I've been reading these forums for the past 5 months and it has really helpled me. It's motivated me to initiate an investigation at Equifax where I had 2 old, bad debt BOA accounts removed and a student loan small account which I had paid off but was still showing a balance. My Equifax score was 590 and when they removed those 3 items it jumped to 620(25pts). I've also sent off the same request to Experian and Transunion. My scores for those are 553 and 627 respectively.
I use to have really excellent credit and high CLS on BOA and MBNA as well as Citibank cards over 10yrs ago but due to a very bad pregnancy, we had a set back. However, we're on our way. In the meantime, I got two Cap 1 cards which I have had for over 3 years with no automatic increase. I got an Orchard card about a year ago $400. However, you have to watch them. I charged a Mcdonald's breakfast for ~$3 and change which pushed me over the limit and they charged me $39 otl fee. I called and requested a courtesy removal as I've never been late or over my limit and they were nice enough to remove it by the first person whom I spoke to.
However, here is the good news. I have a WAMU small business checking account and have been getting the pre-approved credit offers for nearly a year. I always threw them away as I thought that I wouldn't get it. Last week, at work I went online and filled in the reservation code and low and behold I got a $4,500 limit. I still can't believe it.
I only have less than $4k in revolving credit card debt which will be paid off in the next 3 wks. I expect my credit scores to go up in the next 3 months. My goal is to be at at least 670 by the end of the year.
I've learned from you guys to at least charge something on each card to keep them active and pay off each month and most importantly to keep that utilization rate under 30%.
Thanks guys/gals. I've learned so much from reading all of the posts and from all off your experiences.
Tiburones
