This doesn’t have anything to do with kids or relationships. But I need advice. On fixing credit!! Fast! I and my fiance are wanting to find and buy a new home… But… His credit is 530s. Mine is 480s… I just got discharged from chapter 7 bankruptcy last yr. Still says one the cards are open with late payments… JUST found out My van … which I’m the primary signer my mom’s co-signer … Hasn’t been reflecting on my credit at ALL ONLY my mom’s… I am finally figuring that out, and it’s getting fixed now… I’ve talked to so many r different ppl on how to fix it, and I am so confused! Idk where our first step would b… So I thought I’d try this page to get actual personal experience, maybe… Any advice would be great!
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I started out with a secure credit card
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Dave Ramsey is a great resource, good luck!
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I use Credit Karma. It may be a few points off, but there’s so many helpful tips. And chances to be approved for a credit card to help with credit, but the cards require a deposit and higher interest rates. That’s expected. Good luck.
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Pay off anything you can get on payment plans
The credit solution program by Mike Roberts. It’s a good informational book. It’s not an overly long boring book either. Gives all the great recommendations to get a better score quick. Do not ever pay companies that claim to “wipe your credit clean” it’s a waste of money. If you’re determined to make your score better, you’ll have to put in the extra work, but it is absolutely possible to get your score into a higher number. Doing all of my homework, reading his book and following all of his advice got me a higher score within months!! Also having credit karma, credit sesame and paying for an Experian subscription has helped keep my records tidy and in order.
You need to dispute the negatives on your credit report if in fact you don’t owe them. If you do, get them paid off. Sometimes you can negotiate to pay a lower amount owed. Get a secured credit card that will report on your payment history. Do not charge more than 30% on it and pay it timely. Go to Experian and sign up for their credit thing that scans your bank account for bills that don’t get reported that you pay on time like cell phone, cable, utilities etc. Also, sign up for Self Lender. You have a payment made every month for a year, when the year is up the money comes back to you. That alone will bump your credit 10 to 15 points. Credit Karma sucks and doesn’t actually give your real credit score and their ideas for building credit are less than impressive. You can get your credit report for free every year and if you apply for a credit card and get denied they will provide your score and report on request. Good luck!
Easiest way I did it was to make sure all balances are paid off… Find on credit karma and take out a small loan and pay the exact payment til its paid off. For me, I got my daughter a bedroom suit at a furniture store and paid it off
We just bought our house an used loandepo, they explained everything we needed to do and ways to help. Since it was our first time buying a home they were really helpful.
Hope that helps a little
Do you have a credit card? If not, you should apply through your bank. If not approved, get a capital one credit card. Always pay off the credit card in FULL and on time. Also note that some items are on your credit report that do not increase your score however negatively impact your score if a payment is missed. For example cell phone bills. Check borrowell & credit karma for your scores and reports as they do not negatively impact your score like other companies do. I have significantly improved my score and my husbands in a few years. His was really bad mine was at zero. We both have “excellent” scores now.
I would say make an account on credit karma and start paying off the debt that is on there first. Knce thats all paid off and removed from your credit. Maybe look into a credit card with a very low credit line just to spend and then pay off each month. My credit score was 450 a few years ago. I started working on it and now im sitting at 550ish
My parents have a credit card and use it when needed and pay it off as they use it.
Ok 15 years in the financial industry here . First things first . Pull your free annual credit report from all 3 bureaus . When was your bankruptcy discharged? Find out what is still reporting on your credit then you need to dispute EVERYTHING stating you declared bankruptcy. Once the report is corrected (up to 30 days ) you will then need to wait to get a unsecured credit card , only use it for gas and keep the balance well below 30% of your available credit. This is a slow process but doable. I took my fiancee’s credit from 430 to 650 within 7 months. Best of luck and please feel free to ask questions!!!
