Fixing Bad Credit?

[Shibby]

I know about challanging what's on your credit report. How easy is that to do, and if that dosn't work what's the best way to rebuild it?

[Megiddo]

try paying off what you know you owe. Usually after 7 years the lender tries to cut you a deal on your debt just to get some money. I think after 7 years you are no longer liable for the debt, indentured servitude, and it is wiped form you report.

[Shibby]

There is one for like $600 for a ticket I forgot about that's about 2 years old. The other is from Sprint for something I don't remeber about. If it's true it would have to be around 5 years old. Never thought about it until now when I'm trying to get funiture financed. I can't even get a Sears card.

[Cory]

Shibby, you need to buckle under and pay these debts off...no use having your credit ruined over a couple of little shitty things like a ticket and sprint. It can haunt you for a long time. Once you pay this off, try to get a major credit card with a low limit and charge small amounts periodically each month and pay off the whole balance monthly. This will help build that credit back up so you can rest assured that if you have to make a major purchase, you won't have anything to worry about. This should be of the utmost importance now that you are starting a family.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by Cory

Shibby, you need to buckle under and pay these debts off...no use having your credit ruined over a couple of little shitty things like a ticket and sprint. It can haunt you for a long time. Once you pay this off, try to get a major credit card with a low limit and charge small amounts periodically each month and pay off the whole balance monthly. This will help build that credit back up so you can rest assured that if you have to make a major purchase, you won't have anything to worry about. This should be of the utmost importance now that you are starting a family.

for once he said something useful. j/k

[Cory]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

for once he said something useful. j/k

[decadecadeca]

If you want to dispute anything on your credit report it's as easy as a phone call. Just contact the big three bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. If your credit has been checked in the past three months they will send you a report for free. Tell them about any errors and they will start the investigation and contact the creditors/banks/hospitals etc...The burden of proof is on the claimant, not you. If however you know you owe the money just bite the bullet and pay up now. Then start small like Cory said. Low limit credit cards, auto/boat loans, and home ownership are all great ways to bring up your Beacon score. Once you establish a good history of on time payments it's all gravy.

As a side note, bad credit can seriously fuck up your life. They use it as an indicator for everything now, even employment. You can't even get a checking account here now if you have bad credit.


Good info here....
http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/?fire=1

[JUICE]

how can one get bad credt, because ive has a credit card since i was 18, so when i was 22 i owed about 3k. I gave payments, lowered it to like 2,100 then back up to 2,700, cause of college tutions and books. I would give late payments about 3-4 times only. So when i tried applying for Dillards credit card, it said I had dilenquency, not enough credit buildup or something like that. I dont understand, cause i always get offered other cards such as mastercard, discovery, etc. And they wouldnt accept me on Dillards.

[Stonecold54]

I watched the Suze Orman show last night on MSNBC and even though she is annoying as shit she has very good advice on financial stuff. I think I might start taking some notes as its not a field I know 1 thing about really. I have my checking, savings and retirment at work but I know that that won't be nearly enough to retire on when I reach the age because I know by then the Govt will be bankrupt.

[Shibby]

Originally Posted by Cory

Shibby, you need to buckle under and pay these debts off...no use having your credit ruined over a couple of little shitty things like a ticket and sprint. It can haunt you for a long time. Once you pay this off, try to get a major credit card with a low limit and charge small amounts periodically each month and pay off the whole balance monthly. This will help build that credit back up so you can rest assured that if you have to make a major purchase, you won't have anything to worry about. This should be of the utmost importance now that you are starting a family.

I don't know how to go about paying them. I have tried making contacts and all I get in response is it has been turned over to a collection agency. But I can't get ahold of them to get it taken care of.

[redsquirrel]

Originally Posted by Shibby

I don't know how to go about paying them. I have tried making contacts and all I get in response is it has been turned over to a collection agency. But I can't get ahold of them to get it taken care of.

Whoever is the collection agency is, their number will show up at the end of your credit report. So, I would advise you to get one from all 3 bureaus.

Secondly- what credit bureas want to see, and what builds credit is a couple of things:

First off, they really like to see you w/ a higher limit credit card and you only keeping about a $200 balance on it, and you make your payments on time, every time. That shows them you have a high credit line, and aren't using it. The reason I say don't pay it off every month is because that doesn't show a good enough pay history. I mean, just about anyone can pay a $50 balance on a credit card every month, so it's not gonna help as much to do that.

PAY YOUR COLLECTIONS. Paying those will help your credit score a ton. And bad debts can be reported for quite some time....there is NO rhyme or reason to how long a creditor reports negatively to your credit, and unless you clear it up and pay, they can report as long as they want to

[Shibby]

Thanks for the help. I signed up through freecreditreport.com they give me a free credit report that will be mailed to me and for $12 a month it will help me track and repair my credit.

[red_devil1469]

Dude don't sign up for any credit repair program.They are ALL ripoffs.Check out Clark Howard's website.He tells how to get involved with a non-profit credit conselor.

[Shibby]

Well I have a 30 day trial membership and then I can cancel with in that time and not get charged anything. You think I should just take the credit report and cancel or see what I can get out of it in 30 days?

[red_devil1469]

If you have been denied credit in the last month, you are entitled to a free credit report.You are also enetitled to one free credit report a year.I would cancel this thing as soon as possible.Once they start charging you a monthly fee, it will be a big hassle to get in canceled.

[red_devil1469]

Here you go straight from Clark Howard's website.

Beware of phony credit counseling companies - April 10, 2003
Clark gets so many calls from listeners who are facing huge levels of debt. So, it’s no surprise that the number of families seeking credit counseling help each year is outrageous. The crummy thing is that there are a number of crooks in the business that pretend to want to help you. They say that if creditor are hounding you, they have people standing by to negotiate with your creditors and to get you out of debt. They claim to be non-profit services, so people buy in. But as the Consumer Federation of America found out, these outfits are not interested in anything but your money. They sign you up for Debt Management Plans or DMPs, which allow them to take hundreds to thousands of dollars from you and never help you resolve your credit problems. They make their money by taking a cut from what you pay the credit card companies. And, on top of that, they charge you to do it. Many customers end up in the hands of a collector as a result. A real credit counseling agency will do no negotiating with creditors because they are simply there to help you budget. Legitimate agencies also won’t charge you money up front. Or, if they do, it’s no more than $20 or $30. And remember that it’s very easy for anyone to file as a non-profit with the IRS. It’s traditionally been done on an honor system. But the IRS is now looking into this system and has revoked the non-profit status of many of these companies. The Better Business Bureau gets tons of complaints against these companies. So, if you want to find a legit branch, go to the National Federation of Credit Counseling or the NFCC. The Web site is nfcc.org. They will get you in a plan of action to help you change how you to spend and save your money. And they won’t ask for anything in return.

[beefcake]

You can also use this site to get one free report from each of the bureau's each year. And remember, things stay on your credit report for seven years, that's if it hasn't been reported for that period of time. If the agency keeps reporting it, then it'll stay on there forever. It all depends on whether they're lazy and don't keep reporting each month.


https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

[Shibby]

I just want to bump this for future reference. I applied with that online place on the 24th of july. It is now August 5th and I still havn't recieved my credit report with the online access code. I get a "free" 30 day trial membership from when I signed up. But to access my info I have to have the "privacy security" number given on my credit report to approve authenticity. This security is great and all, but its been 2 weeks now and dependent on when I finally get this number depends on how long I really have to cancel.

[Shibby]

Just an update, I eamiled them and said that I havn't recieved anything and seeing that I only have about a week once I do get it, it seems like a great scam. So if they would please accept the email as my cancelation notice. They did cancel it.