Looking hopeless, 400s scores starting hopeless journey to major credit repair

Question

Hi everyone, I'm new  to this forum and myfico. I'm 25 years old and today I decided to get serious about fixing my credit. I got tired of believing that I'll never have a 700 score in my life and have been trying to make the steps necessary to fix some major damage. I was young and stupid and let every account in my early 20s get charged off. I've never made any consistent payments and due to all that stupidity and neglect, no one will take a chance on me now. In fact, I have now been declined for multiple SECURED credit cards, including Bank of America, TOTAL Visa, Wells Fargo,and CapitalOne which I thought was impossible. In fact, I've never been approved for anything nor have I even gotten close to being prequalified for anything. I checked my scores and I'm starting at 476 TransUnion and 490 Equifax according to credit karma and 500 Equifax, 492 TransUnion, and 497 Experian according to myFico. I've even gotten declined for a car loan to try to rebuild that route despite the fact my income is great. Money isn't a huge issue any more these days seeing as I don't really owe anyone money and have been paying everything in cash. I've got 7 charge offs, 2 of which from 2008 which I'm in the process of trying to get removed from my reports. I had a car loan that I defaulted on and got repossessed last year that I was able to fully pay off the day of the repo but is recent and still a major sting on my reports. The only revolving account I have is a $500 secured credit card from a local credit union. I also bought a blender from FingerHut today and will commence payments on that from this month on. I also tried this website called SelfLender that puts money into a savings account and said that it would report and help rebuild credit but haven't seen it reported on anything yet. I applied for Crown Jeweler's and am awaiting a decision. And I have a student loan that just entered repayment this month. What else can I do? Should I open more secured credit cards? More credit rebuilder loans through credit unions? With what I have right now, do I just sit back and wait? Do I dispute everything negative on my reports even if they're accurate? Some of you guys' stories have been inspirational. But right now I feel like there's really no hope since my scores are about as bad as they can get. Getting declined for secured cards and the idea that no one will take a chance on me even if I pay them to is really making all of this seem impossible. Any input would really help!

Answer 1

NormanFH wrote:
rockbottom11 wrote:
Hi everyone, I'm new  to this forum and myfico. I'm 25 years old and today I decided to get serious about fixing my credit. I got tired of believing that I'll never have a 700 score in my life and have been trying to make the steps necessary to fix some major damage. I was young and stupid and let every account in my early 20s get charged off. I've never made any consistent payments and due to all that stupidity and neglect, no one will take a chance on me now. In fact, I have now been declined for multiple SECURED credit cards, including Bank of America, TOTAL Visa, Wells Fargo,and CapitalOne which I thought was impossible. In fact, I've never been approved for anything nor have I even gotten close to being prequalified for anything. I checked my scores and I'm starting at 476 TransUnion and 490 Equifax according to credit karma and 500 Equifax, 492 TransUnion, and 497 Experian according to myFico. I've even gotten declined for a car loan to try to rebuild that route despite the fact my income is great. Money isn't a huge issue any more these days seeing as I don't really owe anyone money and have been paying everything in cash. I've got 7 charge offs, 2 of which from 2008 which I'm in the process of trying to get removed from my reports. I had a car loan that I defaulted on and got repossessed last year that I was able to fully pay off the day of the repo but is recent and still a major sting on my reports. The only revolving account I have is a $500 secured credit card from a local credit union. I also bought a blender from FingerHut today and will commence payments on that from this month on. I also tried this website called SelfLender that puts money into a savings account and said that it would report and help rebuild credit but haven't seen it reported on anything yet. I applied for Crown Jeweler's and am awaiting a decision. And I have a student loan that just entered repayment this month. What else can I do? Should I open more secured credit cards? More credit rebuilder loans through credit unions? With what I have right now, do I just sit back and wait? Do I dispute everything negative on my reports even if they're accurate? Some of you guys' stories have been inspirational. But right now I feel like there's really no hope since my scores are about as bad as they can get. Getting declined for secured cards and the idea that no one will take a chance on me even if I pay them to is really making all of this seem impossible. Any input would really help!Look at it this way - there's only one direction from here, and thats UP.Realistically, rebuilding is a long term process that takes a minimum of 24 months. Take it in 6 months increments. You already have a start with the secured credit card from the credit union.  Build on that. In a few months the FH account will start to grow. Keep watching your scores, they will improve as you move out from the last derog (the repo?). Once you get into the 500's consider getting a second secured card, either Cap One, or Open Sky.  Now, the 7 Charge offs - What are they, and when did each one occur? How are they being reported? Balances?BTW, you are pretty much right where I was last August when I started this journey. After one year of *mostly* just managing and using my credit cards effectively, I've come up about a hundred points.