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Hi! I am in the process of credit restotation to buy a home early spring. I have learned alot here so far and I cant wait until I am able to help others with the info I have obtained.
I'm excited to be in the 2012 challenge. I have a few rough years behind me where I let things slip, several late mortgage payments, and some credit card collections. I have almost 2 years of perfect payments as of 2012 (one will age to 2 years in September), but have LOTS of lates and 3 paid collections that will need anywhere from 18 months to 5 years to totally drop off.
After I let things get so bad I didn't rely on nor apply for much credit for a few years, except a personal loan for $6K with Citifinancial(now One Main Financial) and I got a pre-approved Orchard in Nov 2010 with a $300 balance (recently increased to $500). Then the interest rates fell to an all time low, and I started fantasizing about refinancing my high rate HELOC, that's when I got serious last summer.
First pull I did here at myfico in July was a 599, I knew I didn't have a shot. But I signed up for credit monitoring and something fell off around Sep and I got a nice boost to 642, so decided to take my chances with a Walmart card so I could get the free TU score, boost my credit mix and available credit with a card that had no AF and would be used for practical day to day expenses and paid off each month. Got it with a $700 limit (and an increase to $800 in December).
The next month when I got my TU score from Walmart I was sitting at 630 (yeah it took a little dip from the new card and inquiry) but I pulled the gun and started making some calls about refinancing. After being turned down by Wells Fargo, I called Quicken loans and they fully approved me with just a few easy conditions. So I refinanced my first that was at 6.5% and my HELOC that was at 9.75% to one mortgage at 4.25%. Just prior to being approved for the refinance I had accepted a pre-screened offer from Merrick Bank (I fully disclosed it to the lender as I didn't know wether I was approved or not), and suprise $1K cl approved in December.
My score is kind of bouncing around right now with several inquiries, new mortgage, paying off the HELOC, but right now its up (but I expect more bouncing as the new mortgage has not reported yet, just that I paid off my original 1st, HELOC still showing open with balance). My goal for 2012 is I need a new vechicle, my current one is sitting at 195K miles and I commute 150 miles round trip on the days I have to go in the office, plus have 3 six to twelve hour road trip vacations planned this year and want to make sure we make it. So I want to get to a minimum of 660 before I apply for auto financing, as that seems to be the lowest range of getting a decent interest rate. I'm hoping that will come by June. I have a little playing around I can do with my credit card utilization, as I used them a bit for Christmas, but plan to have them all paid off by the end of January and then play around with using small percents to see how to best maximize my score. Other than that, time is all I can do, as I messed up pretty bad a few years ago. The thing that seems not fair to me, is I show 6 seriously delinquent accounts, but the truth is I only had 3, the other 3 are from the collection agencies (which I paid) who were assigned the accounts. It somehow doesn't seem fair that you get a double ding for the same account. I might try some goodwill letters, but other than that, time is the only thing that can help my score at this point.
I'm wishing everyone a wonderful FICO year and may we all reach our goals!
I would like to hit the 800 mark. It seems as if my scores climb a few points then drop a few points, but I keep trying. Some inquirys will age off this year, as well as new accounts, so I am hopeful.
Hi I have followed the forum for about 5 months. A lot of useful information.
My 2012 goal
Pay off tax lien
Pay CC's to less than 10% utilization
GW all other paid charged off and collection accounts
Watch credit scores increase
Decided to join this Forum at the end of last year to start working on raising my scores and better my credit report history. I'm excited to join the 2012 FICO Fitness Challenge!
Goals for 2012
- Get approved for a secured CC
- Get approved for two unsecured CCs
- GW (4) paid/settled collection accounts
- PFD (1) charged off account
- PFD (3) Medical collection accounts (Edited: Got every collection deleted through pre-HIPAA letters) 2/2/2012
- Remove (1) public record on EQ, EX, and TU
- Remove (60-90 days late) on TWO student loans.
Greetings everyone and happy 2012! I am so excited for the new year and ready to get my finances in order. I've been a casual visitor of this forum for almost 5 years now, but today is the day I kick my butt into gear and improve my financial situation. I appreciate all your wisdom and guidance in advance.
Financial Situation
I've never recognized the affect not paying my bills would have on my financial well being. I understood the negative affects, but never recognized them. I figured, I'm young and I'll have time to fix it. Now I'm a 26 year old accountant making a decent salary, but I can't even get approved for a credit card due to my payment history. But I am a firm believer that your past is not an indication of who you are. I am letting go of my old bad habits and getting my credit to where is should be.
Your Goals
I've wanted to own a home since I was in high school. In 2014 I want to buy my first place. My goal is to have a credit score of at least 700 so that I get a great interest rate.
I will meet this goal my regularly paying my bills on time, reviewing my credit report and disputing inaccuracies (already found two major mistakes, hopefully this community can advise me how to dispute) and saving money religiously so that I can have at least a 10% down payment for my house.
I realized I never said what I intend to do to raise my scores:
Get remaining Med collections deleted
Get new credit lines with higher CLs
Maintain a 10% Util
So excited for 2012!!!
Not quite sure what my goal for 2012 will be. Originally it was to obtain a 760 FICO, but I've already reached that a few years ahead of schedule. I really didn't it was possible with just a 5.5yr credit history. I guess I could always shoot for 800, though a part of me thinks it's highly unlikely for such a relatively short credit history.
Anyone think it's possible? I wonder if anyone has a list compiled of the highest credit scores ever recorded for various credit history lengths?
I found this site in November 2011 while I was going through the mortgage process. I had a bad, but enlightening, experience with the first lender I applied with. Things fell through with the first lender and I was recommended to a new lender by my realtor. Some of the advice they were giving me seemed 'off' compared to what I was learning here. I learned the LO's think they know how credit scoring works, but I made the changes to the scores myself from what I learned here. Previous to October 2011, I had been working on rebuilding my credit for over 2 years (Feb 2012 will bring 3 years of 'clean' credit). I was irresponsible in my younger days and just didn't care. In 2009, I decided I needed to grow up and get with it. I haven't had a late/missed payment or any collections since 2008. I also had a few rebuilding credit cards that I continue to use wisely. My biggest accomplishment is buying my first home on 12/23/11...and I couldn't have done it without everything that I learned here. My goal is to keep my credit utilization under 9% and continue building!!
September 2011
Capital One-$500 cl--balance $189
Orchard Bank-$300 cl--balance $146
Credit One-$575 cl--balance $59
WFNNB-$560 cl (grocery store CC where I work)--balance$189
Care Credit-$1000 cl--balance $181
Capital One Auto--balance $19,000 (just opened in July)
November 2011
Capital One--paid balance down to $0
Orchard Bank--paid balance down to $0
Credit One--paid balance down to $10
WFNNB--paid balance down to $0
Care Credit--paid balance down to $0
December 2011
Closed on mortgage!!
January 2012
No new debt on previous cards!
Approved for GEMB/Mckinneys--$2500 cl--$2100 balance (new furniture, %0 percent interest until 2014...will be paid off with taxes)
Approved for GEMB/JC Penney's--$200 cl--$0 balance
Approved for Barclays--$1000 cl--$0 balance
Credit One--CLI to $675
Orchard Bank--CLI to $400
Now I'm gardening :-)