payinbills Posted February 27, 2005 Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 In my attempt to improve my chances of buying a home in the next year, I pulled my wife and I's credit reports and began making calls. I was under the impression that if I paid off all the creditors and collectors, then I would be in good shape.What I didn't realize (and I just figured this out by browsing the site) is that all of our charge-offs are hurting us just as much being paid off, as they were when they were still delinquent. Right?I just "coughed up money" as someone put it. Never dawned on me that I had the ability to have the stuff removed all together.What can I do after the fact to REALLY impove our scores?Thanks so much! Payinbills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghacorp Posted February 27, 2005 Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 That's not quite correct. Paying off debt puts you in a good negotiating position. Just offer a good explanation as to why the delinquency occurred and you'll likely get what you want regardless of low FICO scores! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
payinbills Posted February 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 bump, please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted February 27, 2005 Report Share Posted February 27, 2005 You were right to pay off the outstanding debts - your loan officer would have made you do it before getting a mortgage anyway. However, what's done is done - your next step is to improve your credit score/picture, and the only way to do that is to get the negative information off your reports.Dispute, write goodwill letters to the executive level of your creditors, establish new credit (make payments on time, keep balances under 30% of the credit limit), and simply work on getting your credit picture improved. There are endless posts here to help you do just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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