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Thread: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

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    Featured Member greggy's Avatar
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    Default OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    I've checked my credit report before (free on annualcreditreport.com). Everything is accurate. I've never looked at the score though (costs money and I was too scared). I finally checked my FICO today, and it was AWFUL! Drumroll please... 514

    Wow, I want to cry. It's not like I can dispute anything b/c everything is accurate. Anyway, I'm determined to get out of debt and repair my credit ASAP. Even before I checked my score, I made a plan to get out of debt by this summer (it's not a lot of debt) b/c I knew my score was bad, but DAMN! Just felt like ranting...

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    God/dess whirlerz's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Yep, I hear ya. I have formerly used a law firm that writes letters disputing things on credit report. I used one before, liked the results, but had to discontinue, b/c of $ probs. My boss owns a house, but also has had some credit probs, she told me she uses lexingtonlaw.com. They have some interesting articles/info on the site too. I think I will give them a try. You can dispute (write the letters disputing) yourself, but I don't really have the time/inclination to do so.


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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Debt to income ratio can be a big factor in your score. So can payments past 30 days. Applying for credit cards, loans, etc can bring down your score a few points for a few months. Numerous inquiries in a short period of time can drop the score a lot.

    www.myfico.com has a lot of great information about how a credit score is determined. Check it out to see if anything else is dragging down your score.

    Good luck

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by whirlerz
    Yep, I hear ya. I have formerly used a law firm that writes letters disputing things on credit report. I used one before, liked the results, but had to discontinue, b/c of $ probs. My boss owns a house, but also has had some credit probs, she told me she uses lexingtonlaw.com. They have some interesting articles/info on the site too. I think I will give them a try. You can dispute (write the letters disputing) yourself, but I don't really have the time/inclination to do so.
    Please do not pay to have someone dispute information about your credit report. It really is a waste of money. Going to www.annualcreditreport.com and pulling your report for free is easier. In the process there are links on each agency's site to dispute late payments or other information. It does not have to be a long explaination. Simply state you were not late or ect. If the company in question does not respond in 90 days the item is removed from your report.

    With a little research and at the most an hour of your time you can save that money.

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by Vamp
    Debt to income ratio can be a big factor in your score. So can payments past 30 days. Applying for credit cards, loans, etc can bring down your score a few points for a few months. Numerous inquiries in a short period of time can drop the score a lot.

    www.myfico.com has a lot of great information about how a credit score is determined. Check it out to see if anything else is dragging down your score.

    Good luck

    DTI (debt to income) will NEVER be a factor in a credit score. What will be a consideration is late payments, % of credit line used, and collections.

    If you find that you have credit lines almost maxed out, you should concentrate sending more money to the cards that have the highest interest rate. If they ALL have high interest rates, then you send more to the cards that have the highest balance (thus more interest). Work on paying them down.

    You can dispute OLD information. If an account is showing up from 7 years ago, and it's negative, dispute it and get it off the report. If you have accounts that are showing up multiple times, then dispute it and get them off. Scorpio had that duplicate shit on his report and when the SEVEN duplicate items were taken off, his credit score jumped by almost 50 points.

    So, go through the report with a fine tooth comb and find out exactly what is bringing your score down. Then work to fix it. It's not impossible, but it will take time and concious spending.

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by Vamp
    Please do not pay to have someone dispute information about your credit report. It really is a waste of money. Going to www.annualcreditreport.com and pulling your report for free is easier. In the process there are links on each agency's site to dispute late payments or other information. It does not have to be a long explaination. Simply state you were not late or ect. If the company in question does not respond in 90 days the item is removed from your report.

    With a little research and at the most an hour of your time you can save that money.
    This is not completely accurate. The company has 30 days to respond. However, the only thing that is disputed is the VALIDITY of the debt. If you have proof that you have made on-time payments, then you need to COPY and MAIL that proof to the bureaus that are reporting erronous information. When they get that information, they will verify it with the company and the necessary changes will be made. Expect it to take about 6-8 weeks, sometimes a little longer.

    I do agree that you should not pay ANYONE to fix your report. It takes some patience and diligence, but if you have $500-$1000 to send to some company to do what you can do for free, easily, you are better off using that money to pay off some of the debt that is pulling your score down.

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Just for the record I am going by the information I receive at work.

    At work we use the dispute option i mentioned many times to raise a credit score. I have used it myself to remove late payments from my report. I did not have to send in any documentation.

    http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducatio...YourScore.aspx

    This is a quote taken from the above link

    Your FICO score only looks at information in your credit report.
    However, lenders look at many things when making a credit decision including your income, how long you have worked at your present job and the kind of credit you are requesting.

