Living with Bad Credit

I'm sure there are a few out there. Question, have you disputed your credit report? You would be amazed at how well that works. And this is something you can do yourself and it really doesn't take that much time.

Just a thought...

I did this within the last month. With the collections though I think some of the dates may be wrong (as in DOFD) but the balances are fairly accurate. So I'm not sure how much this would help me.

I dispute my credit report about every 90 days. Here's the thing, if they don't respond, it will get deleted. I would keep disputing it. Eventually they stop responding and it gets deleted.

I completely understand where you're coming from. All 3 of my scores at one time were in the 400's. I started disputing everything negative. Late pays and everything. I am now up to all scores being in the 600's.

I had a car repossessed and got that deleted off of my credit report.

My circumstances are pretty similar...The only score I saw now was Equifax at a 637. I don't really know how that rates though, but I do know my EX and TU show 3 collectoins and that only showed 2.

Disputes can be effective, I did have one thing drop off

a 620 can get you an FHA approved mortgage so 637 is a good place to start

Is getting a mortgage really as simple as your score? I have an EQ score of 657 according to MyFICO, which i was told was pretty reputable

Yes and no. Having a score of a min of 620 for FHA is a start. A min of 580 if your borrowering less than 80% of the value of the home. Your debt to income ratio come into play as well. Job time. And if your self employed you have to be profitable for 2 years.

Not that I am looking for a mortgage but let's say I went to get a car loan or a Credit Card ... my score for EQ is 637 and my only negative items are payment history about 4 years ago that is now current, and a couple of collection accounts. So I'm wondering does what you have as your negative items hold a bearing or do they just run a check and it gives them a score?

When your credit report is pulled, it shows everything you've done for the past 7 years. If you're saying for the past 4 years you have had no negative accounts then you should be good. They tend to look at the whole picture. Job time...money down...dti, That kinda stuff.