Can I repair bad credit and credit scores by having secured credit cards

Quoting REAL LIVE HUMAN
I have gotten rid of credit cards for a while now. Is it true that one way to build up scores slowly is to have a few secured cards, pay them off each month on a timely manner and show a good history . That way maybe for 6 months to a year your score points start to rise?
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No is is NOT TRUE! Secured credit cards normally mean I have to buy from a certain companies catalog or online website and the credit card company does not report to bureaus. They do this to keep my credit stagnant and trap me into buying more of the websites goods.
Do I know if they report to one of the three credit bureaus Equifax, Trans Union, Experian? If they do not, no credit report score help. I advocate paying a fee to get a (first rate reporting) credit card company to open credit for people whom are normally turned down. If I have been turned down for bad credit by a credit card I send them money with the same application. i also send a letter explaining I need to establish some good credit and thought if they had money in hand they could at least open an account for that amount.
"Rated Trade Lines" any credit reported to one of the big three bureaus for 12 months are considered rated trade lines and will affect my credit bad or good depending on how I pay. 6 months credit does not a credit rating make. Use the link below to apply for genuine credit cards.
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make a best guess of what my Beacon will be in 2007 or so?

Quoting REALIVE HUMAN
Bo,
Thanks for providing a outstanding website and resource for us out here on the web. Without going to far into detail here is as brief a synopsis as I can give you. In December of 2004 my bankruptcy went final. Since then I have tried bit by bit to improve my credit score thru better payment history (I kept my truck to establish payment history under new circumstances). I have managed to somewhat avoid lates. My beacon has went from 395 in 2003 to 593 as of today. In reviewing my Credit reports I have noticed some old open accounts with no balances on them. Since I am hesitant in using them to avoid debt.
What is your best guess on what closing them would do to my credit score? I have become very strigant on my credit management side as I will never get to the point of bankruptcy again. I have gotten a new car loan since the bankruptcy (went into a smaller car and payment for debt management purposes) and was approved for a home loan recently. However I choose a different route for house financing because of the interest rate I was quoted (9.9). I will be taking over payments in a couple of years. As I said my beacon right now is 593 with only a car loan (405 monthly) and one credit card (paid off recently going to a once a month charge of gas and pay off plan). Would you be able to make a best guess of what my Beacon will be in 2007 or so?
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keep those 2 trade lines open
your score will increase to mid 600' even with the bk showing.
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I have a large hospital bill that has been sent to a lawyer's office for collection

Quoting Rp
Dear Bo Majors,
I really don't know who to ask this question to so in searching the web I found you! I have a large hospital bill that has been sent to a lawyer's office for collection. The lawyer's office called and said if I don't put in on my credit card they will report it as delinquent and send it to the credit bureau. I have always had excellent credit with never a mark on it. I don't
want to put such a large amount on my card. I am unfortunate in that I have inadequate health insurance and needed an operation last year. I now pay 6 different bills associated with this procedure the hospital being one of them. I pay everyone a little something every month and that seemed to satisfy them all except the hospital. Exactly how bad is it to have a large hospital bill show up on your credit report that shows a person paying something every month? Everything else on my report shows either on-going
current, never late, or account closed. Would a potential loan officer hold this against me or take it all into consideration?
Thanks so much for any advice you can give
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It will lower your score for sure if it goes on your report.
Loan officers for low interest or primary lending companies use the score as the sole basis for granting credit.
Some local high interest finance companies will more than likely look over some collections. You say large amount. If the amount is very large it could dramatically affect your future plans regarding loans, credit cards and even insurance rates.
Credit cards have fine print that allows them to raise rates for just about any reason i the fine print section of your application and approval letter.
One of the reason is a lower credit score. Having a large collection could prompt the credit card folks to raise your rate.
Seems to me like there are no easy answers. I sincerely doubt whoever called you is a lawyer or a law firm. They use the term to frighten people to make quick decisions.
Another point to look at is if a creditor accepts a reduced payment and not the full amount in a court of law they have let you off the hook and cannot legally gain a judgement based on the fact they took a payment structure rather than paid in full. This very element comes into play at the rental company that is affiliated with russell barnett. If a person runs up a rental bill and doesn't pay in full my friend takes them to court for theft by diversion and wins a judgement. So having said all that i have no idea how to adise you. I have given facts only pertaing to your question. It would be soley up to you how to handle this affair.
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I filed for chapter 13 in 1996, how long is it going to haunt me

Quoting Rp
I filed for chapter 13 in 1996, how long is it going to haunt me and what do I need to do to get rid of it?
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date of dismiss papers is when the seven years start. I would see what that date is and at the seven year mark make sure it is removed.
Bk's always involve loans and all the laons should be off your credit now since you filed in 1996. So I would dispute the loans now and that should help some. I think I'm right on that last issue but not positive.
Lets assume you paid out in 98. thats the sevn year mark. There is a possibilty that you can disput it all and it will all come off. Use my free dispute form and dispute only 4 itmes per dispute

Just say the 7 year time frame has elapsed and you want them removed. Chapter 7 and 13 have different time levels one is 10 years one is 7 im not sure which. i will find out and post it on my blog and website.

