Repairing Credit

What is the name of your state? Indiana

Hubby and I filed BK over two years ago. We discharged all debts but kept house. I refinanced house in my name only and have complete seperate finances from Hubby since that time. I have had perfect credit since then and had purchased vehicle but had to go through finance company. Paid off with no late payments. Now I am having trouble getting a car loan for a new or used car. I was just turned down for car loan about a month ago. I want to pull my credit report and see if there is anything wrong on the report. Is is safe or wise to use the free credit report site on the internet? Does anyone have any idea of which to use? Also, I have stayed away from Credit card offers as that is what got my hubby in trouble in the first place. I am responsible with them but hubby was not. Would it help my credit to apply for CC but not use it. I understand I must pay my dues for filing BK and that it does take time but I would like to inprove my credit and am not sure how to do that. Any suggestions would be great.

[Ladynred]

Ok, sounds like a negative crept onto your reports, could be anything. Since you've been turned down for credit, you are entitled to a free CR from all 3 bureaus. Getting them on-line is the fastest way and its quite safe, just stay away from the 3-in-one aka. tri-merge reports, they lack critical details.

There are a lot of things to look for and make sure all creditors are reporting things correctly. I would suggest that you go over to [url]www.creditboards.com[/url] and read up on what to look for, how to dispute inaccurate entries or remove erroneous entries. They're the 'experts' and they'll help you get this fixed

Well, I called experian and was told I could not get a credit report for free due to not haveing been turned down for credit. I have been turned down and recd notice in the mail from a credit union, less than one month ago. Apparently they have not been notified yet. Guess I will just have to pay for the report. My main concern is that I have had perfect credit for over two years and could refinance my house within one year of BK and bought a car within three months of BK and now after over two years can't get a car. I am getting more concerned because Hubby's ex works for mortgage company and has been feuding with us for quite some time. Is it possible that she could have something to our credit? She has mentioned in the past that she has cleaned up her own credit (which is near the point of BK) and has ways to make her own credit look better then it really is. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Ladynred]

Did you tell the credit bureau that you have a denial letter from the credit union ? I'd call them back and fax them a copy of that denial letter. You ARE entitled to a free CR, don't let them weasel out of that.

There are any number of ways someone can mess with your credit, so it could definitely happen. Its just as possible that some erroneous collection has been placed or something from your BK is being misreported - happens all the time.

You just need to get the reports right now and see what's dragging it down.

[Joe Schmoe]

Ladynred: I could be wrong but I thought you were entitled to the free credit report from the bureau that the credit union used? Maybe they did not use experian? I have had this happen with my car insurance and was only able to get free report from Transunion because that is who the insurance used to check my credit. Again, I could be SO wrong here but that was my understanding.

I ended up calling transunion and Equifax and am being mailed a copy of my credit report- They will not allow you to get it on-line unless you pay for it. I am considering doing that anyway just to be on the safe side. Once I get the reports I will probably be back with more questions. I have never had to try and get anything taken off my credit and am not sure how to go about doing that. I have logged onto creditboard.com and an finding it very usefull. Thanks again.

Anyone can get a free credit report from worthknowing.com. They do not solicit you or sell your e-mail address and you can get an update every three months. The report is from TransUnion.

Not every creditor pulls reports from the same credit bureau, your rejection letter should tell you specifically who they pulled your credit report frorm. If experian refuses to send you a report after calling them then you should send the rejection letter along with your personal information so they can verify who you are and then they will have to send you a free report.

After you get the credit report as long as you dispute something every 60-90 days you can get a new report from each bureau. That is dispute an old address, name change (if any), previous employment, accounts open or closed, balance, pay off date, anything you can find that's not correct. Also, don't try to dispute everything at once. I would dispute no more than three things at a time.