Need info for 3 major credit & suggestio
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Need info for 3 major credit & suggestio
| Tue, 05-02-2006 - 3:20pm |
I need the contact information for the 3 major credit bureaus for my SIL. And also suggestions for what to do to improve your credit scores the fastest.
My db and sil are bringing in over 100k a year. but cannot even buy a house.
I am going to have her order their records so that we can get a good idea of what is going on and what we can do to fix it.
What can be done to quickly improve scores?
they only have some cc, some student loans, a couple car payments. No mortgage.
Thanks
stacy

She should start by requesting 1(only one) of her free credit reports from one of the big 3..they are generally very close and she will know how accurate they are.
THE ONLY SOURCE FOR TRULY FREE REPORTS IS: AnnualCreditReport.com. Their phone number is 1-877-322-8228).
She doesn't need to pay for her credit score at this point because it doesn't really matter. She knows it stinks. She needs to verify that her report is accurate(and your brother's for that matter) and go about disputing anything that is not correct. If there are incorrect items then clearing those up should help her credit score.
Otherwise the only real way to improve her credit score is to pay her bills on time and give it time. I think it generally takes 6 months to start seeing a serious change but I am not sure. My score has gone up 70 points since last September. I haven't been trying to get my score up but we have been doing some serious debt reduction so that has helped.
Hope that helps!
Hi Stacy,
If you're trying to get their credit reports, you might want to check www.annualcreditreport.com. Everyone's now entitled to a free credit report every year. Also, the three major credit bureaus should have their contact information on their websites: www.equifax.com, www.transunion.com, and www.experian.com.
Unfortunately, I don't think anything will improve them very quickly, although reducing balances definitely helps. If I'm recalling correctly, the major components of your score are your payment history (nothing to do to improve that quickly, you just need to make those payments on time every month), your debt-to-credit ratio (how much credit you've used v. how much you have available), the length of your credit history (again, one of those things where you just need time), what your credit mix is (ie, all revolving credit is bad, a mix of installment loans and major credit cards is better), and whether you've had any negative public proceedings against you (bankruptcy, liens, etc).
I'm sure the other ladies on this board no better than I what all goes into one's credit score.
Best of luck, HTH!
sylvia
If they are planning on disputing any of the items on the credit reports, I would suggest paying for the report instead of getting the free annual. If you get the free annual the credit reporting agencies have 45 days instead of 30 to investigate disputes. I personally would rather pay the money for the initial reports and have quicker resolutions.
I'm also wondering how much debt they currently have. I think that the credit people like to see only 25% of their available credit being used.
You said that they have been unable to buy a house. Have they been given a reason by the mortgage companies that they have dealt with as to why they are not qualifying? They are entitled to a free copy of their credit report whenever credit is denied.
Please tell them to proceed with caution and to be sure they can actually afford a house when they purchase it. Just because their income is $100K doesn't mean they can. A mortgage can seriously be more of curse than a blessing if they bite off more than they can chew, and I am living proof that you can get approved for more than you ever should be approved for. There is so much "creative" financing going on out there and it is easy for a mortgage broker to talk people into something that sounds great, when it really isn't.
Heather
Pam
Proud sister of a Marine:
Thanks for all the replies ladies!
Her score is below 500 currently! Also I don't think she is being honest about what they owe.
It hasn't been that long since they had their utilities shut off!
Apparently the source of their credit problems is old debt, that must not be paid yet!
I will know more when I go see the reports in a couple weeks.
I looked mine up too, just to see and I don't have one single negative mark on any of them, but our scores isn't as high as it could be because of how much we owe.
Thanks again!
Stacy