TrulyGenuine wrote:
My score's with Credit Diagnosis are: Transunion: 584 Experian: 582 Equifax: 581 what can I do to improve my score? Currently this is what I have on my report: $10k student loans Capital one card that was 90 days past due, total balance was originally $600 I have since brought it current and the balance is $300. I have a unsecured loan that was for $2000 that was paid and shows no lates. this was actually our tax refund which h&r block screwed up but it shows up and looks positive as far as I can see. I have a bankruptcy discharged in 2003. Chapter 7. There are no dollar amounts owed, everything was wiped away, the judgements have dropped off my report in the past year I also have several inquiries from shopping around for a car loan (we decided not to get a new one) I was thinking about paying off the balance on my capital one card but leaving the account open. Would this be a good decision? I dont plan on using it EVER again lol unless I was in a life or death situation.
Message Edited by TrulyGenuine on 07-08-2008 04:26 PM
1) The scores you received are what we on this site call FAKO's. The FICO's purchased on this site are the ones usually used by mortgage lenders.
2) Pay down the Capital One card, but do not close it. As time goes on the effect of your 90 day late will lessen and the account will be a positive for you. Closing it will not lessen the impact of the negative and will hurt you down the line. The only reason to close it would be if you have other credit cards with higher limits and Capital One has an annual fee you don't want to pay.
3) Once you pay down Capital One, you can still use it, but simply pay the entire balance before the due date to avoid paying interest. Treat it as a debit card, meaning you don't spend the money unless you have the same amount of money in your bank account and you are willing to part with it. As a matter of fact, recent use of credit cards (using only a small portion of the available limit) is a positive factor on FICO scores.
4) You can attempt to write goodwill letters to clean up the late from Capital One. I am not an expert on those but you can find advice on this site by using the search feature.
Your bankruptcy will continue to hurt your scores for some time, but taking the above steps can help. If you are not applying for a mortgage in the next year, you may want to take out a secured card from a national bank (if you have only the one credit card). This will help establish another positive tradeline that will boost your score.
Goodluck - you are on the right website!
