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So, I'm new to Fico Forums and I have been reading good information on many things.
I was wondering if anyone might have some information for my current credit plateau.
I have been working on my credit for a few years now, and have made great strides. I am coming
from scores in the 450 range to now having EX 640, EQ 646, and TU 634. My scores are not terrible,
but I have not been bale to bring them up any higher. I am battling several negative charge offs and a
defaulted student loan. I have paid all those accounts off but of course they still reflect on my reports,
which is what's hurting me. I currently have an Amex Premier Reward Gold card, a Military Star card
CL $1900, ad Cap 1 CL $1000 all with 100% positive history. My current utilization of my cards with
revolving balance is a bit high, 80% average, because of the holiday, however I plan on paying them
off here real soon. I recently applied for the Amex HHonors and was denied. The reason for the denial
was my high utilization, expected, and too many derogatory accounts/remarks on my report, however
they did not do a hard pull which was a nice thing. I want to add another credit card to my wallet, maybe
one with a good intro APR offer I could possibly transfer a balance to save some money, but not sure
where to go in fear of another denial and hard pulls. I am also looking for advice on what I can do about
possibly cleaning up the negative accounts on my credit reports. I have sent out "goodwill" letters and
waiting to see if anything happens, but I am not sure if there is anything else I can do.
Welcome! Congrats on the improvement from 450 to 600's! You're doing the right thing in trying to goodwill your negatives, it doesn't always work the first time, but persistence pays off. In my case, the removal of 1 paid charge-off gave my score a 50 point difference. The rebuilding thread can probably offer you the best advice beyond goodwill letters.
Have you tried any of the pre-qualifiers? They aren't a guaranteed approval though, but can be an indicator of likelihood. Barclays approved me for an unsecured card with a score similar to yours. Bank of America has an excellent secured card option - it will likely graduate to unsecured over time.
@eddiejr89 wrote:So, I'm new to Fico Forums and I have been reading good information on many things.
I was wondering if anyone might have some information for my current credit plateau.
I have been working on my credit for a few years now, and have made great strides. I am coming
from scores in the 450 range to now having EX 640, EQ 646, and TU 634. My scores are not terrible,
but I have not been bale to bring them up any higher. I am battling several negative charge offs and a
defaulted student loan. I have paid all those accounts off but of course they still reflect on my reports,
which is what's hurting me. I currently have an Amex Premier Reward Gold card, a Military Star card
CL $1900, ad Cap 1 CL $1000 all with 100% positive history. My current utilization of my cards with
revolving balance is a bit high, 80% average, because of the holiday, however I plan on paying them
off here real soon. I recently applied for the Amex HHonors and was denied. The reason for the denial
was my high utilization, expected, and too many derogatory accounts/remarks on my report, however
they did not do a hard pull which was a nice thing. I want to add another credit card to my wallet, maybe
one with a good intro APR offer I could possibly transfer a balance to save some money, but not sure
where to go in fear of another denial and hard pulls. I am also looking for advice on what I can do about
possibly cleaning up the negative accounts on my credit reports. I have sent out "goodwill" letters and
waiting to see if anything happens, but I am not sure if there is anything else I can do.
Welcome to myFICO. IMO, the very best thing you can do to give your FICO the biggest jump, other than get your negatives off or wait until they fall of (yeah, 7 years is a b***h to wait), is to pay your 80% utilization down as fast as you can. If you can get it down to under 30%, that would be great, but under 10% will give you the biggest bump in scores. The best of luck to you.
@eddiejr89 wrote:So, I'm new to Fico Forums and I have been reading good information on many things.
I was wondering if anyone might have some information for my current credit plateau.
I have been working on my credit for a few years now, and have made great strides. I am coming
from scores in the 450 range to now having EX 640, EQ 646, and TU 634. My scores are not terrible,
but I have not been bale to bring them up any higher. I am battling several negative charge offs and a
defaulted student loan. I have paid all those accounts off but of course they still reflect on my reports,
which is what's hurting me. I currently have an Amex Premier Reward Gold card, a Military Star card
CL $1900, ad Cap 1 CL $1000 all with 100% positive history. My current utilization of my cards with
revolving balance is a bit high, 80% average, because of the holiday, however I plan on paying them
off here real soon. I recently applied for the Amex HHonors and was denied. The reason for the denial
was my high utilization, expected, and too many derogatory accounts/remarks on my report, however
they did not do a hard pull which was a nice thing. I want to add another credit card to my wallet, maybe
one with a good intro APR offer I could possibly transfer a balance to save some money, but not sure
where to go in fear of another denial and hard pulls. I am also looking for advice on what I can do about
possibly cleaning up the negative accounts on my credit reports. I have sent out "goodwill" letters and
waiting to see if anything happens, but I am not sure if there is anything else I can do.
Hi, welcome to the forum. I would suggest checking out the Rebuilding section of the forum. You'll find a lot of information and help on there. Also, 80% utilization is definitely hurting your score. IMO, since you're waiting on GW results, just focus on paying utilization down, and no apps until you do. Good luck!
You might try this helpful guide. It has lots of tips on how to repair your own credit and get the best credit offers.
@eddiejr89 wrote:I want to add another credit card to my wallet, maybe
one with a good intro APR offer I could possibly transfer a balance to save some money, but not sure
where to go in fear of another denial and hard pulls.
Apping should be your last concern until you address the derogs and get your utilization down. High utilization and derogs will prevent approvals and even if you get an approval it will affect the CL's and APR's offered.
Have you tried PFD's for your derogs? Don't overlook the rebuilding subforum. It's specifically intended for this.
First I would like to thank everyone for the input and welcoming me so kindly. I'm not really focusing on applying, except for the one attempt. My big concern is the derogatory stuff. I don't know anything about PFDs or were to start one. I will definitely be looking at the forum you guys have recommended