Credit Advice

Have a question? Have advice to share? The combined knowledge and experience of everyone in the Credit Karma community can help you. Enter your question or help others below to get started!

Question

Question

Share this question with others:
Profile Image
whats the quickest way to get a better credit score to about 600 to buy a house?
Good question? +6 Vote for this

All my debt is school or hospital bills. Whats the best way to handle that to buy a house soon.

Asked by kppluketich 1 year ago Flag this question Flag this Question

Response

7 responses

+1

The bad news is your current credit score. The good news is that it's educational and medical.

Starting with the school bills: call the company! Do not let them go into default if they haven't already, and especially don't let them go to a credit agency (you're looking at potentially thousands of extra dollars).

When you call, explain your current medical bills and any other hardships. School loans are some of the most forgiving and likely to give you options such as a) temporarily suspending payments, b) giving you a period of no interest, c) lowering your monthly payment or d) lowering your interest.

IF your school loan is in default, it will take 9 straight on-time payments (usually a fairly low amount - it's based mostly on how much you owe) to get it out, but will have a very positive impact on your credit score, because once restored, it's as if it never went into default.

No matter WHAT state your college loan is in, CALL THE COMPANY.

For the medical bills, I've found that the hospitals, etc. are a lot less forgiving than they used to be (guess it's the economy). Still, it can't hurt to explain hardships and ask for better terms, just as you would with the college loan people. Many places will take $50 a month, or something similar. Medical bills are not looked on as badly as other bills by potential creditors, but it is a myth that they are ignored. So try to resolve it if you can.

Finally, your goal is pretty low (600) to get decent terms on a house. You should be trying to get up to a 700 at least. To do this, make sure you have a few (2-4) credit card accounts, and preferably an installment account when and if you qualify (if you don't already). Use your credit responsibly - keep the line open (free of debt) and pay it off each month.

If you don't qualify for an unsecured credit card, get a secured credit card. This, too, will help you raise your score.

Good luck to you!

Reply

nathanmedic 1 year ago

I suggest you look at the "Hippa law, medical bills cannot be placed on your  credit report, itis not legal to do so. Yous should call the hospital and the collection gency and express that they must immediately remove this from your report. Also, you can call the businesses that are showing late payments and ask them to remove them from your report. Just paying a debt does not do it, you mut have it removed or it could take a considerable amount of time to remove. Also, schoold loans could be immediately fixed by paying around $50 for 6 months. Or doing a consolidating hardship, so you could return to school at least half time, you would have this problem immediately removed and your score would reflect that.

Reply

dkb45 1 year ago

+1

@ nathanmedic, While the laws do state that your 'medical information' may not appear on your report, you are sadly mistaken that the debt may not show and it certainly effects your score.  

Reply

bgridley1 1 year ago

 

Bgridley, I'd suggest you read my response again ... where on Earth did you get that the debt may not show or affect your score? Here is my quote: "Medical bills are not looked on as badly as other bills by potential creditors, but it is a myth that they are ignored. So try to resolve it if you can." What I will state is this: 1) Though not as much as they used to be, medical bills are not looked on as badly as other debt. 2) It is usually a MUCH longer time before medical debt is reported to a credit agency. Let me give you some help here: I work for a 1,000 bed hospital. I work closely with our billing dept. All hospitals are not the same, but most are. 3) Hospitals (and other medical groups) are often more willing than other creditors to work out payment plans, etc. This is changing for the worse as the new medical laws take effect (and with the recession), as they have resulted in more aggressive hospital collection policies. 4) Once reported, their debt has just as much effect as any other debt, EXCEPT that creditors looking specifically for "type of debt" tend to be more forgiving of medical debt. The "scoring systems" are NOT.
  I hope this clears up bgridley1's complete miscontruing of my statement. Nathan
 

Reply

nathanmedic 1 year ago


 

bgridley1 - Perhaps you were referencing dkb45's statement, which is inaccurate? That might explain the confusion and, if so, then I apologize for my overreaction.

Reply

nathanmedic 1 year ago


okay for people trying to get credit rebuilding i have a merrick bank ,then credit one ,then visa legacy then captial one then hsbc and seventh ave and fingerhut..somewhere in between i got the last to listed and am still rebuilding credit for alright auto loans credit accpentance will work with people with bad credit .. if this helps anyone .. 

Reply

summerlady80 1 year ago

 what is the best credit card to increase credit

Reply

chuck1982 11 months ago

  • Prev
  • 1
  • Next

Reply To This Question


Submit Your Response
Receive Response Email Alerts

We'll alert you when a response or reply is posted to this question.

The Credit Advice pages of the Site may contain messages submitted by users over whom Credit Karma has no control. Credit Karma cannot guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of any such messages. Some users may post messages that are misleading, untrue or offensive. You must bear all risk associated with your use of the Credit Advice pages and should not rely on messages in making (or refraining from making) any specific financial or other decisions.

Let the community lend a hand!


100 Characters Remaining

3 Most Recent Questions in Credit Scores

whats the difference Vote for this

0 Responses
Asked by creana
under Credit Scores

Featured Credit Repair Service

  • Take action and start work to improve your credit, today!
  • Lexington Law helps you work toward the removal of questionable, negative items on your credit reports.
  • They have served over 600,000 clients since 1991
  • Active Concord-level clients see, on average, 8.7 removals by month 3 and 28.6 by month 12*

*Your Results May Vary

SERVICE PROVIDED BY

Lexington Law Credit Report Repair

See Details

Over 1 million negative items removed by Lexington Law last year, including:

  • Collections
  • Late Payments
  • Bankruptcies
  • Foreclosures
Call For Your FREE Consultation:1.855.255.0203
Welcome to Credit Karma! Like our service? Share the karma and recommend us on Facebook.