ago to pay off my charges before the next billing statement. So I am sensitive to credit utilization now-so sensitive that everytime I charge I literally pay it off that day(I pay cash at the bank, call Cap 1 and have it applied right away). I only leave $20-$30 on each billing statement-way under 10% utilization.

BTW-Capitol One, with no notification, increased my credit line by $300. So after six months my credit line is now $1300.

Now the Experian report above shows whats been happening with that report. I’ve got four things deleted and three were confirmed and remain. I need advice on the best way to get them removed. I understand to not call the collection agency directly. The Wells Fargo account was a secured credit card. I cancelled it but I guess I owed money in the end.

Also what can I do to increase my score? I really need to get to 650 quickly. I really want to buy a house, a car and get an Amex next year(the Amex is just a personal thing). Should I get another secured card? I’ve read on this board that Capitol One will graduate the secured to a Quicksilver with a history of good payments. And given they just increased my credit line to $1300 I am hoping they will do that.

Of note-my Transunion and Equifax scores are similar. However Equifax for example confirmed the school bill above that Experian deleted. How can one credit company confirm and another delete?

I make 90K a year and cant get credit for anything with is ridiculous and entirely my fault. Any and all advise would be appreciated and I will be sure to alert everyone to my progress so others can benefit

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:20:30 GMT

Few corrections and notes from my posts above:

*My Capitol one deposit was $1,000.00

*All of the deletes occurred as a result of challenging them on Experians website.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

dynamicvb — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:25:47 GMT

I guess you got the ones removed by a dispute. Keep in mind that if they are valid debts, then they may come back. Either with this lender or another collection agency. You need to try and negotiate pay for deletes where possible to get them settled and gone for good. I do recognize some of the names on your list form others posts, so search around and see what others have been able to accomplish.

If you can't get a PFD, then paying is always better than nothing. That way they stop reporting monthly and dinging you each month. Eventually, they will start to age off.

When you pull your scores and you get the list of what is hurting your credit, what is the first item on the list? That is what is hurting you the most. If its too many accounts not in good standing, then these chargeoffs are what is holding you back the most.

It won't hurt to get some other tradelines reporting positively. They can only help, but until you get some baddies gone you may not see a lot of progress in a score improvement. You did not mention an installment loan, if you don't have one of those open, then you will get hit there on credit mix.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:36:11 GMT

ok - you have several goals - and they may NOT all coincide with one another and may be a bit ambitious to get all in a year - just so you know.

First you have to get a score up enough to get the loans, either mortgage or auto, as well as AMEX (I got Blue Everyday Card at a 664 which is the low end for them and I think they pull TU).

Mortgage lenders do not want to see any applications for at least 6 months prior to applying for a mortgage - so if you want to buy a house in December 2019 - you cannot apply for ANYTHING after late May 2019. Also - you need to watch your DTI on mortgage - if you have high credit card payments, collections, car payment, etc - and they add up to more than about 45% - give or take a % - of income - you won't qualify) That means you really only have 6 months to raise your scores, the car, and the AMEX.

You need to work on PFD (Pay for Delete) on the collections - see if you pay them off if they will delete. In the grand scheme for a mortgage - you HAVE to pay these and show they were paid in order to clear mortgage underwriting. I will say that the majority of mortgage lenders don't want to see an unpaid collection out there - paid is better than not for manual review in underwriting. PFD is best!

A self secured loan through a credit union could be a good installment loan for you to get. Otherwise you need to work on getting 3 cards - with ONE reporting a small balance (See AZEO method).

You might be able to get a car loan now, but tough with scores where they are - and the interest would kill you. I'd hold off on the car as long as possible if you can. I'd even say if you have the scores - go for the mortgage first and get the car loan later....but that's my opinion.

Best of luck!

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:40:40 GMT

I did have them removed by dispute. So perhaps you are write in saying they will come back. I do not have any type of installment loans at all. Mainly because I do not qualify for any. And from reading other posts it seems pay for delete is difficult to obtain from collection agencies.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:43:54 GMT

So are you saying that no matter what I need to pay off the collections in order to buy a house? If thats the case I need to get started on paying them. And as I said to the earlier poster I have read that pay for deletes are very difficult to obtain.

Are you saying I need to get three secured credit cards? What others would you suggest other than my Capitol One Platinum?

The car is not a priority and it can wait. The house is the priority for me.

I cant qualify for any installement loans. Any suggestions?

Thank you to everyone who is responding.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:44:08 GMT

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Jefferson-Capital-PFD-success/td-p/5252254

Check out this thread - it looks like they negotiated with Jefferson for a delete.

