Trying to rebuild my credit ....... need some help

Anonymous · ‎07-11-2019

Hello!

I am trying to fix up my credit. I had a few years of terrible luck and very little income and my credit report sure shows how terrible life has been. I am trying to fix my credit and continue on to being one of the people that has at least minimum GOOD credit. Right now, its TERRIBLE.

I do not know where to start or even how to start. I've done a few disputes online but other than that. Nothing else in regard to contacting CA's. I have paid off a few accounts over the last year but nothing major. Each of my credit reports have different items on them as well. I was focusing most of my time on the Experian because they offer a free online profile where as the other agencies did not.

My current scores as of 7/11/2019 are as follows:

Experian : 588

Equifax : 537 - from Credit Karma

Transunion : 518 - from Credit Karma

Debt is as follows

TU: 39,378

there almost all the same except experian is lower because i've cleared some things off.

I have a lot of student loans which makes up about 20,000 of my debt.

I also have a 2019 car loan on my credit which has a balance of $23,000

I do also have a bankruptcy from 2013 that ended up invalid because i forgot to pay the 2300. Its still there but nothing was removed in bankruptcy.

I currently have 3 CC's on my credit report that are all in good standing, except they are all maxed out. Recent life events have put me back. Good news is I am starting a second job on the 19th, so I should be able to get those back down quickly. 2 of them I am the authorized user on my husband's account and one of them is mine and he's authorized user on mine. I recently graduated from the FingerHut FreshStart program and now have a credit limit of $300, but I have not ordered anything else.

I am trying to piggy back off my husband because I am working on his credit as well. He has 4 collections on his credit report.

His current scores are better than mine but not really

Experian: 586

EQ : 581 - score off a denied card app from today

TU: 594 - credit karma

I have also signed him up for fingerhut fresh start program. He still has a $30 balance with them.

his total debt

TU: 1338 - including credit card balances

EQ: 2602 - including credit card balances

EX: 2390 - including credit card balances

He has about 11 hard inquires and mine has like 30 now. I was a victim of identity theft a few years back which is still haunting and before I really understood credit I would just run my name for anything...

My question is, where should we start? How do we start?? Any help is appreciated.

Anonymous · ‎07-11-2019

First off, I would say let’s focus your energy and resources on your credit, and then your husband’s. It’ll be easier to fix them independently, and once yours is good, you will have the ability to help him better.

That being said, please list all debts that you have, including who is collecting on the debt, the original owner of the account if not the collector, what is owed, what the limit on the account was, and its current status (on time, chargeoff, late, etc). Also, pull your reports from www.annualcreditreport.com and get the date of first delinquency for each account. The DoFD is the first date that an account went late and never recovered. That will determine when it ages off your reports.

Do the same for your husband and list all of his information. We can focus on your cleanup first but there are certain collection agencies that will delete themselves completely from your reports upon payment. If either of you have collections with them, it’s worth handling those first. Then we can go after the rest of your cleanup, and then help with his.

FireMedic1 · ‎07-11-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello!

I am trying to fix up my credit. I had a few years of terrible luck and very little income and my credit report sure shows how terrible life has been. I am trying to fix my credit and continue on to being one of the people that has at least minimum GOOD credit. Right now, its TERRIBLE.

I do not know where to start or even how to start. I've done a few disputes online but other than that. Nothing else in regard to contacting CA's. I have paid off a few accounts over the last year but nothing major. Each of my credit reports have different items on them as well. I was focusing most of my time on the Experian because they offer a free online profile where as the other agencies did not.

My current scores as of 7/11/2019 are as follows:
Experian : 588
Equifax : 537 - from Credit Karma
Transunion : 518 - from Credit Karma
Debt is as follows
TU: 39,378

there almost all the same except experian is lower because i've cleared some things off.
I have a lot of student loans which makes up about 20,000 of my debt.

I also have a 2019 car loan on my credit which has a balance of $23,000

I do also have a bankruptcy from 2013 that ended up invalid because i forgot to pay the 2300. Its still there but nothing was removed in bankruptcy. So you paid the filing fee and never went thru with it? And forgot to pay? So its on your credit report as dismissed I take it?

I currently have 3 CC's on my credit report that are all in good standing, except they are all maxed out. Here's the killer of your scores. Get them paid down for some paoints back. Recent life events have put me back. Good news is I am starting a second job on the 19th, so I should be able to get those back down quickly. 2 of them I am the authorized user on my husband's account and one of them is mine and he's authorized user on mine. I recently graduated from the FingerHut FreshStart program and now have a credit limit of $300, but I have not ordered anything else. May not be popular. Split the credit accounts for now. Work on each one individually. AU on his. His is AU on mine. It will be easier to track each others scores as the rebuild is in progress. Neither one of your AU's is really helping each other for now. Choose which one of you who's credit to fix first and nail it down so one of you has rebuilt and has a better credit rating. Then tackle the other one while keeping things paid.

I am trying to piggy back off my husband because I am working on his credit as well. He has 4 collections on his credit report.
His current scores are better than mine but not really
Experian: 586
EQ : 581 - score off a denied card app from today
TU: 594 - credit karma

I have also signed him up for fingerhut fresh start program. He still has a $30 balance with them.
his total debt
TU: 1338 - including credit card balances
EQ: 2602 - including credit card balances
EX: 2390 - including credit card balances

He has about 11 hard inquires and mine has like 30 now. I was a victim of identity theft a few years back which is still haunting and before I really understood credit I would just run my name for anything... Inq's fall off at 1 yr from FICO scoring and then 2 yrs from your reports. One reason I posted no more apping until all has been recovered back to normal.

My question is, where should we start? How do we start?? Any help is appreciated.

