My credit improvement so far

[Varakai]

New to this forum but have been lurking for a couple of weeks.

Have been working on improving my credit scores for the last several months. What hurt my credit most was my refusal to obtain credit after having been, lets say, less than responsible in my younger years thus having very few old accounts and not much credit. I also have 1 paid judgement which is scheduled to fall off in august this year. I have no other baddies other than inquiries.

I have been working on securing credit lately. Credit I was able to secure: Capital One Secured $200, JC Penny $250, Orchard $300 Unsecured, Wal-Mart $500, Value City Furniture $1,000 and Furniture Row $3,500.

I have also opted out, and

Just disputed my paid/satisfied judgement in the hope it will be removed earlier rather than in august.

My current scores (My Fico and Experian): Equifax - 677, TransUnion - 723 and Experian - 748.

It's my hope to be able to obtain a used car loan with reasonable interest rates. Even though my scores aren't horrible now, I am unable to get a reasonable interest rate. Would also like to purchase my first home some time this or next year and hope I will be in the 700 club when my judgement is removed or falls off.

[Varakai]

Forgot to post my question

Is the reason I can only get a car loan at 24% due to a satisfied/paid judgement?

I assume other factors are low credit lines, many new accounts and only 2 old accounts and no recent installment loans.

But do you expect that my ability to obtain a car loan at a decent interest rate will become a reality as soon as the judgement falls off this August or is removed due to my dispute?

[chane]

It could be the judgment. It could be your income to debt ratio.

It will help when the judgment comes off, but it'd be best for the other negatives to come off too.

Your scores aren't even really considered "bad". Maybe just try getting a loan from another place. 24% is ridiculous.

[reagtay]

I think you should try a credit union. We have paid judgments, a BK from 2003, and a handful of paid medical collections on our credit reports. In an attempt to increase our credit score, we purchased a used (07 Durango) last summer. I am not sure what our scores were at that time, but we got 4.9%. We are working on getting a construction loan, but are having trouble getting our scores to the right place. The last time the credit union pulled our reports, we had middle scores of 636 and 658. Since then we have disputed some items and they have fallen off some reports and not the others. Anyway, I would think your scores would be high enough for a better rate!

Rae Ann