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Head's Up (Credit reports)
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<blockquote data-quote="GoingNorth" data-source="post: 622695" data-attributes="member: 1963"><p>Janet, a static loan alone won't work miracles. You need to get a secured credit card. This is where you put down $$ and the dollars you put down are your credit limit.</p><p></p><p>Get a card like this, charge a little, and pay it off every month. That's what I did 4 years ago. Once I'd had the secured card for a couple of years, I was able to get 2 cards and a department store charge card that charged high interest. No problem if you pay them off monthly.</p><p></p><p>My "progression" was secured card. Kohl's card. Had those for a couple of years with a good record. I then was able to get 2 bank cards with no fees but high interest.</p><p></p><p>I did that for another two years with a good record and then was able to get a car loan. (I dumped the secured card asap once I got other cards. Got my deposit back with no issues).</p><p></p><p>Recently, I reviewed my credit and called the bank card companies and told them that if they wanted to keep me as a customer, they needed to lower my interest and get rid of the annual fees. Discover took care of that. BofA refused. I transferred my balance on the BofA Visa to a card with much better terms from Citibank.</p><p></p><p>IT takes TIME to restore credit. There are no magic fixes. It also takes discipline. You cannot skate by making minimum payments. The interest will choke you and it doesn't look good on your reports. At worst, you need to pay more than minimum. Ideally you need to pay the balance off monthly. You have to have the discipline to remember that the card is real money and that you cannot spend more than you can afford monthly.</p><p></p><p>The first thing to do is pull your reports. This is especially important as you've had a family member steal from you. You want to be sure there are no cards in your name or bad checks out there.</p><p></p><p>The other thing is that IIRC, you've got a judgement sitting out there. Those look awful to potential lenders. It takes 7 years with no activity for a judgement to drop off your report.</p><p></p><p>You can't know what you're working with unless you pull the reports from the three agencies. That is your first step. You can contest entries that are incorrect and you can attach explanations to those that are correct.</p><p></p><p>I think your judgement is from a veterinarian when your neighbour shot your dog? Not sure how you'd explain that, but it doesn't hurt to try.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, keep on top of your bills, ALL of them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GoingNorth, post: 622695, member: 1963"] Janet, a static loan alone won't work miracles. You need to get a secured credit card. This is where you put down $$ and the dollars you put down are your credit limit. Get a card like this, charge a little, and pay it off every month. That's what I did 4 years ago. Once I'd had the secured card for a couple of years, I was able to get 2 cards and a department store charge card that charged high interest. No problem if you pay them off monthly. My "progression" was secured card. Kohl's card. Had those for a couple of years with a good record. I then was able to get 2 bank cards with no fees but high interest. I did that for another two years with a good record and then was able to get a car loan. (I dumped the secured card asap once I got other cards. Got my deposit back with no issues). Recently, I reviewed my credit and called the bank card companies and told them that if they wanted to keep me as a customer, they needed to lower my interest and get rid of the annual fees. Discover took care of that. BofA refused. I transferred my balance on the BofA Visa to a card with much better terms from Citibank. IT takes TIME to restore credit. There are no magic fixes. It also takes discipline. You cannot skate by making minimum payments. The interest will choke you and it doesn't look good on your reports. At worst, you need to pay more than minimum. Ideally you need to pay the balance off monthly. You have to have the discipline to remember that the card is real money and that you cannot spend more than you can afford monthly. The first thing to do is pull your reports. This is especially important as you've had a family member steal from you. You want to be sure there are no cards in your name or bad checks out there. The other thing is that IIRC, you've got a judgement sitting out there. Those look awful to potential lenders. It takes 7 years with no activity for a judgement to drop off your report. You can't know what you're working with unless you pull the reports from the three agencies. That is your first step. You can contest entries that are incorrect and you can attach explanations to those that are correct. I think your judgement is from a veterinarian when your neighbour shot your dog? Not sure how you'd explain that, but it doesn't hurt to try. Meanwhile, keep on top of your bills, ALL of them. [/QUOTE]
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