In my past life as a realtor, I used to help people with their credit. Persistence was the key.
Get copies of all your credit reports. Write to the credit agency challenging every late fee or derrogatory that you find. Tell them you have never paid late, and that you want all derrogatories removed.
For actual judgments, if you have worked something out with the creditor, get something in writing from them, then challenge the derrogatory. Some creditors have told me that they will not confirm or deny when called by a credit agency, if you have agreed to some form of repayment to them. This means that the credit agency cannot verify info, which means they may take it off.
Do this every month. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of how “busy” the person who gets your file is at the credit agency that day. Do they feel like verifying, for the 5th time, whether you made a late payment three years ago? Chances are, no.
This strategy has helped me get quite a few people into homes. It does take a little while, depending on your credit situation, but it’s worth it. And, if nothing helps, time will heal all wounds. A 3-year-old judgment is not as damaging as a 3-month-old one.
I also agree with the other posts - be up-front. People appreciate honesty, and may be willing to give you a chance since you were honest with them.
Posted by B. Burley on April 14, 1999 at 12:13:54:
I have found a couple of owners willing to hold the paper and even go for no money down but they each did a credit check and blew me out of the water. I have slow credit from the past but I am getting it back on track. Aside from placing the note on my credit file are there any ways to maybe challenge some items and get them removed? I feel frustrated because I can make the payments that I’ve negotiated.
I can probably give you some information that can help but it gets involved and I probably can’t cover it all here. Basically it sound like you negotiated payments with your creditors without making some type of agreement with them to remove derrogatory information or correct some entries that may not be correct. You also should be concerned about having too many inquiries into your credit file, they count against you. Get a copy of your credit report that you can show if necessary, eliminating the need for them to do another inquiry and still turn you down. Try being up front with owners about your credit history when you find another deal, explain why you got behind and that in addition to the negotiations with your creditors, you are also trying to buy property to strengthen your financial profile. You don’t need to volunteer more information than is necessary. I can’t guarantee that it will work all the time but it is worth a try. Many people have purchased property with not so good credit.