    Debt to income ratio may not be a factor in the raw Fico score. But when a lender factors in your income in ratio to your debit the best score then becomes useless. We have a computer program that adjusts the credit score with the debt to income ratio factored into it. We have turned down loans to A+ credit because of debit to income ratios above 50%.

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    CarGuy
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    I have reviewed the financial details of hundreds of clients over the years....maybe thousands. I can disect a credit repoert and identify if the person will ever get "bought" by a lender. All this was of course learned in the retail Auto business (I only sell classic now...so my work is a little different).

    Here is the key to a better score:

    1. Pay your bill on time! Even if it's late...send it in...it will not show up on the report until it is 30 days past due! Even if it is credited the 29th day...it will never show 1 X 30.

    2. Those "swallow your pride collections" I am refferring to the $25 late fees for movie rentals that were reported to the credit bureau...the medical bills that are reported as "collections" the phone bill...etc. these KILL a credit score.

    Take care fo those items and your score will improve dramatically in a year.

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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by CarGuy

    1. Pay your bill on time! Even if it's late...send it in...it will not show up on the report until it is 30 days past due! Even if it is credited the 29th day...it will never show 1 X 30.
    Yes and no. This is true for the major credit card banks (like where I work, /flex), but it's not necessarily true for small department store cards. Sears used to be notorious for showing it late on the CBR even if it missed by one day.

    Doesn't mean they all do it, but just keep it in mind..

    Otherwise, yes, unless you basically miss two consecutive payments, the card companies won't report it as late.

    That does not mean, though, that the individual companies won't jack their own rates higher due to the missed payments.

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    AudreyLeigh
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    You dont need documentation to dispute anything on your CR. You send in a letter stating that the tradeline is inaccurate. CRA then contacts said company and they have to send proof that the debt is valid or update your tradeline to its correct status. If they dont within 30 days then it is removed completly from your CR. BUT if you use annualcreditreport.com and dispute inaccuracies from there they have 45 days to respond. Why, i have no idea.

    You can dispute everything and anything. This is how those 'credit cleaning' companies work. They dispute over and over until much is deleted. Some will not be deleted tho.

    Im in the process of this right now - pain in the butt. Honestly - I would rather pay someone $500 to deal with it than sit here and keep going through my TLs and type up the dispute letters and mail then off and all that other stuff...

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    God/dess sxybrat07's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by whirlerz
    . My boss owns a house, but also has had some credit probs, she told me she uses lexingtonlaw.com.
    I worked for lexington law for awhile, I heard good things, never used them though. Realize that you'll be paying between 79-99 up front for a retainer fee, and 39-59 a month as long as they work for you. Obviously, there are no guaranteed results. Could totally be worth it, but sometimes the stuff isn't done and off your credit (if it comes off) for 1-2 years.

    I have some additional info about them if anyone has questions, pm me.
    I believe you Dottie and you have my support

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    CarGuy
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    It is much easier to just get the bills paid on time, and don't let them go to collections. Your score will improve DRAMATICALY after a year. Once you get into the 630-650 range...credit will be much easler to get and your rates will be better. 675-695 and you are gettting "GOLD" status. 700 Plus empirca and you can write your own ticket.

    My all-time-favortie car buying customer is a stripper who kept her finances in perfect check and at 21 was buying $30,000 new cars at the very best rates we could offer. This "dancer" bought several cars from me over the course of our friendship and I never did see her perform.....but she keeps coming back for more cars.

    Knowledge is power....money and finance is rather easy to learn and it gives you the power to do whatever you want.

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    Featured Member greggy's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Thanks for the suggestions. But one question: can I actually dispute stuff if everything on there is accurate? Or am I just disputing in the hopes that the companies are too busy to respond in 30 days?

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by greggy
    Thanks for the suggestions. But one question: can I actually dispute stuff if everything on there is accurate? Or am I just disputing in the hopes that the companies are too busy to respond in 30 days?
    No, you cannot dispute stuff that is accurate. Well, you can, but it'll just be back on the report.

    If the information is accurate and you dispute it and the company does NOT respond in 30 days...and it gets wiped off...then when they resubmit it proving the debt is proper and correct, all of that info will go back on the report. I am not sure if there are any "sanctions" against people who dispute valid information.

    As for sending in information...from my experience, disputing online is effective if the tradelines have improper information. However, if they are stating that you have not made a payment or that you made a late payment and that is wrong, it is more easily remedied when you just send in the proof showing that that information is wrong. Unless they made a bunch of changes in the last few months, the bureau would always come back asking for proof of payment in the end, anyways.