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want to find out how to get old negative credit problems off of my credit report? thanks

Quoting rob
I want to find out how to get old negative credit problems off of my credit report? thanks
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read my website tips
thats why i made the site
click on credit help
go to tips
then read my blog
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My scores are 564 570 and 577 I have a chargeoffs totaling $2600

Quoting Rp
Hello Mr . Majors my name is victorI . I have a question. My scores are 564 570 and 577 I have a chargeoffs totaling $2600 is there any way I could get a small personal loan? If not how can I raise my score high enough to get one?

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weu dont know till we try i guess
depends on job stability
depends on if our local
we will probably need to go to a local finance company and they will need you to have stability in home and job id say and it would be good to have family in the area or ties that bind
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I have another woman's address on my credit

Quoting \RP

I am hoping that you can help me. I have another woman's address on my credit, and all of her collections are being assigned to me significantly depressing my credit score. Her social security number even appeared on one page of the credit report equifax sent me. We share the same last name (Smith). However, we have two different first names and we live in two different states (she lives in California and I live in Utah). All of the collections are from California, where "Jenna Smith" lives. There are two credit agencies that have this erroneous information. I have been receiving mail for this person, that in retrospect, were collections. I did not open them because of the incorrect name. Obviously there has either been a significant mix up, or identity theft. I had a mortgage agent send a letter of disputation to both agencies. I only heard back from Equifax. I have called and called and called. Each time I got a new person and waited on hold for 20+ min. The last individual had me fax her my driver's license and SS card. I never heard back. It has been nearly 2 months. I am growing weary of this battle, and am near giving up. Can you email me any suggestions, if you have any. I would be so grateful! I don't have a lot of time (single working mother of two precious children). I am hoping there is some resource I can turn to.
Thank you,
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http://www.oskie.com/free-letter/Credit-Fraud-Theft-Identity.htm

lawyer to settle 3 credit cards. We paid a percentage and they forgave the rest

A while back we went through a lawyer to settle 3 credit cards. We paid a percentage and they forgave the rest. However, Discover card was in the process of suing me for the balance of the account. On the day I was supposed to be in court, my lawyer came to a settlement amount with them and a check was sent registered mail to Discover's
lawyers within hours of their phone conversation. Somehow I'm guessing Discovers representitive at court was not notified of this settlement. A month later I receive a paper in the mail for the courthouse that a jusgement was files against me for failure to appear. (I was told by my lawyer that I did not need to appear since we had reached a settlement.) I contacted my lawyer and he in turn contacted Discovers lawyers and a month after that I received another letter in the mail stating that the
default order of the previous case had been vacated. I pulled my reports and on each one is reported a judgement against me to Discover Card. To my knowledge, since there was never supposed to be a judgement because we settled, this is wrong. But I can't get it taken off. I sent registered letters to the bureaus and to Discover and even to Discover lawyers. I haven't heard back from anyone except from the bureaus and they all said they investigated but the judgement is valid and is going
to stay.
Any ideas?
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matters of law always go on your report
talk to your lawyer
the lawyer might not have informed us properly
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bad credit from when I was a student about 7 years ago

Bo
I am looking at your website and suggestions to dispute old outdated credit history on my report. I am not too sure exactly how to go about doing this. Basically I have bad credit from when I was a student about 7 years ago and since then I have been much better about payments and such. However the bad credit is affecting me.
What can I do to resolve this. How can I state my case to the credit bureau?
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get new good credit
the last 2 years count most
make your case with new credit
dispute credit over 7 yrs since last activity
it will fall off

rated credit lines are 12 months old
do not pay anything off before 12 months
make sure the lender submits activity to credit bureaus'
or forget it
make payments on time or before 30 days in hand
not mailed on the 30th day
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once I start disputing collections does that keep me from being able to come to an agreement with the original creditor if the accounts are verifiab

Bo, thank you so much for your informative web site. I now understand about "paid" and "paid in full and in good standing". I also used the contact information for Lex law firm. I am considering hiring them. My question is once I start disputing collections does that keep me from being able to come to an agreement with the original creditor if the accounts are verifiable? Also, if I do pay the original creditor what about the account the collection agency has? Is this now a false account as the original debt had been paid in full?
Thank you again for all the information almost every question I had has been answered. Any information you may have will be helpfull.
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collection normally mean they have been sold to the collections agency and the original creditor no longer owns the account. Unless you catch this one quick the collection agancy will have to be the contact for you. One thing is for sure though. If you do pay the origianl creditor and they take the monies they can authorize the removeal of the collection. The collection agancy might require a fee. I would pay anything resonable to have a collection removed totally.
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three Rogers jeweler accounts showing but they are all the same card how can I get these merged

