algorithmslave Tracker

Re: Rebucketing?

algorithmslave — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:18:01 GMT

So let me get this straight.....one climbs to the bucket with 726 peeps and is welcomed with a boot in the face?

Re: Trying to move in the right direction for home ownership

algorithmslave — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:54:17 GMT

I am kind of in the same boat. recently I paid a Charge Off account and surprisingly got a massive boost in my score. What I have now is five installment loans and two credit cards. I am on the cusp of a middle score of 700! My biggest hurdle has arrived! That is, playing the game....as I PIF my credit cards each month I recieve no benefit from the score. As I charge, pay some, leave a small balance...I may see a small increase over time or a small decrease for a later larger increase....time to make an attempt at figuring out what 'Ma'dam Zelda The Psychic' wants from us....

Re: Cell Phones and Credit

algorithmslave — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 03:58:25 GMT

IOBA wrote:
According to Verizon, if you start service with them, they will pull your credit.

If you upgrade your phone, even if it's a "Free" upgrade, they will pull your credit.

And, according to Verizon, if you change your phone plan, they will pull your credit.

Sprint pulls credit.

I would beg the question to Verizon, "What do you do with foriegn exchange students?" Meaning, without a social security number, how do they (foriegn exchange students) obtain a cell phone through you? I will gamble, if you are willing to pay full price for the cell phone and up the security deposit, they will look the other way with conducting a credit check.

Re: Cell phone service provider Inquiries

algorithmslave — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 03:49:35 GMT

linux007969 wrote:
mmmmmm wrote:
marty56 wrote:
mmmmmm wrote:
It makes perfect sense by carriers do a HP, I fail to understand how others fail to understand.
The issue isn't wether they can do a INQ on your CR but wether it should count against you like applying for a loan.

It's easy to understand why people would get upset about this if they were deined say a car loan because they just moved to a new area and had to get cable, power, new apartment , cell phone or it took their FICO score out of range for the interest rates they wanted.
As I already tried to explain, signing up for wireless service or utilities or anything else is applying for credit, simply not in the traditional sense of here's a credit line, go use it.

Almost all services today are postpaid, meaning you use their services first and you pay for it second. It also means there is a chance you will default, not pay your bills, or simply move/disappear altogether. Most cable or internet companies have routers, digital converters, etc., which all cost a lot more money than they're actually charging you because you're getting the subsadized versions, much like cell phones.

A cable company is extending a line of credit to you, however, it's only good for services through them. Honestly, it's basically like a store card, just without the physical card. I don't see people complaining when Macy's or Best Buy pulls their credit, and utilities or cell phone service is no different.
mrwheezy117 wrote:
What's the difference in information from a hard and a soft inquiry?

I wonder why they just can't do the latter instead...?
People have argued this for a while, however, companies can get more information with a hard pull than they can with a soft pull usually. The entire purpose of reporting inquiries as well is to show who is looking for credit/applied for credit, etc. Signing up for cellular service is applying for credit, so to only do a soft pull is basically defeating the purpose of the system.
The only problem is they do not report payment history so it does not help you. They only report if you default.

Well said!! These type of "lenders" ie...wireless services, power companies, and the like are a double edge sword. These companies have all the benefits with none of the responsibility of having to report the good. In my OPINION, this should be a soft pull. At least, these type of inquiries should be less points off vs the traditional method.

Re: Utilization Theories

algorithmslave — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 02:32:24 GMT

webhopper wrote:
Hi there!

I'm going to step outside the box and state that I don't follow the robotic utilization patterns unless I'm going to be applying for something in that month. Certainly if the scores are very important and if you want to minimize utilization as a game, then following the utilization pattern of <9% utilization on one card and all other cards reporting a zero balance will give you the desired results.

What I do try to do is keep all of my spending on my Amex charge card, which doesn't impact my utilizations. The benefit to letting a balance report depends on the lender. If your total CL on a card is 4k, and your highest balance ever reported on the card is $350, then why would that creditor or any other creditor be tempted to give you higher limits?

If you can show that you use your current lines reponsibly, then you can get higher limits in the future. Irresponsible behavior such as "maxing out" cards, and missing payments or only paying the minumums should be avoided at all costs.

that's my 2 cents worth!

