What should I do in a short amount of time?

[Math_Rocks]

I have been a lurker for a few weeks and I find all of this so helpful. Thank you to all of you who post/reply with such honesty and sincere desire to help others.

My husband and I filed Ch 7 BK in March 2001 (discharged June 2001) and like many felt worthless and ashamed and essentially stayed out of the credit world for a few years. We were blessed with our 2nd child in 2002 and for a multitude of reasons needed to get into a home in 2004. We got an FHA loan (sellers paid the 3% downpayment).  Now I am trying to finish my dissertation and expect to graduate in August. I have accepted a faculty position to begin in August in a new state. Many would argue that we should rent for a while and there is wisdom in that. However, we are choosing to buy again. This is a HUGE move and our teenage son is having great emotionally difficulty with all of this and our almost 5 year old has special needs (PDD) and we do not want to put her through all this change and then move again in a year or two. So, here we are again needing 100% financing but this time we will be going conventional and we intend to find a home to settle into long term.

I worked in the mortgage industry from '90 - '96. The mortgage broker I last worked for (before returning to college then grad school) was just beginning to pull FICOs when I left. I feel like it is a whole new world now.

After all of that, here is the situation:

I pulled all three reports last month to get an idea of where we are at. I found that 3 accounts that were IIB show as CO's. DH and I sent letters to Equifax and did OL disputes with TU and EX.  We are now almost at the 30 day mark and we have heard from TU (for husband) and EX for me. TU seems to have corrected the info but EX changed one CO to IIB and the other two now show IIB/charged off as bad debt and IIB/30 days late and have the wrong dates for BK. The IIB/CO account also shows a bunch of 30-60-90...180's before BK in 2002 (which is incorrect, it was 2001).

I have been trying to wait the 30 days to have things corrected before pulling all 3 FICOs. I want a preapproval in hand before we go househunting in 3 weeks. But I do know (as of a month ago):

husband TU 701, EQ 698

me EQ 685

The big questions are: do I start another dispute with EX or go with where we are at (with median scores probably in the 680-700 range)? Once I apply for mortgages, I will probably need to get a new CC preferably with 0% intro to help with moving costs. I know mortgage lenders don't want people opening new accounts but will it really hurt us in this process?

[Tuscani]

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Math_Rocks wrote:

I have been a lurker for a few weeks and I find all of this so helpful. Thank you to all of you who post/reply with such honesty and sincere desire to help others.

My husband and I filed Ch 7 BK in March 2001 (discharged June 2001) and like many felt worthless and ashamed and essentially stayed out of the credit world for a few years. We were blessed with our 2nd child in 2002 and for a multitude of reasons needed to get into a home in 2004. We got an FHA loan (sellers paid the 3% downpayment).  Now I am trying to finish my dissertation and expect to graduate in August. I have accepted a faculty position to begin in August in a new state. Many would argue that we should rent for a while and there is wisdom in that. However, we are choosing to buy again. This is a HUGE move and our teenage son is having great emotionally difficulty with all of this and our almost 5 year old has special needs (PDD) and we do not want to put her through all this change and then move again in a year or two. So, here we are again needing 100% financing but this time we will be going conventional and we intend to find a home to settle into long term.

I worked in the mortgage industry from '90 - '96. The mortgage broker I last worked for (before returning to college then grad school) was just beginning to pull FICOs when I left. I feel like it is a whole new world now.

After all of that, here is the situation:

I pulled all three reports last month to get an idea of where we are at. I found that 3 accounts that were IIB show as CO's. DH and I sent letters to Equifax and did OL disputes with TU and EX.  We are now almost at the 30 day mark and we have heard from TU (for husband) and EX for me. TU seems to have corrected the info but EX changed one CO to IIB and the other two now show IIB/charged off as bad debt and IIB/30 days late and have the wrong dates for BK. The IIB/CO account also shows a bunch of 30-60-90...180's before BK in 2002 (which is incorrect, it was 2001).

I have been trying to wait the 30 days to have things corrected before pulling all 3 FICOs. I want a preapproval in hand before we go househunting in 3 weeks. But I do know (as of a month ago):

husband TU 701, EQ 698

me EQ 685

The big questions are: do I start another dispute with EX or go with where we are at (with median scores probably in the 680-700 range)? Once I apply for mortgages, I will probably need to get a new CC preferably with 0% intro to help with moving costs. I know mortgage lenders don't want people opening new accounts but will it really hurt us in this process?

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Welcome! Your scores are pretty good and should be high enough to get you the lending you need. I wouldn't submit a back to back dispute with EX. They are likely to tell you they already investigated and to go away. Wait a couple of months and try the dispute again. I highly suggest that you DO NOT apply for any new credit until you close.