Repairing credit.

[Robert Ford]

So here is the scoop. I am looking to repair my credit I have been working at this for about 2 years now. I have been able to obtain credit cards since my start. I went from having 10+ DAs and a Repo that I still owed on.

I now have maybe 1 DA and the Repo is payed off, I have 9 credit cards all under 30% with exception of one that I got as a balance transfer card. I also recently had to purchase a vehicle as my old reliable became old and dead.

My auto loan was for $14,000 and is now at $12,500. Once all my credit cards are paid off I will be paying more towards the auto. My monthly payment is $255 and I was going to pay either $300 or $350 towards that.

All my payments are made on time! My revolving accounts get a payment every time I get paid! 4 of the 9 cards are at 0 balance, 1 at 90%, 1 at 50%, 1 at 30% and one at 10%.

I can afford to pay $200 a pay to my credit cards. When one card gets paid off then the money used for that goes towards the card that is next closest to being paid off. I am going to start paying down the higher cards, like the one that is at 90%. I don't really use them any more.

I have a Target store card that I use for daily use items, shampoo, shaving, and things like that. A Walmart card that is used for the same. A Best Buy card that is used only in store, and I don't shop there often. Amazon for the site only. I also have 3 Capital One (they bought my Orchard Bank account) and a Discover card.

My average account limit is $600, 2 at $1000 (less then 30%) and one at $1500 (50%). My mom thought that it would be a great idea to help me out and add me to one of her cards that she just got. It has a $7500 limit and she charged it to $6000.

Would it hurt me to have myself removed from that card? She is on fixed income and will take her a very long time to get the card under 50%?

Also when I bought the car the first bank ran approved me, however 5 other banks were also pulled. I have about 20 hard inquiries on my credit which is way to high! In the next few months a few are coming off. I currently only use creditkarma.com to monitor because its truly free but I don't get a full report.

I really would like to buy a house. I am sick of living with my mother. Its nice because I pay no rent, however sucks because she lives in a horrible section of the city! I have been debating on renting an apartment, however that will cut back on my available money to pay debt down quickly, and to save money quickly.

I spent about 10 years of my life with no credit cards, no vehicle loan, and no debt whats so ever! Now I have a car payment, credit cards, and all kinds of things to pay! All I really want is to pay for a house! I need to find a way to get my scores up. Am I doing the right thing and now just having to deal with a waiting game?

I know that the older DA accounts are still showing up on my credit, and the repo is still there as well (its well over 7 years old) it has been disputed multiple times and went from showing a balance of $0 to most recently $9,000 when there is nothing owed on it.

The local credit repair lawyer refused to take my money and help because she said I am doing everything that I need to be doing and everything that she would do for me. So why should she take my money for something I am already doing, she has my respect!

[Jeff S.]

Would it hurt me to have myself removed from that card?

Depends on the bank - usually they want to see that the owner of the card has made the last 12 months payments, and they will usually remove that from their credit calc..again need to check with the lender.

Am I doing the right thing and now just having to deal with a waiting game?

You may want to check out Dave Ramsey's books: Total money makeover or Financial Peace: Dumping Debt. Utilize the debt snowball effect instead of just chunking out debt without a plan will help you get out of debt faster.

As far as wanting to buy a house - Make a plan, learn your market, save as much cash as you can and stay focused. I wouldn't advise spending money on renting a place if you don't have to. And the other question I would be asking is - Is owning my primary residence going to help me reach my goals? Because it can if you have a strategy, but if you don't have a strategy it's another expensive doodad according to rich dad!