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Pay your bills on time
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I haven’t done it yet. But I bank with Vystar… they have a secured credit card the lowest balance is 375 and it goes up… you give them the money to open the account t. For ex.375 and then from what I’m told. Never use the full amount… only use it for emergencies or to cover your gas… day use 100… that way it’s easy to pay back on the card each month and it can build your credit. Plus being that its connected to your bank… it gives you bonuses at other merchant stores when trying to buy stuff say furniture’s or others stuff. My husband and I plan to do so cause we have no credit. Also because it’s hard to get up the 375 at once without needing the money to go to other necessities.
Unfortunately credit cards are the best way to bring your credit score up. You have to be sure to only charge on the credit card if you can pay off the balance at the end of the month. Also getting your credit report corrected for anything that is incorrect will help. Dispute anything on there you feel is a mistake. If it’s not a mistake then work on paying those balances down. It takes a while to get where you need to be. Be aware of interest rates! Dont get any type or credit or loan with a ridiculous interest rate.
I sent and paid for help to get mine fixed. They chased off all the things that shouldn’t be on their any moe. Might want to Google something like that. I can’t remember the name right noe
Get you a secured credit card, it’s helped us alot! Only use, I believe it’s 30%, don’t rack it up. We weren’t aware of that when we first got it so it wasn’t reflecting on our credit in a good way. And make sure you use it! Get the credit karma app and that will help you find out who and what you owe, then work on paying that stuff, for us it’s mainly medical bills. But I love them credit karma app!
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If your mom has good credit you can have your name added to something of hers and it will boost your credit.
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Get a copy of your credit history. Read it and fix any problems you see . Some times creditors are sooow at reporting things. If you have fixed and paid items are still showing. Ask them for a letter if balance paid in full and remind them to report it . You can do this your self. Or go to a mortgage lender to apply for your loan he will look up your credit and tell you how to fix it.
MdG helped me get 20 points when I opened and 20 when I paid off. It increases through the year. Once I got up to 650 I applied for capital one… got that it bumped up 10 points… 6 months later walmart card and waited a year and applied for candian tire I now I have 698 and 4800 in credit. Takes time but try MDG and make payments
Dont use co signers anymore they always reap the best from it. And u really cant do anything about it. Get a credit card with a small limit and use it for NEEDS ONLY(like gas) and pay it off monthly.
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My fiance and I got a credit card. We would buy something once month and then ALWAYS pay it off before the bill was due. We also bought a newer vehicle so we had a car payment. Our credit wasn’t as bad as yours but a year later we have been pre approved for a home loan.
Quicken loans have people that help you fix your credit. It was a free service and got our credit up in a couple weeks.
Pay off high interest debts first, or any you can wipe out with one or two payments. See if you can negotiate with creditors to reduce the amount if you can get on a payment plan. Paradoxically if you qualify for more credit cards, get them but don’t use them to increase the amount of credit you’re eligible for but not spending. Freeze cards in a block of ice if you will be tempted to use them.
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Make sure all bills paid before the date due and in full…
For instance if you have a bill that is say $104.56. and only pay $100 that bill is not considered paid on time and can hurt your credit…
Make sure if you use a credit card it is paid in full so every month if you have $200 for groceries that week instead of using cash use card and get to bank within couple weeks and put the $200 on card…no interest that way either…will take awhile probably years but worth it
Its taken me about a year to get my score up a little over 100 points and it could be better but I haven’t been consistently responsible about it. Mine was like 530. Definitely use Credit Karma and/or Credit Sesame. And get a secured credit card. I started with one from Capital One. Just don’t use it much. Its easier than most people think once you start. Good luck!! You can definitely do it
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I was in the same boat 2 years ago. I had some negative stuff fall off my credit report and was left with a credit score of 508 
. I got a credit card meant for people with bad credit (I had to put down a deposit of $200 and after 6 months the card was changed over to a secured credit card with a huge balance increase). Once I had the 6 months of responsible card use my credit increased so much. In fact, I was able to buy my first house and open a few other credit card accounts all within this last month. I am no where near what I want to be but I am on my way there.