If you search the other collection agencies on this board you might find Transworld as well.

Wells Fargo is notoriously difficult - but for mortgage purposes I'd work at getting it paid.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:52:12 GMT

For an installment loan try a self-secured loan at a credit union. I didn't have to go this route - but to me it feels like a secured credit card - you make a deposit and then borrow against it. I'm sure someone else can explain it better.

Credit cards - if you can't get unsecured go secured. Credit Unions are good - Discover Card has one that graduates to unsecured, or maybe Capital One.

Yes - Mortgages want collections paid - even if its hanging out there - Paid looks better to the underwriter than unpaid. Contacting and asking for PFD can be difficult - but not impossible.

Jefferson - I sent you a link to someone else who was able to do it - you can ask them how.

Wells - that one is tough - You may end up paying it and then trying desparately (again tough with them) for a GW deletion.

Transworld - that looks like a Utility - maybe contact the utility and see if you pay them if they will call it back from collections - I did do that on an old Direct TV bill and that was the easiest one I had to take care of!

Mind you - most of my baddies collections were cleared a couple of years ago...some things may have changed, but the procedures are out there. Some companies have gotten better about PFD since it helps give someone an incentive to pay.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:58:43 GMT

Yes if anyone has more info about the secured loan please chime in. I've got the Capitol One card already so i will apply for the Discover. I need a third option..

The Wells is a small amount so I will just pay it.

Transword is a utility bill so I will just call them.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:37:51 GMT

Are you getting car loans with your local services? And what documents they require if they give you a loan? I mean, i'm looking for one as well, but in my place in you have only local paydayloansouthdakota.com that not willing to works with them, but that's the only service you can trust to. Others will take almost every property proving document and ig you miss even one day in payments your car is towed to a blocked parking and then to auction house. That's really sucks, but laws here are totally on a company side in almost every situation.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

dynamicvb — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:56:55 GMT

If you do a search for secured savings loans or SSL you will find a lot of threads on these loans. It’s basically a savings account or cd that acts like an installment loan. Take a look at self lender. Most credit unions offer these. You pay them a certain amount each month then at the end you get a CD for the amount minus the fees. Or some like self lender the fees are built in. The best of these for the most score boost is to get it and immediately pay it down to less than 8.9 percent. This is assuming they then push the next due payment out 1-2 years what every the term is. This gives you an almost paid off loan, which helps you twice once for mix and second for low utilization.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

dynamicvb — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 22:59:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Are you getting car loans with your local services? And what documents they require if they give you a loan? I mean, i'm looking for one as well, but in my place in you have only local paydayloansouthdakota.com that not willing to works with them, but that's the only service you can trust to. Others will take almost every property proving document and ig you miss even one day in payments your car is towed to a blocked parking and then to auction house. That's really sucks, but laws here are totally on a company side in almost every situation.

Stay away from payday loans. Those are considered consumer finance and will hurt your score a lot for the entire time on your report even when paid off.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 23:04:14 GMT

Is there an amount you recommend for the secured loan?
Back to what someone else said-any advice on a third credit card? And do these additional cards need high limits like my Cap 1 secured(1k) deposit?

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

dynamicvb — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 23:18:07 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Is there an amount you recommend for the secured loan?
Back to what someone else said-any advice on a third credit card? And do these additional cards need high limits like my Cap 1 secured(1k) deposit?

Most are 1-2k with a one or two year term. The amount doesn’t matter, the utilization is where it counts for your score. Same thing with the credit cards 200 can help the same as 10k as long as you keep the reported utilization percentages in check.

You may want to fix your mix before you add any new cards. I don’t remember if you said your age of accounts was but you are lowering it with each new account which can also have a negative effect too.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 03:23:52 GMT

http://www.selflender.com - Installment loan (No qualification needed.)

Secured cards - Capital One, Discover, Citi, or basically any bank or credit union.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 04:06:25 GMT

Thanks for this info. I am thinking my strategy should be the following:

*Get a Discover secured card(limit is irrelevant-its the utilisation that counts)

*Get a small installment loan

*Either get pay to delete or just pay off whats owed.

I hope that these actions will result in, this time next year, my qualification for a home loan.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 05:32:33 GMT

I was able to raise my scores up enough this year from low 600 to get a mortgage this year. I went through a mortgage broker that found me the best deal. I had 9 collections reporting at the time, all medical, so they didn't require me to pay them. I also had opened up a secured BOA and Discover 3 months before I applied for mortgage.

If I were you I would make your priority to get your other collections removed first. that's what is killing your score the most .Try PFD with them and if they won't do it then PIF and follow up with GW letters every few weeks and eventually they may delete.

