Question I have 2 credit cards, Visa and Mc. I have $6200.00 on one and $2500.00 on the other. They are both at 23.99%. I have a 725 FICO score and have not been late on any payments on anything since 1998. I used CCCS to help me pay my debts and negotiate a lower interest rate back then and paid off 8credit cards and closed them down. I have had no bankruptcy, no forclosures and one credit card sent through collections and paid off in 1999. I have asked both credit card companies if they would lower my interest rate and they both declined they said based on my past credit report. It has been almost 6 years without any marred credit. Do they take this into consideration? Does going through consumer credit counseling agency look negative on my report or is it even listed on my credit report. I have no assets, am 49, single,no dependents and rent and make about 35k per year. What is my best route to take, besides stopping my charging of course. Does it look negative to close down credit cards or should I just keep them and not use them? I need to get a handle on things. Is it a bad idea at my age to even consider buying a modest home? I don't even know if I can qualify. I have about 14k in debts including my car. I am a flight attendant and mortgage loan officers will not even consider the 5-7k per year that I make in per diem. This is virtually untaxed income and noone will add it as my salary even though it comes to an average of $5-6 hundred dollars per month. Any advice?
Answer Rosemary,
let's first look at your credit situation and the high interest rates you now have. The credit bureaus will not make corrections in your report unless you request it, even if debts are paid off the negative comments are probably still there. The best you can do would be to first get a copy of each of the bureaus reports, www.equifax.com
www.transunion.com
www.experian.com
They cost about $9 each report. There are credit repair companies that can help you in cleaning up your report. I represend NCA Credit Repair, and could give you an estimate of how much it will cost you to clean it up. My phone number is 407-384-7317, let me know if you are serious about restoring your credit and lowering you interest rates.
About buying a home, I suggest you pay down your debt first, before going out to buy a home. In some ways it is better the bank does not want to consider your per diem as income, you could probably still qualify for a mortgage loan without it, and this way once you buy your per diem could be the income you save for yourself. Do you understand what I mean?
What I mean is if you buy as much as the bank lends you, you will probably use up all your income in a mortgage payment, if you buy less than you can afford, you could have money left over for savings, which is also very important. Most americans have all their income tied up in a mortgage payment, that is a big mistake.
For help eliminating the debt take a look at this site
www.freedomdebtrelief.com
I am a representative with FDR and could show you how to get rid of the debt in 2-3 years.