I agree with most of what your saying. There is, however, a minor detail that should be discussed. You mentioned a category on ones CR called "Highest Balance". I would not look to FICO for such answers, assuming you did. I would call one of the big three CB and ask if a lender has access to view that category. My understanding is, lenders do not have access to view that category.

Re: Credit Monitoring Service (CMS) Guide

algorithmslave — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:15:11 GMT

Movin_on_up wrote:
I'm interested in the LastPass credit monitoring service as well if there is anyone with additional info.

I use (and pay) for their other services.

I have never heard of this CRM service before. What I do know is, FICO is the only place to obtain your EQ and TU score that most lenders use. You can obtain your FICO EQ score directly from EQ, but not the TU FICO Score. All other scores have been dubbed FAKO here in the blogasphere. This is too say, not true scores. As far as the service you mentioned, personally, I am not a big fan of having all my passwords in one place. I believe this defeats the purpose of security. Sort of like having all security guards were the cameras are, which is the spot your protecting. Might as well hold a flood light over the area with a sign stating, "what you want to steal is right here". Nonetheless, what I do is pay for EQ service strictly for the unlimited credit report pulling and the service here at FICO for credit score monitoring. When I am complete with a quarter, I switch to EX or TU to monitor thier reports ONLY.

Re: 680 possible with CO?

algorithmslave — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:11:00 GMT

I would like to add, the key to obtaining 700 would also depend on what is lurking in your arsenal. Although I have two CO's on my profile, I have three new School loans in repayment in good standing. In addition I also have a new credit card in good standing as well. When these "mature" staying in good standing I should see a good increase. One aspect to remember with this "guessing" game is, your credit score is suppose to be individual.

Re: 680 possible with CO?

algorithmslave — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 22:07:58 GMT

Tooliebell wrote:
In any of your experiences, is a 680 score possible with charge-offs? I am finding that I am not able to find construction loan funding with less than a 680 credit score. I currently have some CO, some are going to be removed due to being an AU, and a couple GW deletions. I also have a truck loan, a mortgage, and a student loan that are all being paid on time. I was hoping for just 620 as a goal but looks ike I need to set my sights higher!

I am living proof that it is very much possible. Why do I say that, I just woke-up today with an increase of 17 points too......drumrole.....684! I have two charge offs!!! Thats right two....One charge-off is paid with four years old, the other is three years old reporting late each month and just paid it! As soon as the bank updated to the CR's and they reported to FICO charge off paid, I saw an this increase right away!

Re: Holiday Balances

algorithmslave — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:42:57 GMT

GreenThumbSD1 wrote:
The thing to watch for is your percentage of credit used of any particular card. Even though you PIF, you still don't want to use 90% of your credit on any card.

Secondly, the above applies even if you pay everthing that you charged THIS month. So if your statement says that you owe $100 and you charge $900 more on a $1000 credit limit, your CR will say that you charged $1000 even though you pay in full every month.

Best advice I have seen....right now, the rules for calculating the scores keeps this in mind..... If you decide to carry a balance, I would carry no more than 7 percent of a balance to debt/ratio if you have had the card PIF before hand and reported that way. Let me make this clear, unless there is a "big fat conspiracy", this is not a bank rule rather a FICO rule. They make the rules, not me.

On another note, I have often wondered if part of the negative perception of carring a balance on the part of FICO has to do with not using the card with a balance being carried. For example, if someone charges something 100 dollars on a 300 dollar debt ceiling for the holidays but does not pay off the complete balance and stops charging on the card, I wonder if this is the negative perception? I hope I explained that well....

Re: FORGET fico score NOT used by Mtg Lenders

algorithmslave — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 03:55:21 GMT

I have applied for a home loan myself before but did not qualify... The information here in this thread does provide insight into what could happen. Personally I do plan on keeping a close eye on the process myself when I am ready to apply. I believe it is possible for a mortgage lender to lie about ones score in order to obtain a higher interest rate but highly unlikely. Both the lender and underwriter would have to be in on it, I believe. Regardless, when the time comes, I will watch the process like a hawk. I plan on conducting my own due diligence on the targeted lender in order to find out if they do use the FICO score and what percentage of DTI they use including length of time in position or industry for income qualification. As far as pulling scores, I would pick one credit bureau to pull all three reports from and couple that subscription with this FICO site.

