over-the-last » Mortgage and Insurance

Is it realistic to think I can get approved for FHA by end of 2011

Mar 182011

I am looking to purchase home at end of 2011. I curently have FiCO scores of TU/555 and EQ/562 as of march 2011. Wife has FICO of TU/702 and EQ/725, but is a homemaker and does not work outside of home. However Texas is community property state and both spouses have to go on loan.

Salary- $51,000 plus commission. W-2 $72000 in 2010

Current Rent-$1200 per month

Monthly expenses $435, this includes car note and credit card payment

Debt- $41K in student loan ( currently in deferrment)

Over the last year, I have paid off and/orÂ negotiatedÂ settlements on several collections. I currently have three collections left,Â two utility bills one for $1670 and one for $650, that I have made arrangments to be paid off in by August 2011. I was also approved for an unsecured Mastercard in November 2010 with a credit limit if $350 and that IÂ paid down to less than 30% of balance this month, which I am looking to boost score for April 2011

I have $6500 for down payment. Looking for a house around $150-$160K w/ 30 year FHA fixed rate

DTI on front end and back end, look OK from what I see as long as we stay in monthly mortgage ranged of $1200-$1300 month range.

Let me know what you guys think, especially Shane the mortgageman.

Signed,

Mr. Tired of paying rent

southwest credit systems and eos cca

March 18, 2011
Posted by admin at 3:58 pm
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Rebuilding Credit
card-payment, credit-limit, home-at-end, includes, mortgageman, over-the-last, purchase-home, texas, work-outside

Wage Garnishment…Advice Needed

Mar 152011

A week, or so, ago I received a letter from NCO financial pertaining to a debt I had with the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) providing me with a Notice of Intent to Initiate Administrative Wage Garnishment Proceedings issued by AAFES. Â I am curious to know if this is legitimate correspondence. Â I have received all sorts of correspondence from Collection Companies, so I am always uncertain of the validity. Â AAFES is a federal entity and there is an offset against my federal taxes, which over the last two years my small tax return has been applied. Â I am curious because the letter from NCO was accompanied by what looked to be a copy of an AAFES letter on Department of Defense letterhead.

I contacted AAFES and they refused to speak in ref to my account and stated it was with collections and would not give me any information pertaining to the debt. Â This debt is coming up on 8 or 9 years now. Â I know, I know, I should of corrected it back then, but things happen. Â I pretty much wrote if off after it dropped off my credit report. Â Then to my surprise I get this correspondence in the mail.

The last thing I wanted to say, that makes me really concerned, is they have a repayment agreement attached which has my employer name, address, and payroll account number. Â Please advise, what steps should I take. Â Sorry for the lengthy email, just trying to put all pertinent info into the post.

March 15, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 1:27 pm
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Rebuilding Credit
attached-which, Correspondence, curious-because, debt, employer, federal-entity, federal-taxes, force-exchange, over-the-last, validity

Any Suggestions how to deal with medical CA reporting 3 years later?

Mar 082011

Hi,

I had a medical bill (that I didn’t even know about to begin with! – seriously, I never got a normal bill, just a letter one day from a CA). Anyway, itÂ went to collection, which I paid *immediately.*Â At the time, the letter said that if I called and paid immediately, I’d only need to pay x amount – a “discount opportunity,” they called it. That was over three years ago.

As of Jan. of last year, this started showing up on my CR!!!Â :

I still have the CA’s letter *and*Â the confirmation number for my payment (including the date and time I paid it).Â Is there anything at all I can do here? Would a GW letter help me?

I just don’t understand — why botherÂ reporting it 3 years later?? And they never told me that it’d show up as an “account paid for less than full balance.” What the??

This may not normally be a big deal, but I’ve been working insanely hard over the lastÂ 1.5+ years to clean up my old messes that this just seems like an un-necessary setback.Â Please help.Â

Here’s the item from my CR:

BRIDGEPORT FINANCIAL Address:Â Account Number: 1111 WILLOW ST FL 2 695433 SAN JOSE, CAÃ‚Â 95125 (408) 295-7085 Address Identification Number: 0191725126 Â Status:Â Paid in settlement. Â

Date Opened: 11/2007 Reported Since: 01/2010 Date of Status: 01/2010 Last Reported: 01/2010 Creditor’s Statement:Â Account legally paid in full for less than full balance.

