IMPROVING YOUR CREDIT
Michael Holigan: Even if you're careful with money, you could have bad credit without even knowing it and that could hurt the chances of buying the home that you want. Like many of us, Nancy Rogers found some surprises in her credit report when she tried to buy a house. Nancy was newly divorced and her ex figured into her credit profile.
Nancy Rogers: I got a credit report that had some debts on it that he owed that he had assumed during the divorce. They were his debts and not mine.
MH: Linda Louden was also buying a home. To her surprise a three-year-old medical bill she didn't even know about was tarnishing her credit report.
Linda Louden: I had a sonogram when I was in the hospital delivering Matthew and they coded the sonogram wrong so the insurance company rejected it. Well, I never got a bill from it.
MH: Linda and Nancy were smart. They pre-qualified with their lenders. That way they had plenty of time to clear up credit troubles before they tried to get a home loan.
Sandra Thomas: There's a system now in place that most investors are using which is a credit scoring and they'll analyze based on the credit scores whether or not they feel you'll pay them back.
MH: Linda and Nancy did some paperwork and legwork to fix their credit reports, but it was worth it.
NR: What I had to do was I had to get papers from these companies and have him say that they were his debts and not mine.
LL: So I went down to Medical City and disputed it with a lady. I said, you know, "You're the one that put it wrong for the sonogram, not me." And so they took it off. So, I mean, it was really easy.
MH: If you have a few blemishes on your credit history, here's how to fix them: write letters of explanation to your creditors about problems or errors. Also send copies of the letters to the reporting credit bureaus and keep in mind financial mishaps are less of a loan hindrance if you've made an effort to repay what you owe. Debts like unexpected medical bills are a lot easier for a lender to understand than say, inexplicable charge card bills. Even if your credit is perfect, someone with your name and an entirely different credit history could be giving you a bad name.
ST: And more times than not sometimes bad credit is because someone else's credit is on your credit report.
MH: To make sure your credit report is flawless before you buy a home go a step further than prequalification. Get pre-approved. A detailed credit report will reveal just about any possible problems in plenty of time to fix it. Then when you bid on a home against another home buyer who's not pre-approved you sit in the driver's seat. Bad credit is not insurmountable once you know how to fix it. Nancy Rogers is glad she did. She loves her new house.
NR: Just having my own space, having my own place and being able to do the things that I want to do here and work in my yard and so it's, it's nice to have your own home to do those things in.
Episode 66 1997 - 98 Season
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