How can I rebuild my credit to buy a house?

My husband and I have been married a little over a year and we have a baby. We both have pretty bad credit, he has medical bills and unpaid credit cards and I have a repossessed vehicle and unpaid credit cards. We bought a car recently from a place that will finance people with bad credit and we have paid all of our payments on time but I dont know if that will show up on our credit or not. Well anyway we really want to buy a house soon but I dont even know where to start to try to repair our credit. We can not really afford to pay off any of the debts in full and I dont think that the collection agencies will work with us as far as a payment plan or anything. Please help anyone who knows about this kind of thing or anyone who has been through this before. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

First obtain a copy of your credit reports from each of the three major bureaus: Equifax, Experian; and Transunion. You can get a free copy of your credit report once annually at www.annualcreditreport.com. Look them over carefully and dispute any inaccurate or derogatory findings. Many people simply dispute charge-offs/collections as "not mine". Dispute them in writing, with each bureau. Send your letters certified mail return receipt (CMRR). They have 30 days to validate the entries or they have to remove them. Sending your letters CMRR ensures everyone knows when the 30-day clock starts ticking.

Next, pay off what collections/charge-offs you can. Start with the most recent and the smallest. Collection agencies will usually settle for less than the outstanding balance. I've seen them settle for as little as 20% of the total.

Pay down any revolving accounts to 20% of the credit limit. Don't pay them off completely or close them. For instance, if you have a Sears card with a $500 limit, pay it down to $100 balance.

Finally, make your payments on time with any creditors you currently have--especially installment loans like your car payment. Contact your lender and ask if they are reporting to the credit bureaus. Many small we-tote-the-note car dealerships do not report, so your on-time car payments aren't helping your credit score.

Please feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Rick Lanicek
www.primelendingonline.com

Those unpaid credit cards believe it or not, are really important! Even if you just pay a little when you can it will help also there are a lot of companies that offer free help with bill problems. They are pretty picky when you go to buy a house. So you might want to try a place like AAA Mortgage. They helped us with getting are credit straight, even though ours was a gas bill misunderstanding.

What you can do with the collection agency is settle your debt for a fraction of what you owe. This is a completly legal thing to do. Take one card or item at a time and build up some money and settle them one by one. I have been in the debt settlement business for 4 years this is how I know you can do this.

if in Chicago i can help. DON'T go to consumer credit counseling, its just as bad as bankrupt,very,very hard to get loan. their are people who can take things off your credit for you. most lenders are looking for 12 months of no lates. you can also try to settle debts with creditors, might be too late cause in collections..

Begin by ordering your credit reports and make sure you get your FICO scores. If there is anything very old on there you can request they be removed. Try this website also for more advice.
Talk to Leon. He will give you some good advice. I know him personally. I got a home refinance through his company, although my credit is nowhere near as bad as yours, but I know he can tell you what you need to do. He is also a finacial advisor and he advises people with credit problems on what to do. Good luck!
www.IncredibleMortgageLoans.com.

The first thing you should do is to get a copy of your credit report. Check it to make sure it's accurate. If it's not, you should report the inaccuracies right away. Also, you need to start making payments on your debts - you should pay more than the minimum each month to rebuild your credit. As long as you keep paying more than the minimum each month, and don't incur any new debt, your credit score should rise gradually. Or you can try consolidating all your credit card debts onto just one card.

If all else fails, declare bankruptcy - but remember that even if your bankruptcy goes through, everything on your credit report will stay there for 7 years.

I used to work with a non-profit organization that did HUD's HOME Program. It helped lower income families get into their first home. Often, our clients had credit issues. I could usually lead them in the right direction to bettering their credit in order to get approved for a mortgage. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It depends on the individual situation and how hard they work at it.

DO NOT rely on any of those "debt solutions" schemes that you may hear on the radio. Most of them are scams. If you are in a City, look for a program such a Redevelopement Authority, or call your Mayor's department and see what types of Home Ownership programs might be available. Starting with one of those programs is smart because they can advise you on who to see for a mortgage, or if there is a non-profit group that will help you sort out your debt and the best way to fix it.

If there are no programs, start with a mortgage lender (stick with banks and credit unions if you are unsure how to spot a predatory lender) They can give you an idea of what you would qualify for as far as purchase price and perhaps give you an idea of what you need to work on to better your credit. Sometimes they will say, "if you just pay off these three, then I can approve you for..."

If your credit is so bad that they say no way no how - look at a long range goal instead. Do not open any new credit. Pay as much as you can. For any that you have let go delinquent, call them and work out a payment plan. That will be more favorable than just letting it go. Attack delinquent accounts first. Get them current!

I could keep going but this is probably a book by now. LOL.

I have seen a family of three with an income of $13,000 and horrid credit do the leg work to get ther credit improved and they got into a three bedroom house for $45,000 through the HOME Program. But since their income was so low, they also had to jo through the Job center and work on their resumes, interviewing skills, and find better pay.

Good luck. It may not be a simple task, but if you go about it the right way, it is possible... even if it has to be a few years from now.

I would recommend that you NOT buy a house given your circumstances.

Given that you have bad credit, I can assume that you've had problems managing money. Now, you're wanting to increase your expenses by purchasing a home when you've not addressed your money problems?

Money problems are the #1 cause of divorce in the US. Please don't put more financial burden on your family by going further into debt by purchasing a home right now.

Instead, learn how to control your spending, get out of debt and build an emergency fund. Ensure that you have the proper personal finance safeguards in place (life insurance, will, emergency fund, etc.) as well.

You will not regret waiting on purchasing a house until you've built a solid financial foundation.

Please free to contact me directly for specific help. I've been teaching a personal finance class at my church where the average family pays off $5,800 in debt and saves $2,700 in 13 weeks.

Scott.....

I wanted to share this with anyone who is in need of start up capital. If you have bad credit this company will still give you a loan. The catch? Your looking at an interest rate of about 20%. However, once you start paying off the loan your interest rate can drop and your monthly payments will go down. They also report to all 3 credit agencies. I borrowed $15,000.00 ffrom them last year and have had nothing but a positive experience with them.

This is not some "fly by night" company and I do not work for this company nor do I get paid to pass on any info about this company. I am simply doing this to help others who are having the same problems getting a start up loan.

You still have to work,(I put in about 50 hours a week on my webstore), and you still have to be honest. I do not know ANYONE who works 4 hours a day and makes thousands in a week. That's bull****!

I put my heart and soul into my webstore and I simply needed extra funds for inventory to sell. By getting this loan I was able to buy inventory and my sales went up because I had better items to offer and a lot more to choose from.

If your interested please email me at sixkidsandastore@yahoo.com.

I cannot give this company name out on here. I do not have their permission.

One more thing....I DO NOT MAKE MONEY FROM GIVING THEM REFERRALS! I make my money the old fashion way.....WORKING FOR IT.

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