Re: Does Paying an Old Charge-Off Help FICO: Yes or No?

algorithmslave — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 15:54:39 GMT

My understanding of paying of old debt is it will not reset the clock on the CR rather may reset the clock for your states SOL if there is a remaining balance. Meaning you do not pay in full. The DOFD does not change once the account has been closed. If the creditor is reporting the debtor with late payments each month and the account was closed a consumers request, it may be in ones best interest to pay it off. This is what I have been told and just did myself. We will see what haapens here real soon.

Re: Does Paying an Old Charge-Off Help FICO: Yes or No?

algorithmslave — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 02:44:25 GMT

RobertEG wrote:
From the confusion in what you have read, both here and elsewhere, I think the definitive answer is that there is no definitive answer.

I can opine all I want about what makes or doesnt make sense, or about what the FICO algorithm does with scoring of collections and COs, but absent any specific statement from brother Fair, nothing is definitive.

Being a risk of becoming delinquent analysis, it only makes sense to me that a collection or charge-off should be scored in impact based only on the adverse item that created its reporting.... the DOFD. Later activity has nothing to do with that issue, and thus should not affect its impact regarding its adverse scoring.
However, others swear that both updating reporting and payment or non-payment have effect. Much of that may be due to overlooking other changes that occured in their report, but the anecdotal posts seem to indicate an effect.

In my opinion, the real benefit lies beyond simple scoring. The presence of old, unpaid debt is absolutely a negative in any manual review of a consumer's credit report, and even after the adverse item has been excluded from one's CR, it may still be discovered by subsequent creditors via other means.
Looking at the bigger picture, outside of damage to the wallet, it is always better, in my opinion, to be able to answer No, I have no unpaid delinquent debt, regardless if its CR inclusion or exclusion.

The real benefit is with the scoring.....I would argue the scoring model has become a part of our Defensible Space. After all, the score was created to predict negative behavior....I for one want to understand all that which has a say in my life and demand more government regulation and oversight. With this said, the presence of old unpaid debt could be a clear understanding of how the scoring model works. If I were a lending, I would want someone with one charge-off versus someone who has filed bankruptcy....but the scoring model does not reflect that, right?

Re: Yeah...yet another example of how trying to increase FICO...

algorithmslave — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:51:12 GMT

sjt wrote:
I thought they made revisions to the FICO scoring model so you will not be penalized for paying a collection or charge off account.

Can anyone confirm this.

I am not sure about any revisions to the FICO numerology model.....What I do know is in my case I had a charege-off unpaid account reporting late each month for the last three years....Thus the recent activity was current. I decided to pay this small debt off. Now we will see if this has any effect on my score, for the better. I really hope it does.

Re: What you should know about the Dodd-Frank Act

algorithmslave — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 23:56:42 GMT

AnnaFoFanna wrote:
It is not true that if you close your accounts, the company will remove you from their database and cease to "share" (i.e. sell) your information. They keep your information and continue to "share" anything they can legally get away with - which is a lot. Read the fine print in their so-called "privacy" notices.

That is why I am a firm believer in Competitive Intelligence. The companies spy and house data on us, why not a company that does the same with companies and provides those reports to consumers?

Re: Specific law forbidding removal of federal loans lates

algorithmslave — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 23:45:36 GMT

schrute wrote:
Actually, FCRA Section 623(a)2 says that retroactive deferments acknowledge a time period when no payments were due. Therefore no payment was ever due and any negative credit history must be removed. Since the statute says that reports must be "updated" as well as corrected.

The FTC's lawyers and DoE counsel confirmed this to me verbally.

Interesting....

That would mean CitiBank's who previously owned The Student Loan Corporation, now owned by Discover Student Loans is a criminal orgination. I believe we all know this.

I would like to challenge that statute.....does it make reference to the start date? Meaning, the day you enter class or the day your scheduled to attend? So, what The Student Loan Corporation was doing was taking the defermant time as the day the student starts classs not the date your excepted into school and have a date to start in hand. Understand?

Re: Credit Monitoring Service (CMS) Guide

algorithmslave — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:28:18 GMT

nc wrote:

It is worth paying $22 / $24 per month to get unlimited credit reports from Amex Credit Secure / USAA?

May be yes for many...

Are we aware of any other company providing unlimited credit reports?

