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INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

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Anonymous
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INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

MY SCORE IS VERY LOW RIGHT NOW AND I'M TRYING TO GET A GRIP ON ALL MY CREDIT CARD BILLS.  I HAVE TO LEASE A CAR IN JULY AND I'M AFRAID WITH SUCH A LOW SCORE I WONT BE ABLE TO GET A CAR.  HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY SCORE FROM NOW UNTIL JULY?
Message 1 of 18
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Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE



ccgiles24 wrote:
MY SCORE IS VERY LOW RIGHT NOW AND I'M TRYING TO GET A GRIP ON ALL MY CREDIT CARD BILLS.  I HAVE TO LEASE A CAR IN JULY AND I'M AFRAID WITH SUCH A LOW SCORE I WONT BE ABLE TO GET A CAR.  HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY SCORE FROM NOW UNTIL JULY?


The quickest short term gain I have found is to get your utilization down below 10% if doable.  Decreasing utilization seems to be the fastest way to a higher score.  Some acheive this by opening new credit card account but if you're in the process of trying to make a bi financial move, that's not really a good idea.
 
How is your utillization?
Message 2 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

Any specifics you can provide would be most helpful in advising you.
 
Message 3 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

Brammy is right, and dont be late with any payments, I have learned thats another huge factor in scoring.  Good Luck. Smiley Happy
Message 4 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

Brammy is correct...in such a short span of time, reducing utilization is the only lever you have to pull to improve your credit score. And keep paying all bills on time.

Utilization is the percentage of your credit limit that you are using. For example, if you have a balance of $1000 on a card with a $2000 limit, your utilization is 50%.

Focus on paying down the card with the highest utilization. If you have a $1000 card with $921 charged on it, that is hurting you far more than having $2,120 charged on a $5000 card. Why? Because your utilization on the first card is 92%, whereas on the second is only 42%.
Message 5 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

There are some other options as well.
 
Late payments can be goodwilled away. Not a sure thing, but worth a try. Settled accounts perhaps. I was able to get one deleted.
 
Unpaid collections and chargeoffs can be negotiated and settled, in exchange for a written agreement to delete the tradeline.
 
If you we're only an AU on an adverse account, you can dispute that and get rid of it.
 
Message 6 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

What are the different levels your fico gets a boost based on util? Am I hurting myself by going from 90 down to less than 25% as opposed to going to 50 get a boost than got to 30 and then to 10? Hope this makes sense>
Message 7 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

LadyFICO,
 
Less util is always better than more.  If you get lesser, then that's betterer.
 
Message 8 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

How do you go about goodwilling a late away? Is there a letter I can be referred to or do I call with a sob story say I am bad and pray that they will do it? Is  there a criteria? Just don't say there is a model like fico Smiley Very Happy
Message 9 of 18
Anonymous
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Re: INCREASING MY FICO SCORE

Goodwilling is a combination of luck & skill while showing contrition. Sorta the equivalent of panhandling for a better credit score.

 

Here's one my wife and I used that worked with Chase bank. IIRC, one went to 120 days late, second went to 90 days late, and the third went to 90 days late and was settled for less than the full amount. Got all three accounts deleted from our reports, and they even sent a letter saying they would do it.

 

We are writing to see whether Chase Bank would consider making a goodwill adjustment to the credit reporting bureaus on our closed accounts. We are asking whether Chase Bank would remove the adverse late payment and settlement reporting from these accounts in reporting to the credit bureaus. We understand this is a rather unusual request—particularly as our accounts fell behind upwards of 120 days and one account was settled for less than the full amount.

 

Chase Bank was extremely helpful in working with us at a time of job layoffs and missed payments. The ease with which we were able to resolve these accounts gave us something to pay off and helped us to move forward.

 

If what we ask is too much, then any goodwill adjustment to the reporting bureaus would be most appreciated.

 

Regardless of your decision, please know that we thank you for helping us at a time when it was needed, and we hope to do business with Chase again one day.



Message Edited by Noah_Bodie on 04-14-2007 09:36 PM
Message 10 of 18
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