Motivated and New Here

[flet0062]

Hi all,

I have been peeking around this forum for the past week & figured I'd take the plunge and write a post.  I am in a bad credit situation.  My middle score is about 550.  I have some bad marks on my reports: one collection account and the rest are 30/60 day late payments.  I have high credit usage across a few cards.

Elan:  $1,140 (Limit of $1350)

Express Comenity Bank $25 (Limit of $250)

Capital One $330 (Limit of $550)

Herbergers Comenity Bank $631 (Limit of $750)

Target Visa $1425 (Limit of $1600)

My student loans are all paid as agreed now except one 60 day late mark from two years ago.

The collection is from my car $600 through BMW Financial Services.  It was an oversight on my part.  There are quite a few 30 day lates on my car loan as well.  

My tax return & end of the month check should be able to pay off all of my credit card accounts & get me in a position to start saving.  My end goal is to buy a house for myself and my son to live in.  He's 3 & I would really like to be in a permanent place before he goes to Kindergarten.

I'm hoping for some advice & motivation- but most of all wanted to put this in writing to hold myself accountable.  I am beyond frustrated right now- but need to start moving in the right direction.  

[AeroKrix]

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@flet0062 wrote:

Hi all,

I have been peeking around this forum for the past week & figured I'd take the plunge and write a post.  I am in a bad credit situation.  My middle score is about 550.  I have some bad marks on my reports: one collection account and the rest are 30/60 day late payments.  I have high credit usage across a few cards.

Elan:  $1,140 (Limit of $1350)

Express Comenity Bank $25 (Limit of $250)

Capital One $330 (Limit of $550)

Herbergers Comenity Bank $631 (Limit of $750)

Target Visa $1425 (Limit of $1600)

My student loans are all paid as agreed now except one 60 day late mark from two years ago.

The collection is from my car $600 through BMW Financial Services.  It was an oversight on my part.  There are quite a few 30 day lates on my car loan as well.  

My tax return & end of the month check should be able to pay off all of my credit card accounts & get me in a position to start saving.  My end goal is to buy a house for myself and my son to live in.  He's 3 & I would really like to be in a permanent place before he goes to Kindergarten.

I'm hoping for some advice & motivation- but most of all wanted to put this in writing to hold myself accountable.  I am beyond frustrated right now- but need to start moving in the right direction.  

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Initially, I would start writing some GW letter to have those lates removed. Don't take no for an answer, keep writing/calling. As for the BMW, I would try to negotiate a PFD or an removal of all negative remarks on the trade line in exchange for payment. Student loans are very tricky and persistence is key, and even then, you might not be successful. But don't stop trying. I know sallie Mae is one tough cookie. They didn't budge on my 30/60 late, even though it was their fault! They backdated the deferment, but refused to remove the negative remarks. Lol

for your current car loan, try GW to remove those lates. I don't know the depth of your relationships with your creditors, but writing letters explaining your situation can draw positive results. If a rep says no, try again, they have many reps and you might just get one that'll do it for you! Good luck to you

[mebell]

I agree, try to get some GW removals of the lates. It sounds like you already have the right motivation as far as wanting a place that is your own for you and your son. THe other motivation should be a good clean report to save you thousands in interest for when you do end up getting your own home. Bad terms on low CL cards is one thing, bad terms on a 30 year mortgage is horrendous.

Best of luck along the way and keep us posted.

[p-]

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flet0062 wrote: I have been peeking around this forum for the past week & figured I'd take the plunge and write a post...I'm hoping for some advice & motivation - but most of all wanted to put this in writing to hold myself accountable.  I am beyond frustrated right now- but need to start moving in the right direction.

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Welcome to the board.  Plenty of us started out in your shoes...  You have a few high priority things to take care of that will give you a good boost.  

First, your credit cards are way too close to the limit.  Whatever you can do to pay these down, you need to do it.  FICO scoring likes it best when you only show one card with a balance, and that balance is between 3 to 9 percent of your overall available credit.  At your limits, you should try to be right around 250 on one card with zero's across the board on the rest.

Second, be careful contacting BMW until you have the money to pay them in full.  If the debt is still within the SOL they may decide to sue you for the balance, adding a public record to your report.  That would be catastrophic.  In fact, I might even put paying that at a higher priority than the credit cards because of the risk, if it is a recent one.

The most important thing you can do to help yourself right now is organize a budget, trim spending where you can, and make sure that every payment is on time from now on, forever.  

The hardest thing for me to get rid of has been late payments.  The experience of rebuilding is enough to make me never be late again.  The good news is home loans are not out of reach for people with lates.  If you have good recent history, say for a couple of years, no open collections, and are managing utilization correctly you will see huge improvements and can likely qualify.

Read everything you can on here, and become an expert.  Good luck.

[flet0062]

I'm definitely learning the hard way... and will never be late again.  Thank you, all, for your suggestions.  I am working hard to clean it up & will update you along the way.  

Off to write a few goodwill letters

[p-]

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@flet0062 wrote:

I'm definitely learning the hard way... and will never be late again.  Thank you, all, for your suggestions.  I am working hard to clean it up & will update you along the way.  

Off to write a few goodwill letters

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On the upside, learning the hard way makes it harder to forget....

[WoodyBlues]

I too am new and just starting on this rebuilding Journey.  Maybe we can help one another along the way.      Wish you well!  Ive gotten quite a bit off my reports by disputing the errors.   I filed the form to the irs last night to have a tax lien removed.  Lady called me back today and said I have to go to the circuit clerks offiece to get a copy of the lien to fax her, and she will get it removed, which is great news.  Right now, im just working on keeping my payments on time.  

And for what its worth, i went from the mid 500's to lower/,mid 650's in just over a few months...  Hope that will holp to motivate you!