You're awesome! Thanks for all the great free advise. I have a couple of questions. I am really interested in using some things you wrote below but I can use a bit more details on how to do it. I have accounts that are duplicated. Some look better then the others. How do I get them merged so that it can knock some of the late payments out? For instance I have three Rogers jeweler accounts showing but they are all the same card how can I get these merged? Also I am interested in reopening accounts I closed. This will leave me with a lot of accounts open but they will all be good accounts that I paid on time. Is it wise to do it still?
Thank you, Real Person
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"Overlap past or "2 yr old" bad credit with present "within 2yrs" good credit. Use credit cards, car or personal loans to do so. Mail in $200 dollars with an application and ask to open a new account or re-open an old account and establish new good credit. Buy gas with the loan or a credit card. Pay extra each month. 12 months minimum to get a rated credit line. Make sure the creditor reports to bureaus."
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I would dispute the accounts with the bureaus first and report your finding and situation to the jeweler and see if they can help. At the same time i would try to reopen those older accounts by paying a small fee or something. Credit cards or revovling credit usually only report activity for the past 12 months. Fo this reason they become one of the best avenues to re establish good credit over bad credit.
In the jewels case i would try to reopen the accounts that show late payments not the good one. Or ask them to make the account the same, reopen it and pay it good for 24 months and Whaa laa. Good credit.
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do you know if the credit cards report to one of the three credit bureaus Equifax, Trans Union, Experian?

I have gotten rid of credit cards for a while now. Is it true that one way to build up scores slowly is to have a few secured cards, pay them off each month on a timely manner and show a good history . That way maybe for 6 months to a year your score points start to rise?
----------------
Secured credit cards normally mean you have to buy from certain companies goods and the card company does not report to bureaus.
So do you know if the credit cards report to one of the three credit bureaus Equifax, Trans Union, Experian? If they do not .... No score help>
I do advocate paying a fee to get a reporting credit card company to open credit for people with bad credit.
"Rated Trade Lines" any credit reported to one of the big three bureaus for twevle months will upgrade your score if 1 you pay on time each month and you have the trade line open for 12 months plus. Six months are not enough to rate a trade line.
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I've tried to contact TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian via phone

I've tried to contact TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian via phone to lift a fraud alert from my credit. I had it put there 5 years ago and no longer need it there. Can you assist me or tell me who I can talk to at live person? Thanks
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I write all over my website to not even try the dang phone.
You can clearly see what happens
frustration
Make a letter up with all your personal information.
ask for the alert to be removed, and it should be.
I have found though that in most cases alerts are removed after 2-3 years
Forgot which
So that sounds strange
Use the link below to find the addresses
Credit help
Thanks
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I am still stated as being late when I have letters stating otherwise from the creditors

Hi Bo I came across your website while desperately trying to find information on the web about experian. I had two 'negative' items on my crdeit report regarding 30 and 60 day late payments to two diffrent creditors. I had spoke to both creditors and both agreed to remove the negative items from my report and sent me a letter stating so which I have. I disputed the items with experian and waited 60 days. I just checked with experian and there automated
system said the disputes are complete and changed-NOT ONE BIT DIFFREENT!!! I am still stated as being late when I have letters stating otherwise from the creditors. What can I do? Whatever help you can give me would be greatly appreciated and also I just don't have the time to play games and would not be above paying a crdeit report fixing company but also need to know are there any good ones?
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Use the mail with confirmation delivery.
Send copies of the letters with my free dispute form.
http://www.oskie.com/credit-dispute.htm
You should recieve a letter in the mail in respons to the dispute. you should not have to call or check your credit later.
Calling is frustrating.
Mailed dispute forms always get a written response.

I don't have all the facts. But if this does not work go to the bbb.
What do your letters say?
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How Medical Debts Affect Your Credit Score

Hello Bobo
I Am Curious As To How Medical Debts Affect Your Credit Score
Some People Say That medical Doesnt Matter But Id Like To Know What You Have To Say About It. Also How Does The Score System Work? Where Do The Points Come From And How Do I Raise Them? I Have 3 Different Scores From 3 Different Credit Bureaus.
Thank you For Your Time And All That You Do.
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They affect your score tremendously for the first 2 years and less thereafter Scores are complex algorithyms that cannot be perfectely explained. Scores vary form bureau to bureau because each one has a little different data on you. Not because the systems are different
Medical is sometime overlooked by creditors but the score is not in most cases. Medical is also the easiest to remove. Make a deal to pay for removal it was an insurance mistake is the most common reason for removal.
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accounts that have been closed over 10 years are still on there

Hi -
I received my credit report and accounts that have been closed for over 10 years are still on there. They are in good standing but I thought they would not show up anymore. Is that true? How long after the account is closed does it stay on the credit report?
Thanks for you help!
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7 yrs from date of last activity
10 years on matters of law
some states have different laws
but most work like stated above
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Can I send couple of disputes in the same request letter

Thank you so much for providing the universal form to dispute charges in our credit reports. It is a nightmare but we have to do it. My question is. Can I send couple of disputes in the same request letter to the Credit Ageny?
Please advise. I hope I can do this
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I would send no more than 4 disputed accounts per dispute.
Sometimes bureaus will dismiss huge dispute letters as frivilous thinking you are disputing everything right or wrong just hoping.
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