Credit Advice

kingon8

okay, so I am hoping someone can give me some ideas on this: My fiance and I went to try to buy a house, well get approved for a loan anyway, and he has the income, but poor credit, I have the credit, but no income(SAHM) Basically the last good thing he has had on his credit was a truck pay off in 06, since then we use my credit card, all of our bills are in my name, including our rent. Even our cells are prepaid, because we use them for emergencies only. He had a lung collapse in 2003 and racked up about 7,000 in medical bills b/c he had no insurance at the time. So basically the guy told us that there is nothing he can do b/c Michael has nothing in his name for any length of time that shows a bill being satisfied after 2006, and if we apply, we will get a "refer" and then be forced to pay the medical bills, which we are trying to avoid. So now it is just a game of trying to get some credit for him for the next year, so we can try again, anyone know any credit cards that are good for starters? We have already got his name put on our rent lease, and we're looking at a secured credit card.

kingon8

okay, so I am hoping someone can give me some ideas on this: My fiance and I went to try to buy a house, well get approved for a loan anyway, and he has the income, but poor credit, I have the credit, but no income(SAHM) Basically the last good thing he has had on his credit was a truck pay off in 06, since then we use my credit card, all of our bills are in my name, including our rent. Even our cells are prepaid, because we use them for emergencies only. He had a lung collapse in 2003 and racked up about 7,000 in medical bills b/c he had no insurance at the time. So basically the guy told us that there is nothing he can do b/c Michael has nothing in his name for any length of time that shows a bill being satisfied after 2006, and if we apply, we will get a "refer" and then be forced to pay the medical bills, which we are trying to avoid. So now it is just a game of trying to get some credit for him for the next year, so we can try again, anyone know any credit cards that are good for starters? We have already got his name put on our rent lease, and we're looking at a secured credit card.

LokiFae

Is his name on the checking account or anything like that? We went through almost the same thing, except my husband had NO credit. I would check with your bank first to see if there are any credit cards that they offer, because that way you can just use the card to get gas and then go right in and make a payment to the bank. It keeps us in check, because it's easier for us to not go overboard when we only use it for gas and pay what we charged immediately.

Also, try USDA Rural Development. They're a little more lax on their credit stipulations and interest rates.

Good luck!!!

runawaybride

Just make sure whatever you do you make payments on time and try not to max out any of them because not only does your credit and credit score affect you but so does your debt ratio!! You cannot exceed like 40% of his income or 50% at the most but I would try not to go over the 40% just to stay safe. And the bad thing is that credit scores go down alot faster than they go up so just try to hang in there. There are loans out there that you might be able to qualify for based on your credit score and down payment situation...like RD loans....or First time home buyers loan...ones like those...! Iknow your credit score however cannot fall below 620 at all to even be qualified and you won't need any down payment but you will have to pay private mortgage insurance until at least 20% is paid off!!!

So don't go shop around too much for credit cards ...just try to make sure you know ALL of your options first and then go from there. Your banker should be able to tell you what kinds of things your husband can do that can help and not necessarily "hurt" you at the same time!!

Did I help or confuse you even more???:huh:

Fab140

anyone know any credit cards that are good for starters? We have already got his name put on our rent lease, and we're looking at a secured credit card.

My first Credit Card was with Orchard Bank. Just apply online at orchardbank.com. The interest rates are low and the limit goes up pretty quickly.

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Life_is_Good

1st - He really needs to take care of those medical bills - they will not go away & will keep his credit scores down no matter what else you do.

2nd - you may have to get a parent to co-sign a credit card for now - charge on it & pay it off each month. (even if it is merely $10 or $15 per month)

3rd - talk to a mortgage banker (in person) - not a broker or a large corporate giant like US Bank - They will tell you exactly what they need from you and hopefully send you in the right direction. Mortgages have much stricter regulations than they did a few years ago.

Just a word of caution - if you are not married yet, be very careful about racking up bills in your name... the creditors don't care about anybody else except for the name that is on the account.

