37 points in a year?

[Anonymous]

Trying to buy a house soon-ish and mortgage score Is 583. In order to qualify for a conventional loan I'll need at least 620. Is this possible in the next year? I don't have any high balances or anything, the low score is from mostly late payments / older collections from when I went through hard times previously. Been paying everything on time consistently for the last 12 months.

[thornback]

Welcome to the forums!

It's absolutely possible if you are able to remove some of those delinquencies.   

Can you list your late payments (creditor, how many, age, and severity - 30, 60, 90 day) and collection accounts (collection agency name, Date of First Delinquency, paid/unpaid status) so we can offer advice? 

[Anonymous]

Your focus should be on removing derogs from your report. Generally the lowest hanging fruit for scores is lowering utilization. If you have that already covered then you have to tackle the items lowering your score. Target the most recent derogs first since they are hurting your score the most and also the most severe. A 30 day late isn't as bad as a Charge Off, etc. We've seen people grow their scores by well over 37 points in a year (myself included) but your score won't just organically rise that much unfortunately without active work. 

[satio]

As suggested above, tell us what your current credit profile looks like.

Late payments from 12+ months ago are typically only able to be removed through a goodwill communications to the creditors unless there is some error in how something has been reported.

Based on how old they are and their type (30-60-etc) you will experience point recovery over time as they age until they fall off. 30 day lates see majority of point recovery when they age to 24 months.

Depending on the number of collections, you could see a significant overall credit profile and score improvement by tackling those particularly if you can get them completely removed in exchange for payment.... certainly 37+ points are possible.

[Anonymous]

Accounts:

Citicards – charge off – last payment 12/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/3

USAA – charge off – last payment 11/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/2/4

Prosper – charge off – last payment 1/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/0

First Premier – charge off – settled for less than full balance - last payment 8/1/17 – 30/60/90=3/2/3

Military Star – in collection/charge-off-remarks “paid collection” – 0/0/0

Care Credit – charge off – last payment 12/1/18 – settled for less than full balance – 4/3/4

USAA – current – last payment 1/1/19 – paid off – 30/60/90=9/1/0

Pentagon – charge off – last payment 5/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/3

Capital One - In good standing - Balance $0 / Limit $750 - Times Late 30/60/90:  6/3/4

Carrington Mortgage #1 - $0 Closed/ Paid and Closed - settled less than full balance - 30/60/90=4/4/10

Ocwen Loan Servicing - $0 Closed - 30/60/90=4/1/9

Collections

CBE Group $1063, opened May 2020 (starting payment to pay off by April)

AWA Collections, $2438, opened Jan 2017 (medical debt) (no action taken by me yet)

National Recovery $155, opened March 2017 (medical) (can easily pay off)

Security Credit Service, opened Dec 2018, $18605 (they offered to settle for around $5500)

[Anonymous]

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@satio wrote:

As suggested above, tell us what your current credit profile looks like.

Late payments from 12+ months ago are typically only able to be removed through a goodwill communications to the creditors unless there is some error in how something has been reported.

Based on how old they are and their type (30-60-etc) you will experience point recovery over time as they age until they fall off. 30 day lates see majority of point recovery when they age to 24 months.

Depending on the number of collections, you could see a significant overall credit profile and score improvement by tackling those particularly if you can get them completely removed in exchange for payment.... certainly 37+ points are possible.

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How do you go about getting them removed in exchange for payment?  Can you do it over the phone, or do you have to write a letter?

[thornback]

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@Anonymous wrote:

How do you go about getting them removed in exchange for payment?  Can you do it over the phone, or do you have to write a letter?

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Pay for Deletes are for collection agencies - not original creditors - and may be done by phone, email, or by mail.   You are essentially offering payment (either in full or a negotiated settlement amount) in exchange for deletion from your credit reports.   I would first search each collection agency in the forums using the searchbar to see if others have had successful PFD experiences with them -- that will give you an idea of their procedures and how to go about initiating negotations.   For those which you are unable to find any posts from members, I would recommend sending your request in writing and requesting their response in writing.  

[thornback]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Accounts:

Citicards – charge off – last payment 12/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/3    

USAA – charge off – last payment 11/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/2/4

Prosper – charge off – last payment 1/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/0

Pentagon – charge off – last payment 5/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/3

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I'm assuming the above charge-offs remain unpaid?   Are the tradelines still showing an outstanding balance owed or has the debt been sold to a collection agency  (if sold, the tradeline will reflect a $0 balance and notated as 'sold' in the comments)?

[simplegirl]

Here is a url to collections that do PFD https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Collection-agencies-that-do-PFD/m-p/5675391#...

[Anonymous]

@thornback see CAPS and thanks for taking the time to reply

Accounts:

Citicards – charge off – last payment 12/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/3    

BALANCE 5800, PAST DUE 3150

USAA – charge off – last payment 11/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/2/4

BALANCE 1213

Prosper – charge off – last payment 1/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/0

0 BALANCE, PAID AFTER CHARGE OFF

Pentagon – charge off – last payment 5/1/17 – 30/60/90=1/1/3

COLLECTION - (security credit)