Next, if you only have 1 credit card then open up 2 more secured cards. Discover is great. Pay your balances each month in FULL before your statement cuts in two of the cards and let a small balance of about $20 report on the third card. This is the AZEO method which helps mortgage score and it's what I did.

Next, start a savings account right away and put everything you can into it regularly each month. The lender will want to see you have enough cash assets in the bank or in a retirement account to be able to pay at least 3 months of mortgage payments.

I had a car loan that I paid off in April and I lost about 30 points because of it. Fortunately, the secured cards I opened improved m y score within a few months. I didn't want to open up a secured loan right before apping for mortgage because you don't want to open up any new accounts for at least 3 months prior to mortgage .

You can do it, just dig in and get serious about your finances. Our yourself on a tight budget and don't app for the mortgage till your middle mortgage score is at least 640. I was able to get mine with a mid of 625 but it's heasier to find lenders at 640. 740 and above is ideal for best rates

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 13:12:08 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I was able to raise my scores up enough this year from low 600 to get a mortgage this year. I went through a mortgage broker that found me the best deal. I had 9 collections reporting at the time, all medical, so they didn't require me to pay them. I also had opened up a secured BOA and Discover 3 months before I applied for mortgage.

If I were you I would make your priority to get your other collections removed first. that's what is killing your score the most .Try PFD with them and if they won't do it then PIF and follow up with GW letters every few weeks and eventually they may delete.

Next, if you only have 1 credit card then open up 2 more secured cards. Discover is great. Pay your balances each month in FULL before your statement cuts in two of the cards and let a small balance of about $20 report on the third card. This is the AZEO method which helps mortgage score and it's what I did.

Next, start a savings account right away and put everything you can into it regularly each month. The lender will want to see you have enough cash assets in the bank or in a retirement account to be able to pay at least 3 months of mortgage payments.

I had a car loan that I paid off in April and I lost about 30 points because of it. Fortunately, the secured cards I opened improved m y score within a few months. I didn't want to open up a secured loan right before apping for mortgage because you don't want to open up any new accounts for at least 3 months prior to mortgage .

You can do it, just dig in and get serious about your finances. Our yourself on a tight budget and don't app for the mortgage till your middle mortgage score is at least 640. I was able to get mine with a mid of 625 but it's heasier to find lenders at 640. 740 and above is ideal for best rates

Wow this is great information. Than you so much. I am going to apply for the Discover today and find another card I can apply for. When you say secured BOA do you mean the self lender type loan?

Also can anyone advise what mobile app or website I should use to keep track of all of my scores?

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

dynamicvb — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 13:20:27 GMT

I personally like the myfico subscription with the monthly 3b updates. It's not the cheapest by any means, but you get all the variations of your scores, including the mortgage scores. From what I've read mortgage scores do seem to be a little sensitive to not having a decent credit mix. When I started rebuilding, I had loans on my reports, but no credit card. Adding two cards gave me a 50+ point boost as it fixed my mix. A loan will likely do similar for you. Won't hurt to add the other card, but that is not going to help a lot like the loan will.

Re: 540 score and wanting to buy a house, car and qualify for Amex in the next twelve months-need ad

Shooting-For-800 — Thu, 15 Nov 2018 20:05:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Also what can I do to increase my score? I really need to get to 650 quickly. I really want to buy a house, a car and get an Amex next year(the Amex is just a personal thing). Should I get another secured card? I’ve read on this board that Capitol One will graduate the secured to a Quicksilver with a history of good payments. And given they just increased my credit line to $1300 I am hoping they will do that.

I make 90K a year and cant get credit for anything with is ridiculous and entirely my fault. Any and all advise would be appreciated and I will be sure to alert everyone to my progress so others can benefit

Please do not get offended by this...

You really should not be trying to buy a house any time soon.

Everyone has ups and downs but you have to change your lifestyle before you can worry about a house.

You had $100 bills go to collection, you are already thinking about a $40k SUV, etc.

There is no way to fix your credit within a year or even two.

Even if you can get a mortgage, the rate will not be anywhere near normal.

I would look at a 5 year goal if I was in your position. No unsecured debt, no secured debt underwater, car loan under 5% apr, and a mortgage rate within 2% of the best available with no PMI.

Make your home purchase a reward for completely changing your financial health. That will take 3-5 years of very hard work and discipline.

Home ownership has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages. $5,000 A/C repair, $10,000 roof repair, $5,000 plumbing or electrical repairs, etc.

Please do not take this too negative. Everyone, including myself, has had financial ups and downs.

GL!