Where do I go from here? Help!

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2017

I started rebuilding in August 2016 and now I am a bit stuck on where to go from here. I had two credit cards (Cabelas and Chase) that were charged off in 2013-2014 and the total amount was $3000 between the two, and I also had a collection for $198 that just recently got removed. I was young and stupid.

August 2016 Scores (2 charge offs ($3000 total) and 1 collections for $198)

Experian: 556

Equifax: 597

Transunion: 587

I applied for a credit card during this time and I was approved for a Capital One Platinum for $1000 SL.

March 2017 (2 charge offs, collections removed)

Experian: 636

Equifax: 647

Transunion: 655

88% Credit Usage

1 Hard Inquiry

20 Months Since Most Recent Late Payment

5 yrs 7 mos Average Account Age

12 yrs 4 mos Oldest Account

I am an Authorized User on my Girlfriends account (15k Limit) who has a Citibank credit card and her utilization is extremely high.

It shows that my Credit Usage is at 88% = $14,124 / $16,000. However, my Capital One Platinum balance is $274 / $1000. Therefore, the high balance reflected on my report is coming from her. She has a good credit score, but relies heavily on her credit card.

I also have $34,353 in student loans.

Should I take myself off her credit card and will this improve my score? Should I apply for another credit card (NFCU)?

I need to know where to go from here in order to keep increasing my score.

I have been charging roughly $500-600 a month on my Capital One and been leaving a balance of under $300. However, the first month I was an idiot and left the balance at $700. But, I've always made $500-900 payments a month. I hit the LUV button the Capital One Platinum last month and they only gave me $100. Now, on the 8th of April my 6th statement will come out so I hope to see my limit increase.

Looking forward to reading some tips. Thank you!

ChargedUp · ‎04-04-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
I started rebuilding in August 2016 and now I am a bit stuck on where to go from here. I had two credit cards (Cabelas and Chase) that were charged off in 2013-2014 and the total amount was $3000 between the two, and I also had a collection for $198 that just recently got removed. I was young and stupid.

August 2016 Scores (2 charge offs ($3000 total) and 1 collections for $198)
Experian: 556
Equifax: 597
Transunion: 587

I applied for a credit card during this time and I was approved for a Capital One Platinum for $1000 SL.

March 2017 (2 charge offs, collections removed)
Experian: 636
Equifax: 647
Transunion: 655

88% Credit Usage
20 Months Since Most Recent Late Payment
5 yrs 7 mos Average Account Age
12 yrs 4 mos Oldest Account

I am an Authorized User on my Girlfriends account (15k Limit) who has a Citibank credit card and her utilization is extremely high.
It shows that my Credit Usage is at 88% = $14,124 / $16,000. However, my Capital One Platinum balance is $274 / $1000. Therefore, the high balance reflected on my report is coming from her. She has a good credit score, but relies heavily on her credit card.

I also have $34,353 in student loans.

Should I take myself off her credit card and will this improve my score? Should I apply for another credit card (NFCU)?
I need to know where to go from here in order to keep increasing my score.

I have been charging roughly $500-600 a month on my Capital One and been leaving a balance of under $300. However, the first month I was an idiot and left the balance at $700. But, I've always made $500-900 payments a month. I hit the LUV button the Capital One Platinum last month and they only gave me $100. Now, on the 8th of April my 6th statement will come out so I hope to see my limit increase.

Looking forward to reading some tips. Thank you!

If your girlfriend card is hanging out in the ~90% utilization range it's certainly not helping you, especially if you're keeping your cards in the ~25% range.

HeavenOhio · ‎04-04-2017

Yeah, she's at 92% utilization. That's no good for either of you.

Does she pay in full every month? If so, maybe you can get her to pay all or most of her balance before the statement date. If not, remove yourself.

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2017

No she does not PIF. She pays her minimum payment, and she doesn't miss any payments.

If I take myself off her card then my total credit limit will only be at $1000. Will that hurt me?

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2017

If the charge offs are still on the report they are also affecting your score, even though they are charged off.

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2017

Might help to let the GF try citi's CLI (do not allow them to HP) but not sure whether SP CLI will give anything at current %.

Or get a new card or two to average the % down? If not PIF/month might want to consider a BT card.

Anonymous · ‎04-04-2017

Correct. They are still on my credit report. Should I attempt to pay them?

My Cabelas shows a $0 balance.

However, the Chase one shows the initial balance still.. $1100.

I am not sure how this works. They get taken off 7 years after the cards are opened or charged off? The reason I am asking is because Chase updated the balance in November 2015 and Cabelas in February 2015. However, the last time I made a payment on these was in 2013 - 2014.

Cabelas : https://gyazo.com/0cda46a28f95b6c9dd0a97db50088abf

Chase: https://gyazo.com/73f15d94d1e8b817dfbcb92adeb61e99

Any tips on how to approach this?

I can always take myself off her card. I was just wondering if I should do that and attempt to open another credit card.

HeavenOhio · ‎04-04-2017

Get off that card. 88% total utilization with one of the cards being maxed is hurting rather than helping.

Also, before doing any applying, start keeping your CapOne balance at 8.9% or below. 28.9% is considered responsible, but 8.9% will likely result in an improved score.

Anonymous · ‎04-05-2017

@HeavenOhio wrote:
Get off that card. 88% total utilization with one of the cards being maxed is hurting rather than helping.

Also, before doing any applying, start keeping your CapOne balance at 8.9% or below. 28.9% is considered responsible, but 8.9% will likely result in an improved score.

I am worried that even though the utilization is high on her card, it will lower my score due to having low credit limits.

I am going to keep it under 9% and see if that improves my score a little.

HeavenOhio · ‎04-05-2017

Credit limits in and of themselves don't help your score. 8.9% of $1,000 will be scored the same as 8.9% of $10,000. Limits become useful because you can maintain that 8.9% with a larger balance. But that's only a convenience thing.

The other way higher limits can be helpful is when applying for new cards. You're likely to get a higher starting limit on a new card if your current limits are higher. However, in this case, because the $15,000 card is maxed, it becomes a liability rather than an advantage.

I think the real question as far as scoring goes is having only one card reporting instead of two. Generally, two is better than one. But when one of those cards is maxed with no immediate hope of being paid down, my gut says that a single card that's properly used is better. That's my gut, though. I'd like to see one of our scoring experts address that.

Independent of your score, I think CapOne would be more likely to raise your limit if their computers didn't see you as partially responsible for a maxed out card.