Quick question

[Anonymous]

I recently pull my CR and saw that with TU 3 collections had been removed, but they still appear on my EQ, what is my next step? Do I dispute them with EQ and EX?

I havent's made any payments on these accounts and have not spoken to the companies about them. They've all made their 7 years, as of this year. I'm now in a position to be able to start paying off my debts starting next month. So I ve been using my CRs to see who all I owe and how much, so that I can pay back as many as possible, as quickly as possible. I want to get my credit ready (750 or above) to be able to buy my first home. 2 years is my goal for doing this and having at least 10k for a down payment.

At the moment I have a 530 TU and402 EQ, 8k in open collections with TU and 4.8k in open with EQ, I haven't pulled EX report yet.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I also have student loan debt, but am hoping to make a little more than minimum payments on

those to show good payment history for mortgage lenders.

Thanl you in Advance.

Signed,

Single mom living with parents

[titanofold]

Give them a little time to drop off yet. They can stay for 7 years and 6 months. You can call the CRAs and ask if they can be excluded early.

Two years is a realistic goal for you to get into the good to very good range on your credit scores and be ready to apply for mortgage.

Let's start with the student loans, continue making the required payments. Paying more or paying off quickly proves nothing to other lenders. In fact, it may be detrimental to your score to pay them off too quickly. Lenders want to see that you are a good liability to have over the long term. Do sign up for automatic payments, though, as that typically reduces the interest rates by a quarter of a percent (0.25%).

For the collections or charge-offs (COs) that you have, write good will (GW) letters to them, starting with the most recent first, asking for either a PFD or that they report the debt as paid in full (PIF) even though you may settle for a lesser amount. Depending on the mortgage lender, seeing an account marked as settled for less is a bad thing during the manual review and they may require you to go back and PIF. If the mortgage amount is for more than $150,000, the lender may get a full report where they can see your entire credit history instead of the standard 7 years.

Become an authorized user (AU) on one of your parents cards if they have good history. If they have an American Express, that would even be better. They don't need to let you use it, as it will still show up on your report. This can help you jump start your rebuilding process by enabling you to get a few unsecured credits cards (CCs). When your scores get up into the good-very good range, you should be able to get an Amex, and they'll show the opening year on that account as when you became an AU on your parent's Amex card.

If they don't have good credit, then you'll be better off with getting a secured credit card (SC) from OpenSky and SDFCU. Neither of them should deny you and they won't add an inquiry to your credits reports (CRs). After about 6 months or so with good payment history on the SCs, your scores should improve to the point that you may qualify for some entry-level CCs.

Most importantly, realize that you've already completed the first step and you are already making progress: You decided to do something about your credit.

TAKE PRIDE IN THAT!

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for your advice, I will take heed. Again thanks, I really do appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I recently pull my CR and saw that with TU 3 collections had been removed, but they still appear on my EQ, what is my next step? Do I dispute them with EQ and EX?

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I would not dispute them if they are legitimate collection accounts but if they have already fallen off TU due to being around the 7 yr reporting period then it's very likely that they will soon drop off EQ and EX. I would call EQ and EX and ask what is the DOFD on those accounts and what is the expected deletion date, they normally provide that info over the phone.

Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Ok, I will give that a try AhmedInVA

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the myFico forums, JamAzon.

You will get a nice score bump on your CRs if you can get a minimum of 3 CCs that report to the CRBs.

It doesnt matter if they are secured or unsecured and it doesnt matter the amounts of the CLs at this point.

There is a sticky at the top of this forum about Helpful Threads, and inside, one of them shows a listing of the secured cards and info about them.  The best opportunity is to find a secured card that will graduate to unsecured, with responsible use.

Again, welcome, and its great you started two years before your goal.  Establishing or rebuilding credit can take time.

I also recommend you read as much as possible here, even items that dont appear to pertain to you.  Often, something will come up in the thread that does pertain to you, or will in the future.  I've been reading for 4 months and I still consider myself to be a newbie.

GL

[Anonymous]

Asbinjax Thank you for the tips. I'm so glad I found this site.

[Anonymous]

I could be wrong it definately wouldn't be the 1st time but I'm pretty sure Amex no longer back dates,but it's obviously still a great cc company to get in with it

[titanofold]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I could be wrong it definately wouldn't be the 1st time but I'm pretty sure Amex no longer back dates,but it's obviously still a great cc company to get in with it

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Grr! I did not know that! I missed that thread entirely.

But yes, they still have great cards to pick from, even the charge cards have their own perks, which I want to get the green one.