Trying To Repair My Credit - Please Help

[Anonymous]

I am looking to buy a new home in about a year.  In the meantime, I need to repair my credit which is shamelessly in the lower 500s.  Needless to say, I have been late on payments in the past and I have quite a few collection accounts along with a judgment.  I would appreciate any advice at this point.

First of all, I have began a dispute with all 3 credit bureaus.  The 1 judgment is showing up as 2 on 2 of the credit bureaus.  I have sent them a certified copy of the cancellation of the judgment.  My credit report shows that it is not scheduled to come off until 2010, but from what I am understanding is that it shouldn't even be on there if it was cancelled.  Is that correct?  I know that the same judgment shouldn't be showing up more than once.

Second of all, the collection accounts were news to me.  I didn't even know they were on there until I pulled my credit report.  They were from old medical bills (2002) that I didn't even know that I had because the OC had my billing address wrong.  What sucks is that I now work for the OC.  Isn't that a slap in the face!  I noticed that 2 of them have fallen off into oblivion somewhere but 6 of them still remain.  I am working to pay them off, but should I stop and try the PFD option or is it too late for that since I started paying them already?  I asked them to send me validation of these bills, but I am still awaiting their response.

Third, I have many late payments.  I got divorced last year and being a single mom with 3 kids made it really hard to pay my bills.  1 of them will be paid of this month.  Yay!!!  The other 2 are student loans.  I got a forebearance on 1 and the other 1 is in collections.  What should I do about the one in collections?  Should I try PFD or do I run the risk of wage garnishment?

I would really like to get my credit score to 700, but at this point, I would settle for at least a 650.  I will be able to start paying ALL my bills on time next month, but do I have the chance of bringing my credit score where I need it to be in 1 year?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Get the sudent loan rehabbed-

Don't allow "being late" to be acceptable from this day forward-

Get accounts current and keep them current- keep UTL down, pay one time, deal with the CA's-

Then with 24 months clean FHA loan should be not problem.  

[Anonymous]

Thanks.  I was hoping for 12 months but I may have to hold out for 24.

[GFer]

If the medical bills were indeed from 2002, they will fall off in 2009 anyway. Search the boards under Student Loans for similiar situations. Anything else, try the pfd.  I wish I would have know about that before I paid mine. Paid yes; but there for 7 yrs total.

[Anonymous]

The drop off dates for the medical bills range from 2009-2013.  I have another question about the student loans though.  My student loans were sold 3 times already.  Every time they are sold, the old ones still show up on my credit report.  Do they stay on there 7 years as well?

[GFer]

Yes they do and they can do that. Just like if you consolidate, the history goes with them. You might look into consolidating. Consider all you options before making decision with these.

But, like told before--get that defaulted student loan rehabbed. That's a biggie!

Also, even if you can't get credit cards right now, consider Crown Jewelry (they report to two credit bureaus! and no hard inquiry  to get approved!).

Apply for the Target card. Most get the $200 charge card for the store. You have to apply for the Visa 1st, but they usually counter offer with the store card. Take it, use it, and always, always pay on time.

This serves to setup you up with some good tradelines to help counter the bad (to some extent). Plus it helps with your 'mix' of credit (although, I don't know your current mix).

Gotta start somewhere, and these do help.

Message Edited by GFer on 07-06-2008 07:05 PM

[Anonymous]

If you can get some of the negatives removed from your report, you can get ur score up in a year. I have only been working on my mine for 6 months and i went low 500s to low 600s. I plan to be in home shopping shape for Jan. As far as the medical collections, if this doesn't embarass you (since you work for them) go the billing department of the original creditor and see if you can pay the medical bill in exchange of them recalling the collection. This would force the collection agency to pull the collection off. Also, make sure you send goodwill to any creditors that you have paid late in the past. Some of them show you mercy and stop reporting a few of your lates.  After that, keep your util. low and you just might be turning that key in your new house sooner than you think

[NikJ4]

Sorry to ask this dumb question....do you send GW letters for stuff that you are still paying on or do you only send them for the accts that you have paid off. If you send them while I am still paying them, when would it be best to send them a letter? How long ago would it have to be for me to have a late?

[Anonymous]

IMO- do it after your account is in good standing

I don't think this is a silly question at all-

A good example is Capial One's front end csr's can remove lates in the first 12 months- 

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NikJ4 wrote:

Sorry to ask this dumb question....do you send GW letters for stuff that you are still paying on or do you only send them for the accts that you have paid off. If you send them while I am still paying them, when would it be best to send them a letter? How long ago would it have to be for me to have a late?

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[NikJ4]

Is that cap 1 auto or cc? I have auto and have 1 late in last 12 months.