LOL man.

First, call your creditors and let them help you work out a plan with them that they will accept and that you can do. It only makes your situation worse if you wait until they’re calling you.

Next, learn all you can about credit scores, so you don’t have to go through this again. Try the site http://www.myfico.com as a start. http://Www.bankrate.com is also a great site for anything to do with money. At first you might think, "Yech!" but as you find yourself getting out of the hole by this knowledge, reading about money starts getting more and more interesting. You actually become enthused about making things happen for yourself — controlling your destiny — being rewarded, knowing what you’re doing, not being fooled by offers that used to be appealing when you were ignorant, etc. (no offense intended).

Next, get a part-time job of some kind. Even if it doesn’t pay as much as your current job, you will be surprised what difference a little bit more money makes. Then, when you get paid with the second job, pretend you don’t have that money, and just put it all toward your debts. What I did was to get one that paid a lot less than my main job, but was fun to do. So it didn’t feel like I was working, or at least not slaving my life away, and I didn’t get so tired. I considered it part of my socializing. A lot of all this is mental (attitude).

You could also try the suggestion about credit counseling, but I didn’t do that one because it is not as helpful these days as it was at one time. Now it is actually a bad mark on your credit report in the eyes of lenders. It tells them that you will likely not honor your debts, which will then reflect in the interest rates they offer you accordingly. Of course, you don’t want any more credit at this stage, but look at the effect on your report long term. Bad stuff can stay on there by law for about 7 years (or more, depending on the type of stuff). You don’t want to get all your debts down only to find that bad stuff is still following you around keeping your score much lower than it should be.

Next — and this is one of my favorite tools because it’s like having an assistant — I would suggest eventually getting a service called IdentityGuard (www.identityguard.com). If you get it through Costco, it costs less than $8 per month. It has been well worth the expense to me. You might want to wait until you’re making some progress out of the hole first, but keep it in mind. The indispensable thing on this site that helped me raise my score fast is called the Credit Analyzer. It lists all your debts (from the 3 major credit bureaus’ databases, so you don’t have to enter it yourself) and allows you to see how different hypothetical actions that you can take would affect your credit score — and it even tells you by how many points your score would be raised or lowered, if any. For instance, you can ask it to show you how your credit score would be affected if you paid as agreed for the next 3 months, or what if you applied for a new card, or spread out your debt among all your cards, or what if you paid off this one or that one.

For example, I was really surprised to find recently that simply closing 4 small accounts that I hardly ever used would move me from a Fair to a Good score. Without this tool, I never would have guessed!

Lastly, be patient with yourself. You have taken a huge first step simply by asking the question.

There are no fast fixes, unless you inhert a big chunk or something exceptional like that. It took a few years for me to move into the Good range, and I started as low as you are now. But if I had had just the few bits of knowledge that I just gave you, I guess I could have been out in a couple of years. I just didn’t have a family or other source that could tell me all of these things, so I just had to research and read for myself. What I just gave you is a distillation of years of experience.

Best wishes in your going onward and upward!

I was in a similar situation when I was your age and now I’m a home owner with almost no debt.

Good luck!

Secondly, focus on your credit card by paying as much as you can towards it each month, while still making the minimum payment on your loan. But make sure to set aside enough money for the little things like laundry or a night out. There’s no sense burning yourself out, you have to live a little too.

As for your repo, if you can make payment arrangements…great. Your repo is already a negative marking on your credit report. So I would focus on the above two.

It’ll take TIME, PATIENCE and most of all DISCIPLINE! If you feel the need or can spare the time, pick up a part-time job.

If you start thinking bankruptcy try a reputable credit counselors/debt consolidation first (go to the Better Business Bureau to find one near you).

BANKRUPTCY SHOULD BE YOUR ABSOLUTE LAST RESORT!!!

Good Luck.

Unless you have a lot of collection accounts or judgments related to lease default then I wouldn’t worry about it.

To: Screening Board/Apt complex name.
Re: Appeal of application.

I am enclosing a copy of my Experian credit report. I am concerned that items on it have unnecessarily lowered my credit score.

I would like to address the items shown on it.

Loans.

I currently have 2 loans.

I have an automobile loan. I took out a $9000 loan in May of 2008. This was to be a 48 month loan, but I will have it paid by December of 2010 at the end of 30 months. The current balance is $1000. This will add $xxx to my available monthly budget.

I have student loans. These are deferred until 6 months after I leave school. At that time, I will owe approximately $xxx a month.

Credit.
I have had my credit card for 4 years. I have been over the limit once. I understand that part of my credit score is based on the percentage used of available credit. The reason I maxed out the card was due to an unexpected and unusually high repair bill to my car.

I appreciate you taking time reviewing my statement. I understand that the xxxx apartments takes credit worthiness seriously. I would very much like to be approved for this apartment.

"My Name"

What you have is a FAKO & means absolutely nothing.

You can get your TU & EQ FICO’s here —> http://www.myfico.com

Second, do not say "I have only been over the limit once". That is like saying "I have only robbed a bank once" or "I have only murdered a person once". Once is once too often. Unless you have never been over your limit, you have been over your limit too often.

Third, pay off the credit card. Not having a balance owed on the credit card will be much better than explaining why you have a large balance owed.