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A friend of mine used Lexington law for 6months paid for their premium plan around 120 a month and went from 500ish to a 720
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Lol great advice
Try it
But you can get a mortgage with bad credit
Owner finance
Or first time homebuyer
Fannie Mae
A co signor with good credit
Lexington Law helped me. The only thing is you have to pay them to help your credit. If you use credit karma they have their number on their website. Or you can google them as well. I used them in 2013 and I was able to buy a car without a co-signer. So that might be something to look into, which I highly suggest.
Credit card, buy something and then pay it right away. Dont wait for the bill to come in. If you can’t pay it same day like the department store ones then as soon as you get the bill pay it. Never wait till due date.
1st you should start by paying off one debt at a time. Then take out maybe 1 or 2 credit cards and never go past half of the limit on them. Honestly that is the only way to picture credit and if you wanna buy a house it just depends on were you live and what the laws are like where I’m from you have to wait a year after a bankruptcy before trying to buy a home
Pay off as much debt as possible, ask about reduced payments and payment plans, credit builder secured card, pay off small bills first, and high interest rates. Figure out if there are outstanding bills/ debt on your credit score that you may have forgotten about from years ago that could be hurting your credit score. Set a budget. Example: if you get paid 2x a month Bills A, B, C $200 a month each on the 1st of the month. Bills D, E, F. $200 a month each on the 15th of the month.
Odd jobs uber, babysitting, pizza delivery or places that you will get tips. To pay of quickly. Dedicate your tax refund to paying off the bills that will be equal or close to the amount owed as you receive back.
I was told to get a secure credit card. Never ever ever ever use more then half of your limit. Pay the amount the minute you get home! My score went up a lot in just 2 months !
Call capital.one credit card company and see if u can get a card. Do not use any more co-signer at all too. Those aren’t good. Cant really do anything about it though unfortunately. I know this first hand. You must just keep going, pay everything by or before the payment date, and keep open communication with the company helping with your debt.
secured credit card… usually 100-200 dollar deposit use it and pay it off each month before the bill hits.
Sign up for self lender… it raised our score 50 points in a month
I was there, it wont be over night and its not something you can say in a paragraph I have a near perfect 814 FICO(more important than credit score) now. Pull your credit reports, you can do it free for each agency once a year. Go through, THEY ALWAYS have mistakes. Fix them according to each agency. Some want you to write in, some give you a form. You fix everything. Double check accounts, duplicates, addresses, names, all of it. You should do this every year. Depending on how many mistakes depends on how much your credit instantly improves. My husband had to do bankruptcy before we were together. He now has his credit up to almost 700. He uses credit Karma to help him. Some of the accounts you may be able to call and make arrangements. I wanted to buy a house(and did on my own) but i had been hit by a semi and things hit my credit. I called each one of them, made notes who i talked to etc. Things fall off every 7 years, anything close, ignore. Everything else call and make deals. If you owe $500 tell them i have $300 now and you cancel the debt. Now, if they agree, get receipts. Nowwww, you take those accounts and with each credit agency you dispute them. Unless the company replies they will be taken off your credit. DO NOT EVER LET SOMEONE PULL YOU CREDIT, NOT EVER unless its for a house etc. Soft pulls are ok, hard inquiries ding your credit for 2 years. FHA has lower requirements for buying a home for 1st timers. Just fyi.
