All Forum Posts by: Frank Kriticos

The question is why do you have not so great credit?

If you have any past collection/charge off's then call and settle them for less than what is owed.

If you have any accounts that your currently late on then make sure to call the creditor and pay the amount to bring the account current.

Pay off credit cards

After this is finished your husband can add you as an authorized user to his credit card(s).  Just make sure he never has been late and also make sure he is not maxed out.

If you do the following you will be able to get an approval for a mortgage...

*Settle any past due collection/charge off's.  All it takes is one large collection to get rejected for a mortgage.

*Pay off all credit cards

*if you have any past due accounts and are showing continious lates then call the creditor and ask how much you need to pay to bring the account "current".  You need the late payments to stop following you because that alone will crush your scores.

*If you don't have any active credit cards then the last step would be to get yourself two credit cards.  If your profile shows no unpaid collection/charge off's then you shouldn't have to get a secured card.  I always prefer not to give the bank any money if it's not required. 

*After these steps are completed all you have to do is remember 2 things.  1. Never ever get yourself another 30 day late payment.  2. Don't max out your credit cards.  By following these guidelines your score will be in the mid to upper 600 range and as time goes on you will get into the 700's.  Remember that all it takes is one 30 day late or maxed credit card and you'll be back in the 500's again....

Hope this helps!

Woops, haven't logged in for years!  I don't mind sharing how credit works.  I get upset with your typical credit repair company that just sends in dispute letters.  It's not a bad option for $75/mo but it's just not enough to get somebody in a position of getting a loan approval.

GREAT QUESTION!

A deed in lieu of, short sale & foreclosure all effect your credit in the SAME negative way.

I work a lot with the real estate industry and i cringe when i hear agents tell potential clients that a short sale will have a less impact on their credit than a foreclosure. That is false.

Do they say that on purpose to get the commission? maybe, maybe not. I believe most of them really believe that a short sale effects their credit less than a foreclosure.

Lots of wacky info out there!

Frank

Lotsa commercials about debt settlement these days huh? Just like most things, you can do this yourself. But just like most things, if you do it yourself you probably won't get as good as results.

If you want to do it yourself then you have to go late. The longer you are delinquent, the "better deal" you will get. The account stays with the bank until 6 months, then it gets charged off which means they write off the debt and it gets sold to a collection agency. If you can catch it at around the 5 month mark just before it gets written off, that would be the best and different creditors settle at different amounts. BofA settles at 20%

Realize that this route of doing it yourself AND/OR a debt settlement company will both result in bad credit. After it's settled and stops reporting, you should be able to start repairing and reestablishing your credit.

Frank

As of today considering what credit card companies are doing now, it is best to use your credit card at least once every 3 months. BofA is going nutz canceling cards due to being inactive. All you need to do is generate a statement and you will be fine. I have 3 cards and i rotate through them with 1 in my wallet and 2 in my desk draw.

Somebody mentioned that a bad thing to do is buy something expensive. Thats not true, completely anyway. If your talking about a 5 MM mortgage, yes it will hurt a bit because it's not "normal" within the FICO system but the most "impressive" i saw was a guy who had just over 200k in credit card debt. His score was a 718. He had over 500k in available credit :o That is a personal record! haha.... When it comes to your DUR (debt utilization ratio) remember that it has nothing to do with the dollar amount and everything to do with the ratio.

Hope this helps, you guys have great questions.

Frank

Read my post above. If anybody tries to sell you tradelines, it is categorized as identity theft. I know the loopholes and also know why they don't work if questioned.

I myself don't do credit repair but it's pretty interesting in the types of games you have to play with the bureaus'.... They are smart! They also are aware that 50-70% of disputes come from credit repair company's so they are prepared to throw most company's for a loop.

If you need help, send me a private message.

Frank

Being an attorney unfortunately doesn't matter much in the credit repair business. You can't use the legal route, you have to hire somebody that understands the game of the credit bureau's themselves.

If you don't want to pay for a premium service then just do a search online and those dispute letters will be fine and best of all they are free.

If you have a budget and want it done as good as any i've seen, private message me and I can refer somebody to you. I will not give his info publicly since he is a 1 man show....

Hope this helps!

Frank

Does it work? Yes, is it perfect? No.... It is not a perfect science, it's a matter of finding somebody that knows how to play their game. It's not about the laws of the FCRA either, the bureau's are covered in every legal angle....

If you need a referral private message me and i can refer you to somebody that i use all the time. He's a 1 man show and is not a big company.

Hope this helps!

Frank