Nine 30 day lates

[DrunkPenguin]

Hi,

I am very upset with myself. My report shows 19 good standing accounts and 1 negative. Over the life of a five year auto loan I had nine 30 day lates. Seven were in a two year period when I was really struggling with my debts. The other two were a year and a half ago. The other seven were about three to three and a half years ago.  The account was paid off this week. $700 a month savings (this was a zero percent loan-yikes).

I have 5 credit cards that are near max and an Amx I pay on time monthly. I owe about $25k with maybe $3k available on all cards.

I was in a car accident last month and I am expecting $17k in settlement. It will all go to the above mentioned cards.

My score is a horrid 644. I have never had a late on any other account on my report (shows 19 opened and closed).

Will my score not come out of the gutter because of the nine 30 day lates on my auto loan? These are falling off the two year window in my reports and I am down to showing two now. Applying the $17k to the above cards has to raise the score by some I would think?

If I want to apply for another auto loan next year will they see all nine 30 days or just the last two year window?

I am so disappointed in myself I could scream and the cards will be paid down soon and luckily I am making more $ than I have ever in my life.

I go to sleep thinging about those nine 30 day lates for the past two weeks.. I did contact the creditor today and hoped since the account was now paid that they might help me with a good faith adjustment but that did not fly.

Thanks for the input.

-DP

[Anonymous]

I'd be far more concerned with the interest on that $25K of credit card balances than your FICO. Let's see...at 12% that's $3000 a year, $250 a month. I'd worry about that first. Paying that balance down would not only put $250 a month into your pocket, it would probably help your FICO quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

Your utilization is killing you, although your score could be a lot worse!  Many of us are struggling to get up to 600.  If you get your cards down to 30% of your credit limits (on each card and aggregate), you should start seeing some love.  I'm not an authority, but this is what I've seen.  On the lates, you can try sending a letter (letters often do better than phone calls).  The older they are, the less they'll matter.

[Anonymous]

The PP is right, your utilization is killing you.  Anything over 30% on revolving credit starts to bring your score down the higher the percentage the bigger the drop.  Maxed out (90%) cards spell big trouble scorewise. Thirty day lates don't hurt s much as say 60s or 90s.  The best thing you can do is to get the utilization down across the board.

Message Edited by Brammy on 03-27-2007 04:11 PM

[Anonymous]

And I wouldn't worry too much about the 30-day lates.  Those will age a lot more quickly than a collection will.  And ditto on the utilization.  Bring that down!

[Anonymous]

DrunkPenguin, hey, I've worked 2-1/2 years to be in a gutter as nice as yours.

Over time, the lates will affect you less and less; you'll see a nice boost when they finally drop off.

They will see all 9 30-day lates when you apply for the new loan. Lates in the prior two years will affect you most, though, so I'd wait until the most recent late is 2 years old.

Also, ask for a goodwill adjustment when the most recent late is 2 years old. There are arcane reasons for that, but I've been successful with it a time or two.