Good luck

mjfer123

Get a credit card that is run through your bank. They hold all the major types (Visa, MC, AmEx, Discover).
This way you can set up payments on line and monitor your spending.
Make sure you don't max it out or even approach your limit.
And always pay on time. Forget once and your credit score automatically drops a bunch.

Also, start hacking away at those medical bills. They are going to stick around.

nopogal

In my work, I do a lot of financial literacy....check out our affiliate web site: http://www.360financialliteracy.org/
There is a lot of good information about home buying, managing money, etc. Hopefully some of the articles will be of use. Good luck!

msarro

See if he can settle the medical bills. They won't take him to court over them no matter what, and if he gets collection calls you could negotiate it down... sometimes to as little as 7 cents on the dollar.

pmkelly409

okay, so I am hoping someone can give me some ideas on this: My fiance and I went to try to buy a house, well get approved for a loan anyway, and he has the income, but poor credit, I have the credit, but no income(SAHM) Basically the last good thing he has had on his credit was a truck pay off in 06, since then we use my credit card, all of our bills are in my name, including our rent. Even our cells are prepaid, because we use them for emergencies only. He had a lung collapse in 2003 and racked up about 7,000 in medical bills b/c he had no insurance at the time. So basically the guy told us that there is nothing he can do b/c Michael has nothing in his name for any length of time that shows a bill being satisfied after 2006, and if we apply, we will get a "refer" and then be forced to pay the medical bills, which we are trying to avoid. So now it is just a game of trying to get some credit for him for the next year, so we can try again, anyone know any credit cards that are good for starters? We have already got his name put on our rent lease, and we're looking at a secured credit card.

Everyone has given great advise ahead of me, i just wanted to offer my .02 about the medical bills having been there myself. Hospitals and other medical companies are great about taking a small payment each month. They only care that you show commitment to pay it off and less about the amount like credit cards do. At onle point I was only sending them $5 month and they were happy. Not getting the constant calls and bills in the mail was a huge stress reliever for me too.

also, no one has mentioned that there are secured credit cards. They give you a very small credit limit to start but it is a great way to establish credit for him. www.securedcredit.com

Good luck!!

SThayer

Good advice Life-Is-Good.

kingon8

these were all great replies, I appreciate it sooo much. neither of us can have co-signers, because our families credit history is bad, we are the ones struggling to break free from that history, and take care of our bills. I am meticulous about being on time with anything in my name, so I have fair credit, not much, but what is there is fair. I just dont have the income because I am at home with our children. I never even considered that we could pay very small amounts on tthe medical bills each month. I am going to see about something like that, and maybe if the bank saw that we were making regular payments on them they wouldnt have to be 100% paid to get a loan approved?? I am also going to check out that website, for secured credit and for orchard bank, we are great about paying off my card, but we need one in his name to get him the credit!! Thank you so much, you have really enlightened me on some things we need to take care of and some steps to take, I appreciate it so much, dealing with this is like having a catch 22 hit you in the head every step of the way.

pmkelly409

these were all great replies, I appreciate it sooo much. neither of us can have co-signers, because our families credit history is bad, we are the ones struggling to break free from that history, and take care of our bills. I am meticulous about being on time with anything in my name, so I have fair credit, not much, but what is there is fair. I just dont have the income because I am at home with our children. I never even considered that we could pay very small amounts on tthe medical bills each month. I am going to see about something like that, and maybe if the bank saw that we were making regular payments on them they wouldnt have to be 100% paid to get a loan approved?? I am also going to check out that website, for secured credit and for orchard bank, we are great about paying off my card, but we need one in his name to get him the credit!! Thank you so much, you have really enlightened me on some things we need to take care of and some steps to take, I appreciate it so much, dealing with this is like having a catch 22 hit you in the head every step of the way.

oh forgot one thing! My mortgage broker (a personal friend) told me that the banks do NOT weigh medical debt as heavily as they do other debt. So if you are making small payments and they don't weigh it as heavily that could be very advantageous for you.

Good luck again!