March 8, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 1:42 am
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Rebuilding Credit
account-number, Confirmation, identification, insanely-hard, letter, medical-bill, over-the-last, san, started, time

Looking for a little advice for getting my score up.

Mar 032011

Greetings,

Â I’ve been reading Fico forum posts for over 8 months since I’ve been working on repairing my credit.

I have enjoyed several of the postings and found them very informative and helpful.Â

I was wondering if you guys (or gals) would be willing to give me a little advice on how I can be more proactive in elevating my score.

If you wouldn’t mind taking a few minutes to review my profile and just shoot me a few tips. I’d be REALLY grateful.

TU is 665

EQ is 643

EX isÂ 630

Sallie Mae account $144 -age 16 years old

Sallie Mae account $246 -ageÂ 16 years old

Â (I have 2 Sallie mae accounts)

Capital One secured card -$2300 -age 6 months old

(its reporting unsecured. The limit is $3000)

Chase auto loan -$5000 -age 4 years old

Fingerhut -$300 -age 6 months old

I have between 3 and 4 inquiries on each report.

I have 3 collections on each report.

My last late payment was March 2009

Capital One recently extended $300 unsecured on that card, making a total of $2300 CL

I utilize less than $150 on that Capital One card (I’m not certain on the % but I make a point to keep it under 10%)

My TU score has climbed significantly over the last few months, however EQ and EX have remained at 643 and 630.

Any advice to help me move forward?

And thanks again for any help.

-John

secured capital one cli

March 3, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 3:50 am
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300-unsecured, advice-on-how, its-reporting, keep-it-under, little-advice, more-proactive, move-forward, over-the-last, postings, Profile, remained-at-643, secured-card, utilize-less, years-old

How much of a score increase to expect?

Feb 252011

My most recent Equifax fico score, per score watch, is 629 and I recently settled a Cap One charged off account. My utilization prior to the last payment was 97%; once updated to zero balance, my utilization will be 5%. I’m curious as to how much of a score increase I can expect.

I’m not worried about the DOLA updating because I’ve been making settlement payments over the last 5 months. And yes, Cap One has agreed in writing that the account will be settled in full for the 50% payment and that I’ll received a 1099-C for the amount forgiven.

Any guesses?

February 25, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 11:42 pm
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account, been-making, dola, fico-score, most-recent, not-worried, once-updated, over-the-last, per-score, score-increase, the-account, utilization, zero-balance

Settling with CA – Questions/Help!

Feb 242011

At the end of November, weÂ moved out of an apartment. Shortly afterward, we received a bill for $760 for “damages”. Some of the items totaling about $375 are fairly legit so I’m happy to pay them. The other approx. $375 is absolutely bogus. The management office of the apartment complex was always terrible to work with and it’s quite obvious they are just trying to make a buck with bogus charges in hopes that we’ll pay them to be done with it.

I disputed the $375 in a very detailed manner (via email) with the apartment office, but they sent the account to collections anyway – the CA is Hunter Warfield. Over the last few weeks I’ve spoken with the CA a few times to explain the dispute. During a conversation yesterday, the CA rep was using confusing language clearly in an effort to confuse meÂ (and get me to pay). As I asked him to explain, he finally became belligerent, yelled at me and hung up on me. I called back and spoke with a manager and it became clear that 1) these people are crazy and unethicalÂ and 2) if I don’t pay them, they’re going to report the collection account to the CBs in the next week or so – to be clear, the CA account is not yet on our credit reports.

As much as I don’t want to pay for what are completely bogus charges, I also don’t want to let $375 ruin my credit even more when I’ve been working so hard to repair it.

The manager from the CA offered me a settlement of $626, which is at least better than the full amount of $760. However, he said he would not provide the terms of the offer in writing (debt satisfied in full, no CB reporting) but that I could print a letter off of their website as soon as the settlement amount was paid – the letter would essentially state that the debt was satisfied but would make no mention of CB reporting. This felt really shady so I told him I would call him back. Here are my concerns:

1) I pay the debt and the CA reports the account to the CBs anyway – not sure how likely this is because what motivation would they have for reporting something that’s already paid, but it still concerns me; and

2) I pay the $626 and the remainder is passed off to another CA or they continue to collect on it because it wasn’t the full $760.

Can I get some thoughts/opinions on the above situation??