The common denominator seems to be this, if the "FICO" score is involved, there is no unlimited score. You can pull unlimited score and report from Equifax but the score is the Advantage. FICO does not play fairly to consumers.....

Re: Credit Monitoring Service (CMS) Guide

algorithmslave — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:56:51 GMT

llecs wrote:
d-07 wrote:
Hello,

Can you purchase or get a package from myfico.com that includes all three credit reports.
Unfortunately Experian doesn't play nice. At one point a product was offered that included 3 reports of your choosing, so 3 of one, 2 of one and one of another, or one of each. Experian blocked consumer access to your own FICO score and you cannot buy it from anywhere. Because of that action, the only product within myFICO that offers the other two reports together (EQ and TU) is the Suze Orman's FICO® Kit. You can get two of one and one of the other and you get to decide which report to pull and when.

While the Suze kit is great for report pulls at a discount, it doesn't offer any monitoring of your credit. It's a one-time pull only per report. There is no product that offers EQ and TU FICO score monitoring together. There's no product in the world that monitors all 3 FICO scores together.

Very unfortunate the credit bureaus and leading score provider cant play nice in the sand box together. Unfortunately this will only lead to Congressional oversight and than ultimately to lobby groups in response to gov. regulations. Quite sad really.......EX obviously has something else in the works and believes they can compete with FICO. I really hope somene offers an even playing field in the futre like adding bills that currently do not report such as rent and utillities. In addition, would be nice if there was some regulation that said, If you use a report and/or score to determine if you will conduct business with a consumer and/or organization, you must report the "on time" or "pays as agreed" payments as well, not just the negative. In addition, closing this service to car insurance is reasonable as a pose too allowing them to pull. All they, car insurance, use it for is an excuse to charge higher premiums to some and lower ones to others.

Re: will paying off a charge off improve score?

algorithmslave — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 06:15:47 GMT

RobertEG wrote:
The impact, in my opinion, is far more than your FICO score. Not paying it, if they do a manual review, may be a show-stopper for any prospective creditor, regardless of your three digit score.

A CO is, in its initial reporting, a posting to all that not only have you been delinquent in your debt, but that your delinquency has reached the stage that, in the creditor's opinion, you are not going to pay. The accounting term is "uncollectible."

Paying can show them incorrect, and demonstrate that paying your obligated debt is important to you.
Not paying simply reinforces the negative observation made by that creditor.
Being under a payment plan does offset that perception.....

Thats an interesting tone-of-thought you expressed. Allow me to ask you this, than what is the reasn for a three digit score in the first place? Paying this type of debt shows a lack of knowledge of the score. Not paying shows knowledge of the three digit score. Look man, I dont make the rules, I just try too live in them. I have lots of other obligations/debt that tells the real story. The scrore is used as qualification first than interest rate next. The score was part of "Regan Econocis" back in the 80's to stop bias in lending. If you ask me, this type of scoring amounts to nothing than Pegan Esoteric Tools. Numerology to be exact.

Re: Specific law forbidding removal of federal loans lates

algorithmslave — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 22:14:05 GMT

bahbahd wrote:
That does not make to much sense to me for some reason. SLs marked paid & closed should still report for 10 years from the date of closure. The age would still be there from the old ones. Unless you are saying that the new loan account severly brough down your AAoA

If AAoA has to do with average account age than yes it did. In addition, the Special Direct Consolidation does not condense down to oone loan but rather herds the past loans into gatergories like, subsidized, non-subsidized and the like. So in my case I had three new account appear. So I got hit negatively with too much new credit and a lower average account age.

Re: Specific law forbidding removal of federal loans lates

algorithmslave — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 22:00:18 GMT

bahbahd wrote:
W
algorithmslave wrote:
bahbahd wrote:
What is the Special Direct Consolidation Loan?
http://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/consolidation/special

Please see the link above...burden your mind with this...it is NOT A CONSOLIDATION of loans. It was designed to bring all of ones student loans under one roof. This was a huge backfire thoough...it counts as a consolidation under FICO because a new account number was detected. Although if I call the lender, they have all the history of the loans. Interesting.........
What happened to all your old account TLs on you CR?

They disappeared in the sense that, they looked like they were paid off. Sooo average credit histroy dropped like a rock!!!! In addition, new accounts are hitting me negatively as well. I am in the process of trying to convince Great Lakes to change the date open.....