How to fix bad credit?

Question

I had perfect credit about one year ago. Then I had a roommate that basically stole all of my money and left me with a negative bank account. Because of this I was unable to pay my bills b/c my pay was directly deposited until i could stop it. I went to the police and filed a bad check claim (which covers only some of what she stole) and I just graduated college, and things are hard b/c i had terrible credit b/c everything snowballed so quick.
My question is...what, if anything, can i do to repair my terrible credit? My history was short so it went from exellent to bad extremely quickly...any advice would be so helpful, I don't know what to do right now.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, most of the answers you got are from people who have NO IDEA what they are talking about. But, this happens on Y! Answers every minute of everyday. So many people are spreading so much misinformation, it's impossible to know which advice to take.

These same people give "thumbs down" to people who do have great answers. It's really sad.

Learn how to repair and rebuild your credit. It's that simple.

Answer 2

You MUST file a written, "snail mail" letter with all three credit bureaus.

For the proper order of the way the credit reporting bureau/agency wants it, the credit reporting bureau/agency may have on-line forms.
The ONLY way you will find out is to do the research. No one can do it for you. I'm not sure if any one will do it for you.

Make sure you list all the information you have about the issue you are disputing/protesting or the charge you are protesting.

The letter MUST contain ALL of the following:
The date you are filing the dispute/protest.
YOUR complete legal name AND the name as it appears on the credit card and/or the account you are disputing.
YOUR social security number.
YOUR date of birth.
YOUR current address. When its less than one [1] year, your previous addresses - totaling 10 years [but you better check on this.]
The date of the dispute/protest
Where the dispute/protest happened.
The company name.
The account number.
The transaction code/number.
The exact amount.
YOUR credit card number. A true and correct copy of the police report.
Your version of what happened and/or what didn't happen.

This is something you very rarely get right the first time. You may have to write this over and over again until you have it EXACTLY the way you want it AND the way others can clearly understand exactly what you wrote AND exactly what you mean..

PLEASE check and double-check ALL your numbers, account numbers, dates, etc. against the documents you have. Do a spell check and a grammar check.

After finishing and before printing, time stamp your document.

JUST in case someone requests a copy of your report, make true and correct copies.

This is not meant to be made easy for the consumer.

I wish you well!

VTY,
Ron B.

Answer 3

Don't feel bad, I had a job that was paying 25 per hour plus benifits , lost it cause of some power hungrey hating project manager, now I have arrears in child support up the hoohah that the county here still keeps giving me the run around , shoot, and I have my child most the time!, 2 credit card bills that dont seem to decrease, and I still cant find a descent job. I hear declaring bankruptsy is a bad thing. Sometimes credit card cmopanies will work with you though some are real asses. But at times they will make an offer to give you a resaonable ammount to pay off. I had that chance but still couldnt do it, I had to eat. You might need an attorney though idont see it as helpfull, you just might have to try and convince the companies you had been cheated.

Answer 4

1. Keep a copy of the police report to back up the situation
2. Put a waring on your credit report advising not to extend credit without contacting you.
3. Open a secured credit card. When yo use it,pay off the balance in full.
4. Avoid too many inquires into your credit, it will drive down your credit score
5 Stay current with alternative credit, (Utilities, Rent, Cellphone)

The reason your credit took a bad turn makes sense, You have it documented, most lenders look for this
Good luck.

P.S. I have been a mortgage banker for over 29 years

Answer 5

First, make sure all the information on your credit report is accurate.

Second, try to pay off all or any accounts that are currently in collections or make payment arrangements with the creditor to pay off the balance monthly.

Third, any credit card that is over 50% of the available credit line should be paid down to under half of your total credit line. Your credit score is lowered when your available balance is over 50% of your total credit line.

Finally, if you have bad or no credit and have no credit cards try to obtain two credit cards and make sure all of your monthly payments are made on time. This will help increase your credit score. If you cannot be approved for a unsecured credit card, obtain a secured credit card.

Repairing your credit and improving your credit score is a slow process that takes time.

Answer 6

I recommend credit repair unless you have lots of time and a high tolerance for aggravation. Some things are better left to the professionals. Usually companies charge hundreds of dollars to simply pull your credit and send correctly worded dispute letters—this is the key…..people will tell you that you can do this yourself for free but the truth of the matter is that the credit bureaus will throw your letters away or simply reject them. There is an easy to use online kit that will deliver the results you want available for just $19.95 at the source website. A similar kit is being sold via infomercials and radio talk shows for seventy dollars more but they try to solicit you repeatedly for other services after the fact.

Answer 7

To Repair credit score
Your credit score is based mostly on:

1. Length of credit history
2. Payment history.
3. Ratio of credit used to available credit.
4. Number of credit inquiries you authorized.

If you cancel your card, you'll be hurting your credit ratio. (#3).

You want to deliberately keep your oldest credit card open, even if you never use it.

You want to always pay the minimums of each loan on time every month.

You want to keep your available credit high, but actually only have balances equalinig 25% or less.

You want to keep your credit inquiries to a minimum. Try for no more than 3 or 4 per year for any type of loans.

You do these things and your credit score will quickly soar into the 700s.

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http://www.bestcreditrates.net

Answer 8

My advice would be to try to increase the amount of cashflow with your bank. That will up your value as a customer with them. After a year or so I would say get a very small loan something you can pay back and let them just take their profit. Often this will be marked up as a paid debt and will work in your favour I believe.
Hopefully other contributors can confirm this I am going on a friends advice to me.

Answer 9

If you have a really nice relative, who could pay your bills & you pay them back at a low rate of interest, your credit score could go up rapidly.

Otherwise, don't use credit for a while...live on cash. Save your money up by not buying any "wants", only "needs", and with the money you "save," gradually pay off the old bills.