Desperate dad, need advice on first home purchase

[Anonymous]

First of all, thank you for viewing my post.

To make a long story short; about 4 years ago I was in an accident in which I nearly lost my left hand. After going to a specialty hand surgeon, and months of therapy I regained decent mobility of my hand (thank God). I was working as an auto technician, for a small family owned garage prior to my incident (19 yrs old, living on my own). I had no medical insurance, barely made minimum wage, etc... the accident left me out of work for several months, so I became late on 2 cc accounts, and my account with Verizon. The medical bills were more than I'd make in several years. the medical people refused to take less than an outrageous amount per month (approx $400) so I was essentially forced to not pay, they would NOT take what I could offer.

I "gave up" on credit, thought I could live my life without it. Until recently.

I desperately need to buy a house for my family, nothing crazy, just a decent house.

I've paid off all collections (except huge med. Bills) within past 2 years.
I got a used car loan 14 months ago ($10,000 loan) with a bad credit company (they do report bureaus) never late on a single payment $337/ mo @ 4yr. The car is actually nearly paid for.
I got a secured cc w/ cap one and always make on time, more than minimum payments.

My middle score is approx 585-590.
My score is barely creeping up, it's very slow.
Do I have a shot with any lenders for an FHA?
I'm confused, and need to know what options I have.

Thank you so very much.

[Whitneyy]

Hello and welcome! 

Sorry about your accident. 

So, on your report you only have the medicals and Verizon? Have you pulled your reports from annualcreditreport.com so you can see what exactly is holding you down? 

[Anonymous]

Whitneyy,

There are 3 or 4 meds, ranging from $700 to $6400(and duplicates by CA's). These are from 2010. Verizon which is reported add paid but still a negativeaccount. There are 3 other negative accounts, which were duplicated also by CA's. I have paid off all negative accounts (except med bills) either through the original creditor or the CA. It seems like the duplicated info, and need bold are killing my progress. My score is growing, but only a couple points at a time. Would new cc accounts help "offset" negative accounts? As far as my report is concerned I only have 3 good accounts (which are perfect payments) vs 12 negative.

[Anonymous]

And I'm sorry for some of the off words, my phone isn't cooperating.

Thank you

[Whitneyy]

If you paid the OC I would DV the CA as they have nothing to collect on. As far as the medical debts, you can google the HIPAA method for medical collections. It cannot be discussed on this board, you might gain some type of help with this. You can also phone the CRAs about the duplicated entries, I did that before and they were deleted within a day!

[Anonymous]

Whitneyy,

Thank you, I'll look into this. I'm hoping I can make it to a 640+ by Jan / Feb or sooner, hopefully then obtaining a home loan will be a reality.

Please explain what exactly you mean by dv?
Sorry, not sure what that is.

[Whitneyy]

Debt Validation. You send those to the collection agencies, not the OC.