Need help...don't know what to risk trying to fix.

[Anonymous]

Hi again...I've posted on here a few times and I still am not sure what to do.

I appreciate anyone taking the time to read this and would love any advice and facts that you can offer. 

Here is my situation:  I have been pre-approved for a mortgage, but we're building a home so I have a few month until I need to lock in a rate, giving me a chance to fix my credit up some and get a better rate and lower PMI.  If my rate goes down, I will loose the pre-approval and my deposit on the home. 

My scores are TU: 627, EQ: 608 (went down 2 points because of a dispute from Credit One...I tried to get them to report my CL) and EX: 608

I am focusing on my EQ because that is my middle score.  I really want it up to 620.

Here are the things that are hurting me the most: 

*A paid tax lien for $400...released 3/07 (already disputed and verified)

*A paid medical collection for $250 (disputed and verified, but not too long after it was paid)

*some 30/60 lates from late 2000 on a mortgage that was paid off two years ago...they should be going off the end of this year, but probably not before I need to lock in a rate.  The bank is a small town local bank. 

Okay, so for the tax lien, I am going to send a GW letter to the state (wishful thinking)...I don't think there is anything else I can do right??

For the medical collection, I am sending a GW letter to them and am not sure if I should dispute again or not.  If I dispute again, would it lower my score?  What about making it active...will it take longer to drop off?  If I am going to dispute, should I still send a letter? 

For the old mortgage baddies, if I dispute them and the bank doesn't respond, will they delete the baddies or delete the whole account?  I have several years of good mortgage history and am worried about loosing it.

I cannot risk my score going down so I want to do things that will only help increase it.  What are everyone's thoughts or suggestions?? 

I have two CC's with no lates (Cap 1 $500 CL with a $50 balance and Credit One $200 CL with a $48 balance).  I thought about getting another CC (Hooters?) but then worried about another inquiry.  I also thought about getting Credit One to increase my limit (I've had the card since Dec 06 and they've never raised it) but I'm also worried about another inquiry hurting my score.

HELP!!  I really don't know what to do!!

[Eric958]

The quickest thing I see you can do is get your $50 balance down to $5 and the $48 balance down to $20 or less.That should help alittle with the utilization % game. If I'm wrong I'm sure one of the pro's can chime in on this.

GOOD LUCK
E!

[sl]

The lates in 2000 should be coming off soon.  What was the DOFD?

[Anonymous]

Nov. of 2000...we will be locking in a rate somtime in October so the seven years wouldn't be up yet.

[sl]

Try a dispute as Obsolete for the late pays  in 2000.  You should have a pretty good chance of getting them removed.  But that far back, it  may not give you the jump you need. But woth a try.

[Anonymous]

Also, the baddies on the mortgage piggybacked through most of 2001...there were a lot because once we were behind a month we could never got caught up.  Would it be worth risking having this account deleted since there is so much bad history?  Or not worth the rist because the bad history is all from 2002 and earlier?

[Anonymous]

Okay, I'm going to do that right now. 

Any other suggestions with the medical collection or applying for another CC?

[Anonymous]

What does obsolete mean??  I'm not sure which box to check.

[Anonymous]

Dispute the lates on the mortgage as never late. Since it's almost 7 years it MIGHT get taken off no questions asked. It worked for me on a Ford car loan from 2001 and on a WAMU mortgage from 01. I can tell you though that it will more than likely have little if any effect on your scores by itself.

Since you only have 2 cards, why not go to your local home depot or target and get a card? The inquiry isn't really going to make much difference compared to 2-3 months of good credit reporting and a lower utilization by adding more credit. Also paying the other 2 cards down to 1-9% utilization will help as well. If you did all 3 I don't see why you couldn't get those scores up to 620+.

Disputing the collection can't hurt either. Just use CA agreed to remove when payment was made. Payment made xx-xx-xx. If the collection is recent this could have a major impact on your score. I had a 6 mo old collection removed from my reports and it bumped my EX by 50 points. BUT I had a collection from 2004 removed and my score didn't budge at all.

Finally, you might also try to have you added as an AU on a couple "good" accounts from a friend or relative. I know this loophole is going away very soon but you might be able to see some benefit from it for your October rate locking. Good luck with the house.

[Anonymous]

I think it goes into effect in September. 

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Finally, you might also try to have you added as an AU on a couple "good" accounts from a friend or relative. I know this loophole is going away very soon but you might be able to see some benefit from it for your October rate locking. Good luck with the house.

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