@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone. I need some sound advice about my options for repairing my credit. I have 3 accounts in collections and two capital one cards that are closed/charged off. I got all of these cards around the same time, when I was trying to build my credit about 2 years ago. I paid all of them on time and my score was quickly rising. Then I lost my job and everything fell apart. I stopped making payments because I couldnt....not because I didn't care or was being irresponsible.
I am homeless now. For the past 8 months I've been living in a rental car. I have a job, but it doesn't pay very well. I pay almost $900 a month for the rental car because I don't have enough money to pay $1500-2000 for a down payment to purchase a car. I'll never be able to save that much paying $900 a month for rental. I feel hopeless that I'll never be able to get out of this situation.
I was thinking about hiring a credit repair firm to clean up my credit, but I don't know if that would work or if I could even afford it. I need some good advice. I've been reading the forums here and other ones, but there so much conflicting information online, it's hard to sort through it and discern what is true and what is bs. I would be truly grateful for any help.
1. You're not going to be able to borrow your way out of this situation, so forget about credit right now.
2. You need to talk to a social agency or somebody about housing, a $900 mo. rental car does you no good.
3. You need to get a room or an apartment first, before you get a car.
4. When you have 1500 or 2000 you shouldn't make a down payment, you should just buy a car from an invidivual selling a decent running older car.
5. I give you a lot of credit for holding down a job with the stress you're under.
I think you should look to rent a room in a house or find someone looking for a roomate. Craigslist is a good resource for that. Should be much cheaper than 900/mo. Try to find someplace near your work.
Also, make as many friends as possible, that is often a good way to have someone offer to let you stay with them.
You could potentially also move to a warmer climate, and just use a bicycle for transportation to work.
As far as credit repair: you would want to offer to pay for deletion of your bad accounts, get it in writing that they will delete after payment.
The next step would be to get a secured card from SDFCU (they don't pull credit). And use it wisely for a few months.
But the thing is, in your situation, you probably shouldn't use your money to repair your credit, but to look to stabilize your living situation first.