    DTI is not factored in on a credit report. The people at the banks/mortgage companies/etc do that themselves. But, if I were to pull your credit report and see your score, I could not factor DTI on that alone. I would need to know what you made for the year and the year prior. Your credit SCORE will not be a reflection of DTI, but your credit WORTHINESS will be.

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    AudreyLeigh
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    CarGuy - your advice is great... but dont you think we already KNOW that we SHOULD pay on time. I mean seriously - were not dense. This is someone who already messed up and wants to rebuild. Not everyone turns 18 and understands the repercussions of not paying on time and credit. I know I didnt. I wish someone had warned me but its too late. Telling someone to pay on time is kinda a 'duh' statement. We KNOW we screwed up. Are NOW doing the correct things but want to know how to 'fix' the past. Ya know?

    There are no repercussions to disputing tradelines that are correct. You can dispute all you want. Theres nothing illegal about it. You cannot get in trouble for it. How would THEY know that you KNEW the TLs were correct. For all they knew you THOUGHT they were wrong.

    I say dispute dispute dispute and hope they come off and stay off. With most that are in collections the collection was sold off. All the new "owner" has is your name, number and amount of debt. They really have no proof that you owe the debt. From what ive read around the net 8/10 if its a collection thats been sold and you dispute it the new owners dont have the proof to update the TL to the correct status and it will be removed from your CR. If the TL has been sold and the same debt it showing up from the orig creditor and 2 or 3 collection agencies its been sold to just dispute them all and hope they all come off. Worse that can happen is the correct one stays and the others all get taken off.

    Good luck.

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    Veteran Member calliope7's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by CarGuy
    Once you get into the 630-650 range...credit will be much easler to get and your rates will be better. 675-695 and you are gettting "GOLD" status. 700 Plus empirca and you can write your own ticket.
    Hmmm . . . I just took the test and they put me at 693 which they said was between poor and fair.

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    CarGuy
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    If you are a 693....that is EXCELLENT credit. Now...if your score was 639 Six three Nine...it would be in the poor to fair.

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    CarGuy
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by AudreyLeigh
    CarGuy - your advice is great... but dont you think we already KNOW that we SHOULD pay on time. I mean seriously - were not dense. This is someone who already messed up and wants to rebuild. Not everyone turns 18 and understands the repercussions of not paying on time and credit. I know I didnt. I wish someone had warned me but its too late. Telling someone to pay on time is kinda a 'duh' statement. We KNOW we screwed up. Are NOW doing the correct things but want to know how to 'fix' the past. Ya know?
    .

    I realise it is kinda stating the obvious....BUT, these companies make it seem like if you hire them...they will get your credit on the fast track. This is not the case. You will end up spending money to do things that probably can't be done. The original poster Gregy, even stated that the negative items are true....no company can just make these things go away. HOWEVER, if you just start paying things on time, your credit will improve, and you can then thank yourself. It may take a year of every payment on time...but at least you are not wasting money on these scammer "credit doctors"

    I am not trying to give "duh" advice, but you can fix your issues, without an agency.

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by CarGuy
    I realise it is kinda stating the obvious....BUT, these companies make it seem like if you hire them...they will get your credit on the fast track. This is not the case. You will end up spending money to do things that probably can't be done. The original poster Gregy, even stated that the negative items are true....no company can just make these things go away. HOWEVER, if you just start paying things on time, your credit will improve, and you can then thank yourself. It may take a year of every payment on time...but at least you are not wasting money on these scammer "credit doctors"

    I am not trying to give "duh" advice, but you can fix your issues, without an agency.
    Very, very true.

    Audrey, If I am not mistaken, frivoulously or fraudulently disputing accurate tradelines in the attempts to increase your credit score can result in getting hit with some form of "frivolous" label from the credit reporting agencies. That may not seem like much, but then when you are really disputing wrong information, they'll drag their feet longer, stall more, etc.

    So, be careful on advising people that they can do whatever they want, even if what they are doing is wrong. There are consequences, and as soon as I find where I read about that, I will post it here.

    If you do not like your credit score, then spend time fixing it. Honestly, it will probably take 1-2 years to begin off-setting negative info. More if all you've got are collections and late payments. Looking for "ways out" the easy way will only make it harder in the long run.

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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by CarGuy
    If you are a 693....that is EXCELLENT credit. Now...if your score was 639 Six three Nine...it would be in the poor to fair.
    Remember, you do cars, though. You guys are more lenient then my boys and I in unsecured loans because if they don't pay, you take the car.

