Fixing Credit Score?

I've posted here before about the situation involving my credit. Parents "accidentally" stole my identity or whatever excuse they had, messed up my credit. I'm looking to fix it before I move out/finish my degree/get a real job. Here's the details:

Credit score: 536
One account (Loan my parents took out)
Very poor payment history (Aforementioned loan).

Will it even be possible to build it up to a good score? I only have that one account, so I'm assuming having more lines of credit would help (a secured card or something of the sort). I already confronted my parents (who admitted to doing it) about it and they refuse to do anything to remove the bad line of credit from my name. I disputed it with Equifax as well and they rejected my dispute claim.

>they refuse to do anything to remove the bad line of credit from my name
wtf? so they did it on purpose?

They claim they didn't, but they also tried to cover it up, so I don't know.

I went as far as to visit the police station to see if I needed to file an official report in order to get it off my record, but the officer available wasn't sure, and I have a younger sibling that's years away from being independent, so I don't want to press criminal charges (if I even could).

do they want to stop you from moving out so they ruined your score forever? cause that's the vibe i'm getting here.

I don't think so. Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence, or however that quote goes.

They've pretty much ruined my college finances but honestly don't seem to think they've done anything wrong or understand why I'm, to say the least, frustrated with them. They seem to want me to move out and finish school, but they don't register their involvement being a hindrance to both of those things.

When I went to get a loan to cover a gap in my merit-based financial aid, they dissuaded me by saying they'd pay for it themselves (at the time, I didn't know that if I'd went to apply for the loan, I would have found out about what they did to my credit in the OP post), but they never actually paid. They made a payment once, months later, and then just forgot about it, I guess? But since it wasn't a loan, just a balance owed, it got sent to collections. They'd told me they had paid, so I didn't find out until I went to register and was informed I couldn't due to a large balance owed. It's payed up, but only because another relative helped me out. Still, had I not gone to register, they probably would have kept telling me it was paid off until it defaulted or something with my name attached.

Bump.

>I don't want to press criminal charges
You're an idiot. That's the only way a credit agency would consider removing the bad credit. I'm boggled you would accept that treatment from family.

It's a felony in my state and would result in both of my parents losing their jobs and home, though. I contemplated it for a while, but have pretty much gotten from all sides advice not to make this explode into some huge mess. It's been six months, I believe, since the first dispute, and I don't even know if I could press criminal charges now, anyway.

Leech off them as much as you can right now, but next time when you flown the coop, give them the same treatment

I'd set up a payment plan with my parents which, if it wasn't adhered to, sends them to jail. $100 per week for a few years or something like that. Whatever you place the cost on for having shit credit requiring years to bring back to where it started.

I couldn't get something like that to work with them. Realistically I'll just have to fix it on my own. If I didn't have a younger sibling, perhaps, I would be more willing to press criminal charges.

Hopefully a "next time" will not occur.

Some states like Michigan let you get a credit lawyer for free (the credit companies pay) consider talking to one. I did and got my score fixed and 15k as a settlement because apparently all three credit beuros broke the fair credit reporting act

And i paid 0 out of pocket and never needed to go to court or deposisition

I haven't been able to find one in the state I live in.

Or rather, the city, sorry.

It's time to look up the statute of limitations and sue your parents.

Checking what I can, I don't think I would even get a case
, as they claim to have unknowingly done it, and you have to knowingly do it for personal benefit to count as identity theft Plus, I can't find my state's statute of limitations

Suing is an option OP you can frame this as a civil matter for small claims court and sue for debt and damages. ID Theft is criminal, but negligence still calls for reparations.

Small claims judge
You: They took out a loan in my name w/o my permission & didn't pay it. I want them to pay the creditor so I can fix my credit. Their negligence will have cost me several thousands by the time I get this addressed.
You'd be better off using some of the info on Creditboards.com

Main thing is attack the problem at the source and call the debtor. Negotiate a settlement with terms that include removal of the reporting the account from the system. Make sure to send certified mail outlining your demands and your reasons. I'd think Most people will be sympathetic to your story, particularly if its no skin off their back. You did say it was paid.

failing that basically writing letters every month to the credit bureaus saying it wasn't you.
If you've been at it for 6 months on your own and no joy then hire lexingtonlaw.com

are you Chinese?

