Taking the Mortgage plunge...my scenario any thoughts?

[atl_blh]

It seems as if AMEX reports on the CRA's on the 23rd, so we are paying it off today and hoping it will report the new balance on the 23rd.

I have not tried a PFD, I just sent a letter and the FTC ruling that I read about on here and told them to delete based on the ruing.

[StartingOver10]

Is the AMEX your only cc with a balance?

PIF every month after the statement cuts and re-charging the card again looks like you are carrying a balance. Believe me, took me a while to actually get that concept. I was under the impression that if I paid it off every month it was ok..,.lol

[aerosarcasm]

BTW, you can get all 3 FICO's here now. Just that the model for EX is newer than most lenders use, so might not line up 100% with lender pull. Trust me, if you hit enough sites, pull enough FAKO's and know your FICO's, you can be pretty confident of your score in a maybe 10 point window. I would recommend getting a CC that has a limit and keeping it at <4%, but that is a hard pull, which might drop you or if you don't have any hard pulls lately, might not be bad. I went from 680 to 727 in one month.

[atl_blh]

Here is an update on my situation....

Called First National Credit/Legacy Visa and they confirmed i had a $481 charge off and would not PFD.  They did have to go into another system to even find my info since it was from 2006.

Waiting to hear form a certified letter to Midland Credit Management on my old collection of $927 that falls under the FTC ruling for CompuCredit (thanks to the myFICO forums for showing my that FTC info).  Hoping for a delete, but i know it is a slim chance.  It is an old collection from 2006 so hoping they will just delete.

AMEX just increased my limit on my Skymiles card from $12K to $14K, so that will help.  Also had the wife add me as a user on her AMEX Blue, which may hurt me in the short term, but needed another revolving credit line other than AMEX Skymiles card.

So, I am at the point were I might pay the Charge Off so it reports paid and then cross fingers on Midland and just go ahead and try to get pre-approved and hope for better pulls from the lenders.

[tammyjk]

Your midland is old....the other poster is correct, leave it alone.  Set the money aside in case they ask you to pay it, which you can do at closing.  My middle score is 670 and I went FHA with 3 percent down and very minimal conditions.  I also have a Midland on my credit that is 6 years old and luckily will not have to pay it off.  I have never seen Midland PFD ever, if they have it's the rare instance. 

Once you open the can of worms with Midland you will have to work on getting the dispute remark removed if they do not delete. 

[atl_blh]

Well I am so happy to report we were pre-approved yesterday with my mid score of 686 for $350K at 3.9% with 3% down conventional.

I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, but I know that pre-approval is just the start of the battle.