4 points from Qualifying

[Anonymous]

Did they do a hard pull when you found out you're 4 points from qualifying?  If so, you're likely now more than 4 points away.

[shols44]

Trish, agree you should let a small balance report. I think you probably need to think long term though. You have not really re-established credit since your BK it seems. Two store cards are certainly not going to get you there. You definitely need to add revolving credit, keep your util 1-9 percent, and wait six months. I think your HP probably knocked off a few points as well so you are likely 10-15pts back.

Without adding a revolving line or two, the easiet thing would be to get your collections deleted. Since you filed BK, you can dispute the collections if the OC were included in the filing. I disputed my collections under no authority to collect/debt discharged and all were deleted. The other thing is to try a simple DV even though the debts are discharged. Perhaps they never had their ducks in a row to begin with. 

That being said, don't take this the wrong way....entering a major financial transaction with a "boyfriend" is a very sketchy idea IMO. There are so many ways this could go wrong I can't list them all. My advice is to work on rebuilding your credit profile because you've let it go for too long already and focus on long term credit recovery. 

[Trish]

No worries I'm not taking it the wrong way. It's solid advice. However marriage is no guarantee of stability and I personally don't have an interest in it...with anyone. If marriage was a guarantee then I'm certain divorce wouldn't exist. That being said, there is no concern of the longevity of our relationship. If there was, neither of us would consider purchasing a home together. Which if you think about it is nothing more than a legal contract binding us together for the purpose of sharing property. . .which is in large part what marriage does just in a wider scope.

But that's a debate for a different forum....

I apologize but I'm not familiar with some of the shorthand used. What is HP, DV, CO?

I realize having another line of credit would be beneficial however I'm really trying to avoid it.

I've previously inquired with the collection agencies that are paid off about removing things that are listed on my BK or are paid off ans was told they legally can nor do it. They can only mark them as paid.

The reason we are trying to get my credit up ASAP is because there are VERY few homes on the market in our area that fall into what we need at our price. We found one, but it was gone in less than 3 days. We don't want it to happen again. We could afford $1200/mo mortgage, but we want to stay around 750-800. Not easy to do when you want an acre of land and a 4 bedroom.

[fishbjc]

Have you tried reaching out via personal phone contact?  Give them a song and dance and see how they respond.  If the agent says no, ask to speak to a supervisor. 

I had a medical removed by calling them. 

[elleng81]

What is your boyfriend's utilization on his cards? With that high of a score I can't imagine it is very high. Can he put you on as an AU? Not only would you get that additional line of credit but you would inherit all of his history (on time payments and length of time the card was opened). I bet you would get four points there.

[DaBears]

---

@Trish wrote:
No worries I'm not taking it the wrong way. It's solid advice. However marriage is no guarantee of stability and I personally don't have an interest in it...with anyone. If marriage was a guarantee then I'm certain divorce wouldn't exist. That being said, there is no concern of the longevity of our relationship. If there was, neither of us would consider purchasing a home together. Which if you think about it is nothing more than a legal contract binding us together for the purpose of sharing property. . .which is in large part what marriage does just in a wider scope.

But that's a debate for a different forum....

I apologize but I'm not familiar with some of the shorthand used. What is HP, DV, CO? HP is a Hard Pull of your credit reports, DV is a Debt Validation Letter and CO is a Charge-Off which the creditor has to do by federal law after 180 days. It means to them that the debt is uncollectable and is used as an accounting term for their accounting books and is used at tax time for them. 

I realize having another line of credit would be beneficial however I'm really trying to avoid it.

I've previously inquired with the collection agencies that are paid off about removing things that are listed on my BK or are paid off ans was told they legally can nor do it. They can only mark them as paid.

The reason we are trying to get my credit up ASAP is because there are VERY few homes on the market in our area that fall into what we need at our price. We found one, but it was gone in less than 3 days. We don't want it to happen again. We could afford $1200/mo mortgage, but we want to stay around 750-800. Not easy to do when you want an acre of land and a 4 bedroom.

---

Community Leader, 

DaBears

[Trish]

His limit is 10k but balance is 6k. (Carried over debt from a previous divorce)
I'm afraid being added would tank my score even though payment history is excellent.

DaBears thank you for the clarification.

[DaBears]

I would wait till the balance is reduce. right now he is somewhere over 55% UTIL on that card. It could lower your score. How many cards do you have? and what is the UTIL on those?

[Trish]

I have 2. 200 and 150 limits. The 200 I never use and the 150 I just paid off. Had 48 charged on it. Score went up when I took the balance to 0. Should I use it for some thing small again?

[shols44]

Trish, I am not asking you to request a goodwill delete from the collection agencies reporting on your file. Initiate a dispute for every collection account on the the grounds that "the collection itself is not valid, no grounds, OC discharged in BK". While you are doing that, send a Debt Validation (DV) to each CA. Those two actions alone could get you 50 pts if the CA's delete. 

Regarding open new lines of credit, I can understand your reluctance, but in the end you will need good credit multiply unless you have a tons of cash. Car rentals, stuff for that new house, emergencies and travel, rewards etc.

I'd say 3 revolving lines is what you need. I'm pretty optimistic you will get approved for a few cards. You could hold off for now since you are actively trying to get a mortgage. Let at least $1 report on your card. If your BF can reduce his balance to under 30% that should generate a score boost. Does he have any other active lines?