Outofajam Tracker

Re: Question about available credit being too low

Outofajam — Sun, 08 May 2011 18:11:26 GMT

So, I went against the best advice that I had received here and against my own instincts and applied for another credit card to increase my number of accounts and my available credit. My application was accepted and I added $5,000 to my available credit. Initially, my FICO scores dipped about 5 points due to the inquiry. However, 1.5 months after getting the new card, my EQ FICO score jumped a whopping 73 points and my TU FICO scored jumped 16 points!!!!! I have not checked my EX Vantage score as I believe that it's useless in understanding how lenders will view me. I will update my signature as soon as I can remember how to do that.

Re: Question about available credit being too low

Outofajam — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 17:26:50 GMT

Thank you MarineVietVet

Question about available credit being too low

Outofajam — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 16:47:23 GMT

My EQ FICO score has been "stuck" in a very narrow band for quite some time despite that fact that my balances are super low, I haven't had a late payment in 4.5 years and derogatory information has been dropping off my reports. A competing scoring service told me that my number of revolving credit accounts and my available credit limit ($4,500 across two cards) are too low. Unfortunately, I also found out that one of the cards still reports to TU and EX but no longer reports to EQ

So far, I've tried asking my card companies for CL increases (to no avail). I have considered applying for another credit card but that seems so counter-intuitive to my goals. I also thought of getting a secured card and building the deposit (and thus my available credit) but I am afraid of getting "dinged" for having a "secured card".

Question: Anyone have advice on the best way to increase my available credit without hurting my credit score?

Hello and welcome to the forums. I'm going to split this post off to start a new thread in "Understanding FICO Scoring". I think you'll get more responses there. The only thing I will change is the title. If you want to change it to something else it is possible to edit your own post. To edit your post, go to the post. To the right you'll see "Options." Click on "Options" and select "Edit Message" from the drop-down menu. If you need any help with anything, let me know.

--marinevietvet, myFICO moderator

Re: Take the FICO Fitness Challenge for 2011!

Outofajam — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:55:08 GMT

1. My FICO score goal for 2011 is 750 EQ and TU, 850 EX (Vantage)

2. My current FICO score(s) are 679 EQ, 708 TU, 792 EX (Vantage)

3. The steps I plan to take to achieve my goal - Keep my debt-to-credit ratio very low, increase my available credit, continue my 4.5 year practice of paying everything ontime.

Re: Take the FICO Fitness Challenge for 2011!

Outofajam — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:25:57 GMT

I am not clear on how to sign up for the challenge. Please advise.