Credit Card Advice

[Anonymous]

My credit score recently went up to 639 after nearly a decade in the mid 500s. My car will be paid off in a couple of months I. I have a five year loan that I paid on time every time except for 4 times when I was 30days late. I have 3 negative  items on my credit report. One for $35 that I paid and now shows as "Paid, was a collection account, insurance claim or government claim or was terminated for default" (not sure what this means). The second for $70 that I paid off almost 2 months ago but still shows up my credit report and the third for $346 that is in dispute. I have no credit cards. I applied for a Barclays bank credit card a couple of months ago when my score was in the mid 500s and and got denied. Not surprisingly. This was before I found this forum. I used to be stupid and naiive :-)

My goal is to get my score into the 700s before the end of the year. I need your help. What do I need to do? I am told that getting a credit card and using it properly is the way to go. What are your suggestions. Should I apply for a credit card now that my score is a little higher? 

[dodfire]

Congrats on your success so far.....

First thing you should do is work on getting those negatives removed before you apply for anything.

At this point you should try to GW them....because you paid them already.

Future knowledge, you should have requested a PFD (pay for delete) before you paid them.

[Anonymous]

+1 to dodfire

After you've taking care of the baddies, you will want to position yourself for approvals with minimum inq's. are you a member of a cu?

[Anonymous]

No, I am not a member of a CU.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I will work on getting the negatives removed. I'm sorry, but what does "GW them" mean?

[dodfire]

GW = Good Will

You can do a search on the formus here for GW and see some examples of letters. 

Use them as a guide not as a template, write the company and request them to remove the negative accounts that you paid. 

[Anonymous]

Apply for a secure credit card and in one year you would be eligible for better cards. Revolving credit is very important for good fico score.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I will look into getting a secure credit card.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the info. I will send the letters out and let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

[dodfire]

Wishing you the best of luck!!!