@Anonymous wrote:
Hi All,
I am seeking advise on my current credit situation. I recently got engaged and I am looking to purchase a home in the near future however my current credit is not up to par. I am sitting at around 540 FICO. If possible, I would like to boost this up to 650-700, even if it takes me a year or more. I am in no rush and I understand this process will take time.
Here is a brief summary/breakdown:
- 2 Charge-Offs (Bloomingdales / Kholes)
- Bloomingdales is approaching the 7 year mark and from the looks of it, it has not been sent to collections
- Kholes also not sent to collections yet and roughly a year old
- 4 Open collections for medical bills (~$400 total for all 4 accounts)
- 3 listings of Student Loans
- FEDLOAN - Closed / Perm Assigned to Government $0
- FEDLOAN - Closed / Perm Assigned to Government $0
- US DEPT - Closed Collections $0
- Nearing the 7 year mark. No open collections even though it states it was sent to Collections
I've read up on sending PFD and GW letters. Spoke to a few lenders/bankers to get some advise. They basically advised me to call the open collections and charge-offs and pay everything in full. I have the money to pay every account in full but I want to make sure whatever I do will have a positive effect on my report. They also advised to speak with a credit repair company but I think that's a waste and this can be done on my own (correct me if I am wrong)
What I've done so far:
- Open a secured credit card with Capital One.
- Added as an authorized user for one of my fiances CC.
- Currently paying off a KIA loan - All on time payments so far
Since the damage is already done, would it be best to just pay everything in full and put it behind me? Or should I attempt a PFD for some of these collection/CO accounts? In my eyes, regardless if its removed or marked as PAID, it looks better than where its at now.
Regarding the loans - I unfortunetly do not have any paperwork that proves these have been payed off. But I do remember getting a call last year to pay off remaining balance of my loan. I agreed and paid but forgot to ask for confirmation. This is all stupidity on my end and I am learning a lot from my past mistakes. Is it possible that loans are reporting incorrectly? I have been receiving my tax return every year and my paycheck has not been touched.
All help is greatly appreciated. I want to put this all behind me and make sure I am making the right moves. If additional information is needed, please let me know.
Welcome to the forums.
If you have the money, then yes it would be good to pay off the COs and CAs. Since Kohl's is still within the SOL, they could still assign the account to a CA, so if you can prevent that then it would be good. Although Bloomingdales is nearly the exclusion mark, it a mortgage is your goal, then having it paid off will be good because when the lender pulls your reports, he/she will see the unpaid collections and charge offs despite exclusion from your reports.
It would help if you could get 1 more tradeline in your name, perhaps another secured card. As you have an installment loan current, then you will have a good credit mix. For FICO scoring purposes, you need to have 3 CC tradelines and 1 installment loan. Make sure that only 1 account has a balance less than 10% and the other accounts reporting a zero balance.
It is possible for you to do the goodwill campaign on your own, and it never hurts to see if a CA will do a PFD. As for the student loans, were they paid for with a check? Depending on how far back, the bank might be able to get previous statements for you if you paid that way. Your doing great. Going forward try to maintain good payment history and responsible use of your cards, and you will get there.