February 24, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 3:29 pm
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Rebuilding Credit
account, always-terrible, apartment, collection, credit, debt, over-the-last, remainder, settlement, using-confusing, website-as-soon

Balance transfer offer

Feb 052011

I’ve had a Cap1 Visa card with a 1400 CL for several years. Until last summer, it was over the limit and I had been inconsistent with my payments… late from time to time, but not enough to have the account closed. As many of you know, I finally got serious about working on improving my credit. I paid down this Cap1 card until it was PIF last November (yay!!!). While I did open a Cap1 MC in October and have been using this new account a great deal, I have also used my old Visa card for one or two charges every month and have been PIF every month. My scores have improved significantly over the last several months (yay, again!!!).

Today I received a balance transfer offer in the mail from Cap1. It’s tied to my old Visa card with the 1400 CL, and included BT checks. The offer is for 12 months of 5.99% interest. While tempting, I’m thinking of holding off on this offer. I have the income available to pay off all of my oustanding debts by the end of June. As this is my highest limit card, I would prefer to keep the CL available in case of an unforseen emergency (car trouble while out of town, that sort of thing). I discussed it with DH today and we decided to eat the interest on the old bills we are paying off rather than tie up a 1400 CL.

So much for the background, now my question… I’ve had this account with Cap1 for years, and they’ve never offered me anything. Is this possibly a sign that my credit rating is improving with them? Maybe??? Thoughts???

February 5, 2011
Posted by admin at 11:44 pm
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Rebuilding Credit
account, background, credit, income, oustanding, over-the-last, over-the-limit, payments, possibly, Question, the-background

Overwhelmed and confused

Feb 032011

Here is a long story short. I applied for a house last summer and got a big slap in the face. I was told that I should start paying my bills on time otherwise I will never get a house. My credit score was 419. So I have made a great effort on paying everything on time, catching up on student loans, and making sure that I wasn’t adding anything extra onto my credit. Now about seven months later my credit score is about 449, which is nowhere near what it needs to be to get a house. So I signed up for myfico and started reading up on everything, which is where the confused part comes from. I had one credit card whichÂ I stopped paying on back in 2008. The balance on it is only about $465. Besides that I have 10 collection accounts from anywhere from 2003 to 2008.Â Then I have 2 cars with horrible APR on them and late payments, and students loans which have several 120, 90,60,30 past dues over the last 6 yrs. I know…. I really screwed up my credit. So what should I do first? Pay off that credit card? Apply for a unsecured card, pay off the collection accounts? (which I keep reading good and bad things about)Â I have to get my credit score up to 620 to get a house, but at the rate that I am going, it seems like it is going to take about 10 yrs

February 3, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 9:52 pm
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Rebuilding Credit
Confused, Credit Score, late-payments, over-the-last, really-screwed, stopped-paying, Student Loans, the-collection, unsecured-card

Credit Card Balances

Jan 312011

I just have a quick question. Over the last two years my husband and I have raised both of our score from 430 to between 614 and 638. We each have a couple of credit cards and each have a Military Star card with a balance around $2000 of a $2500 and $3000 limit. We plan on paying these off within the next couple of months. Anyone have any idea how paying these off would impact our scores? About how many points? I would also love any information or success stories on GW deletions. Thanks a ton in advance!

how to raise the limit of a military star card

January 31, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 12:27 am
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Rebuilding Credit
between-614, credit-cards, military, military-star, over-the-last, plan-on-paying, score, scores, success-stories

Please help, I feel hopeless

Jan 262011

Hello,

Well I’m here because I’ve made a good lot of mistakes over the last few years. My score is a 519 on EQ and 524 on TU. I have had a voluntary repossession last year, about 5 collection accounts, and another 5 or so negative accounts, and only about 3 or 4 positive accounts. The average history of my credit is about 7 years long. I have no credit card balances, and I am paying off the repossession and all of my collections. I have not missed or been late on a payment on my new vehicle for about six months, but there has been no change in my credit score, it seems like a losing battle. I really need to purchase a home in the next year or two because my husband and I will be starting a family. I have a good secure job and a comfortable salary. I know it’s early into the process but I feel so hopeless, when can I expect some change? Any suggestions?

feel hopeless about mortgage

January 26, 2011
Posted by jedwan at 3:00 am
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Rebuilding Credit
average-history, collections, credit, Credit Card, Credit Score, good-secure, mistakes-over, new-vehicle, over-the-last, process, repossession, year-or-two

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