My Credit Score
Hello,
In March I was trying to rent an appartment and was was denied because of my cs. It was 540 at that time (due to divorce, pregnancy - less working hours and not beeing able to pay everything as promissed), although my earnings were triple of the minimum required. Anyhow, last night I signed up with one of the website to check my credit score and to see what's left to pay. My score is now 585. I have 4 small accounts to pay off ( $2050) + credit card $5500 + 2 student loans (first $3500 and second $36000).
This is waht I was going to do. Before Xmas pay off $2050. Then I Want to pay off my second school bill and the credit card. And finally start paying off $36000.
Does anyone know how soon after paying off my score will go up? And by how many points?
Also one more thing.. There are few things on my scredit that were not charged by me, but my ex. How do I take care of that? Does the fact that I've been devorced for 2 years now and am remaried and try to pay off something each month help?
Thank you.
P.S.
This is the best forum I could have ever find.
I see that everyone just reads my post, but no one wants to reply to it. Hmm...
Hi Cali,
I did a similar thing to you with my credit. I ran up over 20k in debt and knew I couldn't get 100% financing for myself when I bought my house. I was fortunate and was able to use my VA assistance. What I learned was 1 major lesson about your credit report - maintenance is essential.
For example, I found out that I had 1 utility bill from an old apartment and 1 medical bill that I thought my last employer's insurance had covered. Within 1 week I had both debts satisfied and faxed proof that they were sending a memo to the 3 credit reporting companies stating so. Next I took a close look at my history of payments. I didn't realize that being late 2 - 4 months in a row hurt so much. I never failed to pay, but was a few days late several times. Only 2 of my cc's dinged me when I know I did this with others. Fortunately knowing this detail has helped me change my payment habits and I NEVER miss a payment schedule again. My credit score has gone from the uper 500's to the lower/mid 600's since February just by getting rid of these bad marks.
My advice - pay what you can, but always pay on time. Make sure that any old debts are cleaned up one way or another. If it isn't you that needs to satisfy them, make sure they send a notice to be included with your credit report. And if you're going to be doing alot of real estate or other financial transactions that depend on your score, pay for one of the services that send you a quarterly report. There are ways to avoid using these services and getting your report for free, but they are time consuming.
Good luck - keep working at it, don't ever give up.
Greg Appelt
The single best thing you can do is order your credit report online from equifax and follow the instructions to disputing negative items. Dispute everything! Equifax has 30 days to look into the disputes and contact the creditors to verify the claims. Often, the creditors don't reply back, and by law, the item is removed from your credit report. Also, shut down all unnecessary accounts (department store cards, etc). After you receive a hard copy in the mail from equifax notifying you of the results, order your report again and dispute everything left negative on it. 2 or 3 times should clear out any lazy creditors, and significantly boost your score. After about a year of scrubbing my report, I went from a 590 to 710.
Thank you very much for the replies. They mean so much to me. You guys know how it is.. You keep paying and paying and sometimes you need to hear something positive to keep you on track.
I did sign up last night to see my credit report from Experian. I will reviewing it even further. Some of the accounts have been paid in full (by me) and closed. I kept only one credit card with the balance of $200 (I don't need any more than that and if I want to purchase something I just pay for it with my Visa debit card). I am learning to pay things on time. My CC has been payed on time for the past 6-8 months (sometimes payed in full since the balance is so low). The rest of the accounts have been closed for the past 2 years, and I'll just have to make full payments on them.
Thank you again for your advices. You gave me a lot of motivation. Thank you.
Alicja
Hi California8555,
There is a website for Identity Guard (add .com at the end). Once you sign up, it allows you to access all 3 credit reports, gives you your credit score and there's a credit analysis which will tell you how many point your score will increase or decrease based on what you pay off and what inquries you have on your credit profile. I found it to be really helpful! Using the credit score analyzer, I was able to find out which credit cards I needed to pay off to get the most beneficial score increase.
Good luck!
Parisgirl
Like the other posts, make sure that 1) you get the old bills paid off and proof from the places you owe; 2) make all of your payments on time in the future; 3)use the Equifax service to examine what your most positive moves are to increase your credit score.
As for the old references that are from your ex: after I got my release from purgatory I found what my ex had done as well. I waited for a bit, then called the companies that I was not the primary cardholder on, and told them the truth - I didn't run up the bill, but I was a joint cardholder and responsible for the bill. I then asked if I could get them to remove the references on my credit report for that account. Most did, but a few ones did not.
For your credit card payment system, use a "snowball" method, where you pay one off, then use the amount you would have paid that card to pay the next one off. Quicken has an excellent debt reduction planner. Use that, then post the plan where you can see it and keep track.
Online put in the seach:
Credit reporting Act
the government site has all kinds of great info on how to build, maintain and clean your credit.
You have some rights under the Innocent spouse protection act, but it has been a long time since I read it and I am not sure if any of it applies to your credit or just your income taxes.
Check out the free info at the gov site and you may want to get a book from a used book store (or get a software program like we did) that has info, letters and advise. There maybe a consumer credit help line in your city too there is here, this is free and somethings they will actually walk you through.
Good luck, time and diligence will help you get it all striaghten up.