Now credit cards, loans etc. Dont get a bunch when you can, and NEVER GET STORE OR GAS CARDS. They are higher interest and nothing that a Visa can’t do. I see people saying get as many as you can, do that ONLY if you NEVER want to buy a house. When you buy they take your debts and ratio it with income. Even if you don’t use it, banks figure you can charge on them, so it works against you. Closing credit accounts dings your credit. We have one now i haven’t closed and we haven’t used in a year. I don’t want to ding my credit and i have only had it shy of 2 years. They want to see you way longer than that. Do NOT pay a credit card off in total. Pay way more, but if you pay it off each time you aren’t building credit and it makes it look like you must have that card in order to make ends meat . Don’t charge things that aren’t long term. Food, gas etc. There gone and you have nothing to show for it except a bill. Now i have a Chase card that i get 3% back on everything and i have a really good limit, i had a 5000$ on capital one(i dont trust them and will never use again) and my Chase has …well more than 3xs that, my 1st card had 250$. I do get my hair done pay with that and pay it off as i walk out the door. But at this point, i started as 540, my score is shy of perfect now and i did and do all this. We just bought a new truck and it had to go in my name. The guy there was practically at my feet begging for us to buy. They did say he could sell to me all day long. I get offers daily. For someone that didn’t see the value of credit, I’m kinda proud. Good luck!
Lexington law helps a lot
I fixed mine by getting a credit card at a local furniture store. I only ever bought stuff with 0% interest for extended periods. I raised my score by like 80 points just by buying a dining and paying the minimum payment required to pay it off in time before the promo ended.
If you do this you need to do the math and find out what the actual minimum payment is. Not just what they require. They may only require 1% of the balance paid monthly. You need to take purchase amount and divide it by the term (60 months or whatever) and that is your actual minimum payment. Set it on auto pay and forget it.
My credit score went from 480 (defaulted on student loans after I moved 6k miles across the country and my mom didnt tell me I had been getting notices in the mail for almost 2 years) and my score is now almost 700. It took about 4 years to get here though!
I work at a bank in the mortgage department. Aside from the bad credit if you have had a bankruptcy within 7 years its nearly impossible to get a fixed rate loan. You will have to find a financial institution that will trust you and even then they will probably hike your rate up.
Get on YouTube. Take a free home owners class. Save money.
Dave Ramsey is your answer.
Get a copy of your credit report and start there. Bankruptcy’s lower your score but banks know you can’t file again soon so will normally work with you. Past due or late payments you can write an explanation why you were late. Loss of job, became pregnant and could not work, etc. Banks accept an explanation if valid. My score went down cause I have only one credit card and pay off each month I guess. I don’t have any other debt. Mine is the same as yours. I haven’t used Credit Karma but maybe try that
Take out a secured loan from your bank ( if you can ). It will raise your credit tremendously if you can’t do that then do a secured credit card.
Go on credit karma it’s free an start from there,you will see all your stuff there
We tried Fingerhut something very small and our credit jumped 80 points in 6 months yeah it has interest for there products but that’s why you buy one small thing under 100$ and make sure your on time on payments Everytime also our next move now is doing a secured credit card 200$ you have use your own money for this credit card and treat it still like a regular credit card and only use 30 percent of the credit card also I must add try and dispute any negative balances on your credit and get them off your credit good luck
First off, hi I’m a realtor, feel free to message me 
i’d suggest speaking to a lender as they can give you the best advice for your specific situation and will help you solidify a plan to execute and then help you through to home ownership! Good luck!
I used to work for a bankruptcy attorney and what he used to tell his clients is get a gym membership and get a credit card and only use that card to pay the gym in credit then make payments to the bank but dont pay off the full amount leave about $5 in so your credit can go up …your car payments weren’t going to your credit score because of your bankruptcy
I created a free account with Credit Karma to see where I needed help. I also disputed EVERY negative thing on my credit. Several fell off just from doing that. Then I went to my bank and got a secured loan where I borrowed against my own money and did that for 6 months. After that I was eligible for a regular credit card so I did that and used it for only one tank of gas a month and paid it in full every month. Then I got a small personal loan and I pay that on time every month. My credit score has gone up 200 points in a year and a half
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Go to TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian websites: dispute anything bad off of them. Everytime you dispute something they have 30 days to reply if they don’t, it falls off.
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