>I'd think Most people will be sympathetic to your story,

Will the gov't? It was with the Department of Education.

I still can't find the statute of limitations for it (would that only apply criminally and not civilly?) I think it has passed, though, since even something like wrongful death only has a 1 year SoL here. If it falls under contracts, the limit is 6 years, civilly.

I'll more likely than not get kicked out of the house, though. It's not too big of a deal, since I'm looking into going to trade school soon, anyway.

get retail store-exclusive credit cards, basically hand those shits over

I've got a similar problem except I cosign and it's totally my fault. So in your (and my case), the only strategy I've thought about is to open a bunch of credit lines (10-20) and start making payments. This will essentially improve the on-time payments/total payments ratio by diluting the payment contribution of the bad loan. You basically need 99% ratio to have a good credit score. So there are two independent/dependent variables here: number of credit lines to open and months necessary to reach the 99% ratio. Either solve for months or credit lines.

I don't really make nearly enough money to operate that many lines of credit.

Then fucking blackmail them. Milk them for everything you can, and if they don't pay up file the fucking charges. I know a guy who wouldn't do this when his dad ruined his credit and he is an aging gen x loser who never got his finances together. Don't be like him.

They're otherwise just slightly below mediocre parents, though, and I can't even find a lawyer that wants to take the case. The only one I found said the cost of fighting it isn't worth the trouble.

Funny man, I just hired lexington law 5 months ago. Had mixed reviews and I thought it might be bullshit, but I had 20gs saved up and terrible credit so I figured why not take a chance. They actually have done some good work for me. Maybe I could have gotten the same results on my own (without paying $100/month) if I tried a little harder, but oh well.

So far they've removed 9 negatives from my credit report and my score has gone from 567 to 653 in 5 months. Not fucking bad at all and in my opinion well worth $500

Hopin' to get a response to this.

Also looking to go to trade school later this year if returning to uni is just fully out of the question.

Bump.

Going to try to continue disputing the item, then, while I see how to take it to court/get it legally recognized.

Current plan is to go to trade school (Haven't been transferred to an affordable uni still, not going to take out 100k in loans to finish a degree at my current one) for mechanics, and possibly finish my degree in CE once I've made some money and can pay in-state tuition (about the cost of a v6 Ford Mustang for two full years).

>people commit felony
>should be charged with a felony
>should be punished for a felony
>"b-but they're my family"

This has always blown my mind.They don't give a flying fuck about you, as evidenced by destroying your credit, and you let it go because they are your family.

I've looked into it and haven't managed to even find out how to have a case. I still haven't found a lawyer that will take it, though I do need to return to the police station to file an official report.

Bump.

Bump on the way to drop off an application.

Look for credit repair attorneys and tell them you OP post.

Realistically, you're fucked for 7 years. No way around it unless you fuck over your parents then your relationship is fucked for life.

Best bet would to call the loan in and either get a payment plan or if it's not a guaranteed federal loan the ignore it with the harassing phone calls / letters for 7 years until they have to take it off. But remember if you pay anything it resets the 7 years limitation
Second, get your birth certificate and SS away from you parents
Third, if your parents aren't COMPLETE moronic ass hats then chalk it up to a life lesson and never trust them with your information/finances again.

It sucks but you get over it.

It's paid up (Credit score was in the mid 400's prior to that) but it's still fucking up my score. I don't want to take it to court, but if it's the only way to fix it, I'll have to. I think it's just emotionally conflicting because they're my parents, so when they do other stuff like spot me gas money or let me live at home, I think it's somehow invalidates my frustration with this.

Well you sound like you have little to no history anyways so your score would be max high 500s.
Get a secured credit card, don't fuck up, and you should be able to get to high 600s within a year and 700s in two. It's only a major pain now because you have no other history but after a year or two of good history this should have little effect on your score
As for you parents, unless you really hate them with a passion, I would just call it a loss.
So you have to decide if a broken home is really worth a year of being inconvenienced to hell.

I dunno, man. The past two years have really, really made me lose a lot of respect for them. That, and my possible leaving soon anyway (Just got an email earlier saying my transfer application was accepted, but I'd have to change majors, meaning my cost of tuition has been slashed from 50k a year to a much more affordable 15k a year), or going to trade school at the end of this year, I shouldn't have to even see them again beyond 2017 tops (Don't intend on keeping contact with them).