To: parisgirl
Thank you for this valuable info! I just signed up for their 3 in 1 service. Well, what can I say. It looks horrible and there's a lot of work to be done. But, I have a steady job now, and all I need is time to rebuild all this mess.
Thank you for helping me. It really means a lot.
How can you get a r-9 rating removed if it is incorrect. I had an account that was paid before collections and paid on time. I had a couple of late pays. I don't think it should have resulted in this!
What's "r-9 rating"?
Below are not my words, they are from a website:
What are R1 and R9?
1. "R" refers to a revolving account
2. "I" refers to an installment account
3. "M" refers to a mortgage account.
These ratings are supplied by the creditor and describe you as a borrower. A rating of "1" is good, and a rating of "0" means that they don't have enough information or history to give you a rating. Any other rating ("2" through "9" ) is considered negative.
Usually creditors don't look at these ratings when you apply for a loan. They normally look for late payments, charge offs, or collections.
Wow.. never knew that.
Thanks for educating me.
P.S.
By the time this year is over I should be a RE genius.
You couldnt get an apartment with a 540?!!!! Seems to me you must have something else on your credit that looks really bad, either judgements from previous landlords, repos, something.
I could just about get you financing for a house with a 540 via a sub-prime lender. My guess is that you need to have the really bad stuff on your credit challenged. A 540 is not that bad. Also, be careful when you challenge items on your credit report. There are right ways AND wrong ways to doing it. Ive seen scores get put on hold status because the bureaus consider the challenges frivolous and freeze your scores. Thats pretty bad. Especially when you need your credit.
All the posts here are correct though. Do a few letters and see if you can get the negative info removed yourself.
As for an apartment, I would think that if you offered 1st and last months rent as security, they would let you in. I would talk to the manager of the complax. Something doesnt seem right here
California8555,
I'm glad you found the website to be helpful! Just keep plugging away at paying off your debt, it make take some time, but it's all worth it in the end.
I found through the credit score analyzer that the loans I was going to pay off really wouldn't help increase my scores. Instead, paying down my credit card balances half way made the biggest difference.
One thing for those who may have charged off accounts in collections...I used to be a collector at a collection agency during my college years...we used to tell people that if they had a charged off account and can settle it with us by paying a discounted percentage of the total owed, we'd considered the debt settled in full and provide them with a letter which they can provide to the credit bureaus. In return, the "settled" status would be a non-rated status, which is MUCH better than a charged off status (negative status). Only catch is, collection agencies will only take a lump sum on a settlement, not payments.
Parisgirl
I hope I can help you because I went through the same thing. My credit 3 years ago was 598 and now it is 716. My advice is this..... Paying off what you can will help. Try to make deals with your creditors ahead of time that if you pay immediately, ask if they will purge and delete the tradeline. Some will and some won't but if they don't, pay them anyway. Each creditor that is paid-off could raise your score about 20 points. Also, keep disputing Items. I know that equifax temporarily raises your score while items are in dispute. Also, continue to pay on time and keep your credit cards around 10 to 25%. Don't worry about having a zero balance just keep the balance low. Unfortunately this is a slow process but don't let it discourage you. Fight the things that you can and pay the things that you can't fight. Also don't let people pull your report unless it is absolutely neccessary. Always pull your own report about once every 2 months and pull your own credit scores to see where you are. Don't be afraid to tell potential lenders that you know what your score is and you will let them pull a report when you decide you want to make a deal. They can usually tell you what your score should be for certain programs and they also understand. If you follow this advice accordingly based on what you posted, you should be at around 620 within 18 months which should allow you to get into many real estate programs,(just not with the best terms), but you gotta start somewhere. A score of 750 is based more on time and you will need a longer credit history to get a score that high. (about 7 years without problem). Most lender consider above 680 to be great and 720 to be optimal credit. Just keep at it and it may happen faster than you think
{{{ You couldnt get an apartment with a 540?!!!! Seems to me you must have something else on your credit that looks really bad, either judgements from previous landlords, repos, something.
I could just about get you financing for a house with a 540 via a sub-prime lender. My guess is that you need to have the really bad stuff on your credit challenged. A 540 is not that bad}}}}
Are you serious!!!??
A 540 isn't bad, IT IS HORRIBLE. Your credit report must look like a nuclear wasteland.
I am sorry to be harsh, but I don't sugarcoat, I tell it the way it is.
In the NYC area it is hard to rent an apartment anywhere with a 640, let alone a 540 (where they probably won't give you the time of day).
{{{I could just about get you financing for a house with a 540 via a sub-prime lender. }}}
Sure, probably at an interest rate of 9.9% with a maximum of 65% LTV. If the OP had that much money available, he or she wouldn't be in such a disaterous credit situation.
{{{{As for an apartment, I would think that if you offered 1st and last months rent as security, they would let you in. I would talk to the manager of the complax. Something doesnt seem right here }}}}}
Try prepayment of the first year (or years) of your lease, & renewal subject to a credit score of over 680.
No one is going to rent an apartment to someone with a credit score of under 650 (except with a very strong guarantor)
NickL - You talk, yet you offer NO solutions!
Do us a favor, and keep your thoughts to yourself! As, they are neither constructive, nor beneficial in any manner.
Thanks in advance!!!
[addsig]