looking for lenders advice to fix damaged 2007-2008 old credit.

First, pay off any judgements and make sure they are released. Do not pay off old collections and charge offs that are that old (generally more than 12 months old) unless your mortgage lender tells you it is condition for loan approval. But, make sure you have the money available to pay them if required by the lender as a requirement for final approval. You can try a credit repair company and see if they can help you get some of the really old accounts removed that may not be legally reporting on your credit. There are lots of them out there, one I have used with success is 360 Credit Consulting www.360creditconsulting.com I work with Alan Lee, they seem to have some of the most reasonable fees.The main challenge you have is to re-establish credit. Your score will not improve until you have some positive credit references to offset the old negative items. Do not use a finance company, usually a local credit union will offer a credit builder loan of some type - like a securred loan or credit card. You will probably need at least 2 open, active and positive credit references to help counter the old negative items. It is also very possible your rental payment histore will need to be verified as well. Unless you pay a management company, I strongly recommend paying rent with a personal check and keep a copy of each as they clear your account. Realistically it will likely take 6-12 months for your credit to improve to a range where you could possibly be approved for a mortgage. Good luck!

PS> paying off old collections and charge offs might actually make your score go lower, at least temporarily. But if you pay them during the mortgage process (sometimes at closing) usually a new credit report with an updated score would not be needed.

Tracy, I would work with a true professional credit restoration specialist. Be careful you check them out. You do not pay them upfront. Pay off the judgments. Make sure there is no government debt like tax liens, students loans, child support, etc. When you have done this, make sure you have your down payment and closing costs, then call your mortgage professional. I personally do not originate loans in Missouri but I can recommend some good loan originators that do originate in Missouri.

I think Phil Answered your question perfectly.. The only thing I would ad would be not to try doing your own credit repair... folks who attempt to negotiate their own bad debt usually end up doing more damage to their credit then improvements. Hire a professional.. And let them do it the right way.. I'm a Broker here in Scottsdale AZ and I only lend in Arizona. If you or someone you know is looking for financing options, feel free to contact me or pass along my information. 480-287-5714 WilliamAcres.com

i have a national credit restoration company that i refer to.. send me your information to yourloanpartnerforlife@live.com linda its very tricky to get the right results for your report, so it is best to have a professional do it, and they charge about 1/3 of the cost that most do,if I refer you linda

Tracy the first thing I would suggest is pull all three of your credit bureaus and review the debts. A little trick that I have learned over the years is that creditors make many mistakes and if you question the derogatory items on your credit report, you may find that the creditors cannot confirm that the debts are accurate. So the first thing I would have you do is the following... On each credit report, circle ALL the derogatory items and within each circle write the following: "This information is inaccurate, please remove from my credit report." Do this for each and every derogatory item. Once done with that, write a cover letter to each credit bureau stating that you would like them to review and confirm each item on your credit report for accuracy. Place the cover sheet and the correlating credit report with the letter and send to the credit bureau. The credit bureau will review the information and then contact the creditors. If the creditors do not respond to the derogatory items within 30 days, then the credit reporting agencies must remove the derogatory items from your credit report at the end of the 30 days. Tracy, the idea here is to find the creditors that are not organized and either do not respond in the appropriate time or they just cannot find the paperwork to confirm the debt. Either way, you may be able to remove some if not all of the items over the next 30 days. After you receive the response from the credit bureau with the updated information, you may just find that you removed many of the items that were showing from 2007-08.Tracy, best of luck and if the first review, doesn't remove anything, then I suggest write a follow up letter requesting the paperwork that confirms the debts or derogatory items. Sometimes, the creditor no longer have the original paperwork and therefore have no legal right to continue their pursuit of the debt.

find a credit repair specialist in you area. make sure to check the reviews before you enlist the help of anyone. Best of Luck!

Tracy -- we just talked. Nice speaking to you -- 800 813 3291 Andrew Alfonso

Follow Phils advice.