Looking for best way to improve my score for a home loan

[Anonymous]

I’m looking to move for a new job, and the pay 18 months has been rough for making payments on time. I’m caught up on the house, but have collection account I just found out about from 2014 for $700. Other than that, everything shows pretty accurate, although ugly. My mortgage is showing past due when in fact it is not and has not been for months.
I do not have any credit cards, nor open credit card accounts, for close to 20 years. Just a tiny business loan (current), single auto loan, and student loan with a balance of less than $1800.

What Can I do to boost my score from the 580-something into the 620 range for a VA home loan in the next 3-4 months?

Thanks much!

[radfam]

The very first thing I would recommend is finding a post by ABCD and read every link in his signature.  

[Anonymous]

I highly recommend renting at least for a year for a few reasons here.

1. You're moving for a new job . . be sure it's working out before committing to a home in that area.

 2. You just came off of having difficulty making payments for a year and a half. Live cheaply now and build your emergency fund so that this doesn't happen again.

 3. As some time passes, you can write goodwill letters asking for removal of the lates. Look up the saturation method and continue sending them until you see results.

4. You need to open 3 credit cards to get your credit score up *but* you don't want to do this within 6-12 months of applying for a home loan. If you rent for a couple of years, you can open the cards now and let them age by the time you're ready to buy a home.

[Anonymous]

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@radfam wrote:

The very first thing I would recommend is finding a post by ABCD and read every link in his signature.  

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Start here... http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/ABCD2199-s-Eleven-Rules-to-Credit-Rebuilding/...