Getting more credit now wont fix the problem. Fix whats broken first before moving on. If you can list the collection agencies. You may have some that PFD. Its great you got a second job to help rid the debts to recovery. Once whoevers credit you decide to tackle first is back under control. Then move on to the next persons credit and do the same thing. Once you see one of yours credit improve. It will give you more incentive to finish this task and be done with it. Once all is completed. Then you can look for better credit products that fits your needs. Wish you the best of luck!!!!!!!

DIYcredit · ‎07-12-2019

Beyond having negative items deleted from your cr, you have to concentrate on positive actions.Use your three open cc's to make monthly on time payments.When you pay down the cc debt keep it at 1-6% and in the future only open credit accounts that you need.No more apps.The more negative items that are deleted from your cr the better it is.Keep your oldest open cc open never close it.GOOD LUCK...

Anonymous · ‎07-13-2019

I agree with the others that you don’t need any other new credit, those high utilization cards are really hurting you.
I would first pay those down as low as possible with never letting them report over 29%.
If your collections are medical, I would mostly ignore them. If these collections are from old cards or loans then saving up and settling for a much lesser amount might help. But collections that are gears ild have a lot less bearing on your score.
My credit was lower than yours and I had about 20 collections to start, 14 now and I didn’t pay any of them. My score has gone up 200 points in six months mainly from using a couple secured cards heavily and paying them off many times a month.

FireMedic1 · ‎07-13-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
I agree with the others that you don’t need any other new credit, those high utilization cards are really hurting you.
I would first pay those down as low as possible with never letting them report over 29%. <8.99% is ideal. You dont want to pass 2 thresholds.
If your collections are medical, I would mostly ignore them. Never ignore any collections. Ask for PFD or just pay them. If these collections are from old cards or loans then saving up and settling for a much lesser amount might help. But collections that are gears ild have a lot less bearing on your score.
My credit was lower than yours and I had about 20 collections to start, 14 now and I didn’t pay any of them. My score has gone up 200 points in six months mainly from using a couple secured cards heavily and paying them off many times a month. Losing 6 collections and getting 2 cards helped your score. FICO doesnt care how much you charge or how many times you paid on the account. Its whats reported on statement date.

Anonymous · ‎07-13-2019

I’m sorry, but I have to disagree on all theee points based on my experience so far. My wife has used the 8.99 while I have used 29%. We bot h got our secured Discover cards at the same time. Mine graduated and had a huge CLI ($300 to $2000), whiles her did neither.
I had no money to pay collections until I got the refinance that was my initial goal. I meant don’t do frivolous disputes or use other shady practices. Don’t ignore the creditor, just the fact they are there. I’m.now paying mine because the refi freed up some cash.
Using your card heavy looks good to the issuer and this is shown by my discover graduation and CLI. This then affects my FICO score when a card goes from secured $300 to unsecured $2000.
Thank you for the response. The OP circumstances could produce different results with either of our views.

Remedios · ‎07-13-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
I’m sorry, but I have to disagree on all theee points based on my experience so far. My wife has used the 8.99 while I have used 29%. We bot h got our secured Discover cards at the same time. Mine graduated and had a huge CLI ($300 to $2000), whiles her did neither.
I had no money to pay collections until I got the refinance that was my initial goal. I meant don’t do frivolous disputes or use other shady practices. Don’t ignore the creditor, just the fact they are there. I’m.now paying mine because the refi freed up some cash.
Using your card heavy looks good to the issuer and this is shown by my discover graduation and CLI. This then affects my FICO score when a card goes from secured $300 to unsecured $2000.
Thank you for the response. The OP circumstances could produce different results with either of our views.

You cannot compare profiles because they are not identical

You're focusing on utilization, but majority of people whose cards graduated used them for pack of gum or something.

Your wife may have different derogs, time those happened might be different etc. Bottom line is, there are differences other than utilization

Also, jump to $2000 is not uncommon either.

The only way increase can affect scores is if utilization is already high, which in itself is not a good sign.

The best practice is use your card to your benefit and pay in full on time. I'd personally encourage everyone to use Discover for their normal spending because of the rewards which most other secured/starter cards lack

Anonymous · ‎07-13-2019

Your thoughts on the differences between mine and my wife’s are really strange. Her score is 50 points higher than mine and she has absolutely nothing derogatory on her reports. That is the main reason I attribute the discover graduation and increase to my use of the card. She uses her every month for those pack of gum purchases where I try to use it for everything (for the rewards). The whole credit thing amounts to a chess game. There are things one person can do that works but not for another. I studied before starting and laid out a plan based mainly on things I’ve read here on the forum. It does pay to study as there is just as much bad information as there is good.

FireMedic1 · ‎07-13-2019

@Anonymous wrote:
Your thoughts on the differences between mine and my wife’s are really strange. Her score is 50 points higher than mine and she has absolutely nothing derogatory on her reports.You actually answered your own post. You have collections as you stated your going to pay. Your wife is derog free and thats the 50 point difference. That is the main reason I attribute the discover graduation and increase to my use of the card. She uses her every month for those pack of gum purchases where I try to use it for everything (for the rewards). The whole credit thing amounts to a chess game. There are things one person can do that works but not for another. I studied before starting and laid out a plan based mainly on things I’ve read here on the forum. It does pay to study as there is just as much bad information as there is good.

I just wanted to point out why your wifes score is higher than yours. If any info is presented on the forum incorrectly. A Mod, CL, or a long time member will make corrections immediatly. Many watch the forum not to mislead anyone in the wrong direction. Thats all. Back to topic for the OP and lets not hijack this thread and get a slap on the hand from the higher ups. Carry On!