    Unsecured lenders (credit cards) are a bit more picky. 693 is not excellent, but it *is* pretty good and nothing to be worried about if it's in reference to a FICO score. Even 639 isn't a disaster, but the downside of fair is a good assessment of it.

    Below 620 is when you should start panicking because that's when we jack your rate to 29%.

    Heh, well, actually, there are many reasons we'll raise someone to 29%, even someone above 700, but still, 620 and below is when you should panic.

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    exotisch23
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by whirlerz
    Yep, I hear ya. I have formerly used a law firm that writes letters disputing things on credit report. I used one before, liked the results, but had to discontinue, b/c of $ probs. My boss owns a house, but also has had some credit probs, she told me she uses lexingtonlaw.com. They have some interesting articles/info on the site too. I think I will give them a try. You can dispute (write the letters disputing) yourself, but I don't really have the time/inclination to do so.
    lexingtonlaw.com was not very helpful for me. They basically say that even after you dispute or pay off all your delinquencies, the negative effect is not even wiped off your report & building up new credit will not help you.
    I'm going to try & find information elsewhere.

  22. #22
    CarGuy
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by exotisch23
    negative effect is not even wiped off your report & building up new credit will not help you.

    Nothing gets "wiped off" unless it is actually false information, or if you were a subject of identity theft. that process is long and is a paint in the neck.

    Even with bad info on the report.....as you correct your habits and mistakes and new trade lines show up that establish the positive payment history...your credit will improve. Dramatic improvements will occur in as little as one year, or less. And this can be done ON YOUR OWN....no BS credit "doctors" to take more of your money. You have all of the power to make your situation good.

    If you are looking for a way to erase your own mistakes and issues...that is impossible...but over time they will fade away and be replaced by what you are doing right now.

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by exotisch23
    lexingtonlaw.com was not very helpful for me. They basically say that even after you dispute or pay off all your delinquencies, the negative effect is not even wiped off your report & building up new credit will not help you.
    I'm going to try & find information elsewhere.
    If you dispute an item on your credit report, (late payments are the easiest to dispute), you will get a letter from the credit agency when it is removed. With that removal it will increase your score some. If you pay off your delinquencies it will also help once these are reported to the agency.

    The only time doing this does not work is bankruptcy. No matter how much you clean up your credit a bankruptcy will be on your report for seven to ten years depending on what chapter you have filed.

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    Featured Member Vamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by CarGuy
    Nothing gets "wiped off" unless it is actually false information, or if you were a subject of identity theft. that process is long and is a paint in the neck.

    From my experiance at where i work and doing so. If you dispute a late payment if the company does not respond to your dispute it will be removed.

    We all have differant views on the matter.

    My advice is to do your own homework. We have the internet use it. The credit reporting system isnt impossible to understand or work with. It just takes some time to learn the rules. There are tons of great sites with great info.

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    God/dess VenusGoddess's Avatar
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    Default Re: OMG, my credit score SUCKS!

    Quote Originally Posted by Vamp
    If you dispute an item on your credit report, (late payments are the easiest to dispute), you will get a letter from the credit agency when it is removed. With that removal it will increase your score some. If you pay off your delinquencies it will also help once these are reported to the agency.

    The only time doing this does not work is bankruptcy. No matter how much you clean up your credit a bankruptcy will be on your report for seven to ten years depending on what chapter you have filed.
    It is true that you cannot wipe off a bankruptcy. But it IS possible to establish good reliable credit after a bankruptcy. If a person files a bankruptcy and then makes every single payment on time and doesn't over-spend, then it is possible to have an extremely high credit score. It is possible to get a mortgage loan after bankruptcy. But, the catch is that you have to keep your nose cleaner than someone who hasn't filed. I've seen people who have bankruptcies and have higher credit scores than someone who's got decent credit but made some late payments.

    Bankruptcy is not the end of the world. You can bounce back after a bankruptcy. And, just so you (as in everyone who doesn't know) know, a bankruptcy is on the credit report for 7-10 years AFTER it's been discharged. An (old) chpt. 7 takes a total of 6 months (usually) from filing date to discharge date. A chpt. 13 is discharged after you complete the repayment. I am not sure about the "new" chpt. 7.

    But, no matter what you have on your credit, it is possible to get a high credit score...but it's got to be a concious effort. No more having 10 credit cards that are all maxed and making the minimum payment and some lates. Having good credit, really means, knowing how to live within your means.

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