Help!!!! Need mortgage scores up fast!!!

[Anonymous]

I’ve been working on my credit for about a year trying to get it straight after an ugly divorce. I have found my kids and my dream home and I’m so close to getting my scores where I need them but still need at least 6 points to even qualify for the program we are applying for. I paid off a few old medical collections but they are still reporting but as paid and zero balance .

Right now I have a credit repair place working to attempt to get anything else they can off but I recently read you cant have anything in dispute to qualify for a mortgage or to go to underwriting??? Is that true?

Fico 2,4,5:
EQ: 584
TU:620
EX: 614

I have to have my middle fico 2 score be at least 620.
I’ve paid all credit cards to less than 10%, no late payments in 18 months, no new accounts. I’m authorized user on a few cards that are in good standing and low balances.

Questions:
Any quick fixes to help me get the last few points I need?

Should I dispute the credit bureaus about the paid collections to remove them?

Is it true if I dispute items that they will deny underwriting for my home purchase? If so how to I get the credit bureaus to remove/stop the dispute?

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

[Anonymous]

You said you paid all credit cards to under 10%, but that suggests that you still have reported balances on them.  You'll want to report a balance on only one [major, non-store] credit card that's yours (not an AU card) and pay off all other cards.  Number of cards with a balance is a factor that can significantly impact Fico mortgage scores.

How many total credit cards do you have right now and how many of them have a [non-zero] reported balance currently?

[Anonymous]

I have 4 total credit cards, 2 with a very small balance which I can pay off right now, I thought I had to show a small balance to show I was responsible. The ones I am an authorized user on (3) have small balances less than 10% do those matter?

Once I do pay those off how quickly can I get a rescore? Do I have to wait until the cc company sends data to bureaus? Or can I call them for a rapid rescore??

[Anonymous]

AU accounts don't count as much on 2/4/5 scores.

List your accounts that you are a primary on and which bank they're with.  Some will rerport within a couple of days of hitting $0 balance and others you can reuqest mid-cycle reporting.

[Anonymous]

Indigo MasterCard /Genesis bal $27/limit 300
Maurices/Capital one bal $0/limit 200
Victoria Secret (Comenity) bal $0/ limit 650
Pier one(Comenity) Bal $0/ limit 1200

[Anonymous]

Indigo MasterCard /Genesis bal $27/limit 300
Maurices/Capital one bal $0/limit 200
Victoria Secret (Comenity) bal $0/ limit 650
Pier one(Comenity) Bal $0/ limit 1200

The only one 2/4/5 is looking at would be the Indigo and I would take it down to $5 and then ask them to do a mid-cycle update.  Not much else you can do after that other than keep the reporting balance around $5.

I'm not even 100% sure that Indigo would be considered a "bank card" in comparison to the major banks like BOA, Citi, WF, Chase, and so on.  The store cards make an impact on your F8/9 scores but play a lesser role with the mortgage scores.  The store cards also drop your insurance scores and cost you more on your insurance premiums.

Hopefully this will get you over the hurdle of 620 and get you into the house.  After you get into the house then work on the issues you mentioned. The reason you can't dispute while in process is because it will aritfically inflate your scores by excluding anything in dispute.  Also, stay away from the store cards unless you intend on using them often for their benefits not just padding.

[Anonymous]

Ok will do, good info to know. I didn’t try any big bank cards while I was working on repair bc I had read you had to have a certain score to even get approved and I didn’t want a credit pull if I knew I would get denied.

This house we are looking at is being built right now so I probably have a month to get everything where I need it.

So will the disputes that are currently there can I ask the credit bureaus to remove the disputes?
Really appreciate your help.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have 4 total credit cards, 2 with a very small balance which I can pay off right now, I thought I had to show a small balance to show I was responsible. The ones I am an authorized user on (3) have small balances less than 10% do those matter?

Once I do pay those off how quickly can I get a rescore? Do I have to wait until the cc company sends data to bureaus? Or can I call them for a rapid rescore??

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No, the mortgage scores like zero balances, so you should definitely pay the 2 small ones to zero. If you can get one of the others to zero that would be good.

As to rapid rescore, I don't know; I've never had the nerve to ask for that.

If any of the cards are Chase cards, they will automatically report when paid down to zero.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Ok will do, good info to know. I didn’t try any big bank cards while I was working on repair bc I had read you had to have a certain score to even get approved and I didn’t want a credit pull if I knew I would get denied.

This house we are looking at is being built right now so I probably have a month to get everything where I need it.

So will the disputes that are currently there can I ask the credit bureaus to remove the disputes?
Really appreciate your help.

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Well, done with the big banks to get a score you need now.  Take them on later when things simmer down a bit.

You can call the CRA's and cancel the disputes if they need to be cleared.  If you haven't started the app process for the mortgage yet you can wait a bit before canceling them in the hopes that they'll remove the offending items.  Disputes are either 30 or 45 days before they get closed automatically.

Otherwise if you're waiting for the Indigo to report the lower balance maybe wait on the dispute process during the same time.  You might get lucky and get another boost from removing items as well.  It's all about timing at this point.

[Anonymous]

That is incorrect that the mortgage scores do not count the AU accounts as much. As a matter of fact, it’s exactly the opposite. FICO 8 is when AU accounts started to have issues. You do not want to use it as your only card with a balance, but you definitely want them zeroed.

Pay the AU accounts to zero, leave one small balance on a bank card. $27 is absolutely fine and has no different effect then a $5 balance.

As stated previously some issuers will do an off cycle report, some you will have to wait for a normal reporting. As soon as they are reported at zero except one big bank card you can pull your scores. I don’t know anything about indigo is that the bank?