@Booner72 wrote:
Hi, Maggie - and welcome. I would recommend that you google "OPT OUT" and then opt out - Opting out is supposed to prevent the CRA's from selling your information. What the CRA's do is, if you change your address, apply for credit, etc. they send out "credit alerts" to anyone interested in you. A lot of us, right during the mortgage process, have collections from ages ago that pop up when we least need it - this is due to the CRA's letting CA's know we applied for a mortgage.
Last May I opted out, got my house, everything cool, cleaned up all my credit, then in May I opted back in so I could see what credit card offers came my way beins that I have decent credit now. Know what I got within three weeks? A collection from 8 years ago that AFNI said was more recent, and I lost tons of points. I got the collection removed when I fought them, but that's not the point. So Opt Out!
Falling into a trap - what do you mean? Are you talking about paying off old debts and "waking the sleeping giant?"
As RobertEG said, list what is on your reports - the good and the bad. (Don't be embarrassed, we don't know you and we've all been there) - that way we can give you SPECIFIC advice on what to do to best get back on track. I would also go down to my local credit union, and open a "secured card". If you don't have a credit card reporting positively, you are hurting your scores. A secured card means you give the credit union a few hundred bucks, they give you a credit card with a limit equivalent to your deposit, and then it reports as if it is a "real" credit card. You might want to get two of them at two different banks. Then you are building the positive while working on the negative. I also am going to bet that you have some GREAT AAoA on your reports, which means Average Age of Accounts - this is going to help you, too.
If you have questions specific to your Bankruptcy, there is also a bankruptcy section of this site and they know it all over there!
So when ready, let us help you.
Booner how do you opt out?
