50% Down / 610 mid / Can I get a home loan?

[medicgrrl]

PFD is pay for delete.  Basically you write the creditor a letter requesting that if you pay the account off will they delete the tradeline.  You never want to do this without having something in writing from them.  This could also lower your credit score if you are not careful.  Investigate this before you decide to proceed.

A lot of us have fallen on hard times.  That is why we are here seeking advise.  Things that happened 5 years ago don't necessarily make you a bad risk today.  Go talk with a mortgage broker and see what he says.  I still think you should put less down so you have reserves left and money to pay off the debts at closing.  See if you can get it thru the automated underwriting system and also make sure the lender will not override the AU decision based on your score alone.  I still think you have a shot at this.

[Anonymous]

If you have paid accounts that are still showing balances, you need to dispute them. If you're lucky, the creditors won't even bother to reply to the credit bureaus and they may disappear entirely. At the very least they should correct them.

[durak]

That is a great idea.  At a minimum it would (or should) remove the stuff that has been paid.  Thanks!  I guess I can do that through this website?  Or is it worth it to hire a company that specializes in credit repair?

[medicgrrl]

If you are planning on disputing accurate information then you may want to reconsider.  Several on this board have already stated they have been denied loans because their report reflects "consumer dispute"  If there is inaccurate information then that is completely different.  If you have CA's that are unpaid you may want to start by DVing (requesting a debt validation) If they are already paid then you can try to GW (goodwill letter) requesting they remove the negative items.  Those items that are still showing a balance after that you can try to do the PFD.  Just be careful doing this, again it could lower your scores depending on what you have as far as aged accounts.

[Anonymous]

Just to clarify, paying off old accounts does not remove them or help your score.  It can actually hurt your score becuase FICO judges partially on account activity so if you pay an old account that has had no activity in 4 years, it will weight that account more heavily due to the recent activity.

That said the point is not to get them removed, an underwriter will be unlikely to be comforabtle with someone who is making 150K per year and has alot of cash who has still failed to meet their obligations.  It shows that you have no problem walking away from commitments even once you ar ein a position to honor them.  So, they will likely require at least the large items to be paid.  Ask for them to pay them at close through escrow so you can get them paid without it affecting your score prior to closing on a house.

You can also attempt PFD letter as if the company agrees, they will remove the score.  I would try the repo...Offer to pay in full right now if they will alter it to show paid as agreed.  More than likely the account has already been written off and sold so this may not be possible. 

Dipsutes may prevent you from getting a loan so be careful.  Only dispute innaccurate info.

[medicgrrl]

Actually paying off old accounts can help your score.  My old accounts are not only being updated every month with a 90 day late but also affecting my utilization because they are revolving accounts.  I am pretty sure when I get those taken care of it will have a positive affect on my score because my utilization will go from 187% to less than 10%

[durak]

I guess the answer to the original question would be maybe.  Basically my plan now is to just proceed through a bank or mortgage broker, only dispute what is valid and pay whatever the lender requires at closing.  

After not using credit for the past several years and with the state of the housing/credit markets I was just curious what my options were.  My thought was that with all of the foreclosures due to no money down loans that perhaps lenders would loan money, even to people with a poor credit score, if they had a substantial down payment and several months reserves.  

[Anonymous]

By old account I mean either charge off or collection type accounts.  They should not be reporting as revolving accounts and therefore should not affect utilization.  If you are talking about a credit card that is still showing as revolving with a balance then that is another issue.  Paying it down may help your score do to utilization.  BUT, paying an old collection/charge off/judgement can and likely will lower your score since it does not help utilization unless you atrrange for a PFD. 

[medicgrrl]

It is a credit card that has been charged off.  It is showing my utilization at 187% because it is still with the OC and still being reported every month.  Even though it is a CO they are still reporting both the CO and the 90 day lates on a monthly basis.  The balance due exceeds the high credit limit so it is showing that my utilization is extremely high.  I think it all depends on how the OC reports to the bureau's.  Cap 1 reports the worst way (what a shock lol)

[Anonymous]

You might want to look into opting out before you apply.  I've heard of people that apply for a mortgage and then have old creditors pop up looking for money.