Just when you think one problem is solved (window)...another one comes up. I thought I'd be locking in my interest rate today but got a very surprising bit of information from my loan officer. He said it "was something I've never seen happen before." Great. Just Great.
Ok..so here's a bit of history: My husband had a fraudulent account on his credit report when we applied for the mortgage and were still approved with a higher interest rate. We were told that if we got the negative fraud removed that our score would go up (this came from the three credit bureaus and NVR) and our mortgage rate would go down. Ok. So I spent a month getting that stupid annoying stuff removed (it was a nightmare) from his report and according to the credit monitoring from Score Sense, his score shot up over 20points. Good....so we thought.
Today when the loan officer pulled the credit guess what he saw? Nothing. Literally Nothing. My husband doesn't even have a score now! Uhm...say what? He has past credit history but it is over five years old so he just doesn't have a score.
Because we have to use both of our incomes for the house, we need his score. NVR uses the LOWEST credit score which I think sucks because my credit is immaculate....seriously it's often over 780 and that's usually a bad couple of months. They pull my credit but they don't even use my score at all to take into account for the loan....and I make the most money. Darn it.
So anyways, we have to go out and get a card in his name, buy something, pay it off to show he can handle a revolving account (even though a mortgage is not that) to get him a score of some sort. What kind of double edge sword is that? First, we couldn't get him a card because of the fraud and now we need a card because of the fraud. And we were approved for the mortgage with a fraudulent account but now we are technically not approved because there is no fraudulent account! It's nuts! I want to kill my husband....and the credit score people. The fraud happened the year that I met him but we didn't find out about it until I started nosing around in his credit to make sure we'd be ok to buy the house. He said he just didn't know what to do. Oh my. The irony of being approve with the fraud just kills me. Should I find the guy and ask him to do it again?
So here I am wondering if we will even get our house tonight. I'm so sick to my stomach that I can't even bare to think about even looking at the house now. I love that house already and she might leave me? Ahh! My best case scenario is that the rates will continue to drop and his score will go up higher than I could possibly dream of because of the new credit card and we win all around. If you pray, meditate or something along that lines......please do so for me. I need all the positive energy I can get on this one.
So there you go. To be continued.......
ps- The brick is almost done and our pre-drywall meeting is Friday!
Charissa,
ReplyDeleteThis is insane! I feel your pain via your blog. I will be praying for you and sending good vibes. Hang in there kiddo…it will get better.
So sorry! Definitely keeping my fingers crossed for you all. I'm sure that it will all come together and you'll get the house.
ReplyDeleteI hope that works! Applying for credit actually makes your score drop, usually by at least 10 points.
ReplyDeleteYou should add him to one of your credit cards! Your payment history will become his too!!
ReplyDeleteI did put him on two of my cards as an authorized user but the credit score does not piggyback like that. Has anyone else had an authorized users credit score improved when added to an account? If so, what card? Please let me know. He is on my Chase and my Citi card and it is not reported to his credit report...only mine. I have other store cards that I could add him to.
ReplyDeleteThe people at Credco (who NVR uses) told our loan officer to have my husband open a card. There is no score for a score to drop so I hope they know what they are doing. If you know of a card that reports to the authorized users credit report ..let me know which one. It might just be one that I already have and this might be easier than I think. All help is appreciated!
pjkpaula, Put on your seatbelt.....because hours is just the tip of the iceberg on stuff like this. Document Document Document and if you need help...please ask me. I literally spent over a month fixing his and it's not an easy task. I have a wealth of knowledge about it now.
DeleteHoly Bureaucracy Batman!!! Seriously... wow! :-(
ReplyDeleteOkay, first thing I would suggest is to call all 3 credit bureaus stat to figure out what the friggen insanity is going on:
Equifax: 1-800-685-1111 (P.O. Box 740256, Atlanta, GA 30374)
Experian: 1-888-397-3742 (P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013)
TransUnion: 1-800-916-8800 (P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022)
More Info:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/personal-finance-credit/free-credit-report-info/nFbJ/
Next I would see about getting a free credit report from CreditKarma.com to see if they return a score for him from. If you see a score then the loan rep needs to earn some pay and dig a little deeper.
More Info:
http://www.clarkhoward.com/news/clark-howard/personal-finance-credit/free-access-your-credit-report-and-credit-score/nK8Dd/
I honestly do not thing opening a line of credit at this stage will help considering the time that it would take to build up a reasonable credit score. I would see what the credit bureaus before taking this step.
Sorry to hear about the life gut punch. Hang in there. I think that there should be a way to fix this if you talk to the right people.
You are right!! Authorized users do not get reported to the bureau because it must be a joint application. You may want to check with your creditors to see if you can re-establish one of your existing cards as a joint card. Since you have a long standing history and great score with them they may honor your request. Once the card is approved keep the card at the 0-14 % margin. Most people believe the card must stay in the 50% margin; however, staying at this level keeps you from gaining the maximum points possible. We are still in the loan approval process and it has been months; the beauty is we negotiated with RH and RH wants us to be approved so they are doing everything possible. The lesson for us--"ask for what you want." Lastly, the house is yours--continue to see, feel and imagine yourself in your new home. I do this daily and drive by to see my home on that lot. Stay Encouraged!!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Once the existing card is approved as a joint card. The bureau will report your monthly rating and this will be reflected on his card too. And, Credco can pull the report within 72 hours to see the increase in the score. The only risk involved is your score may drop a few points since he does not have a score; however, since your score is high the small percentage of points dropping would be insignificant. Remember, you only need a 620 score to qualify with NVR. This may be a risk; however, I believe reduced points for your dream home is worth it.
DeleteHis score was over 620 with the fraud..hence the approval. The joint card is a good idea. I will call today to see what I can do. Thanks!
DeleteMy husband added me as an authorized user on his Chase card. It shows up on all three of my credit reports. I can't see it online when I log in to my Chase account but it definitely has an impact on my credit score. I once asked Chase about this but they said that shouldn't be the case. I've never fought it because the card has a perfect payment history.
ReplyDeleteI used to work at a bank and I would see this kind of thing happen all the time. Especially with kids who were added as users on their parent's card. If the parent didn't pay it, the kid's credit was affected.
When I added him to the Chase, they didn't even ask for his social so I don't see how it would be on his score. :( It's my oldest card and it also has a perfect payment history (like all my other cards). I also asked the Chase rep and she said that is doesn't affect his score. We had him apply for a Home Depot card but it will take 7-10days to get approved because of the fruad alert that we placed on it.
DeleteI'm an authorized user on my dad's credit card and it does show up on my credit report. It's an american express.
DeleteThank you all for your support and advice. Keep it coming. I'm going to call my card right now. And...since they don't use my score it won't matter if it drops at this point so I don't see any harm adding him as a joint user if possible. Thank you for the idea!
ReplyDelete