@Anonymous wrote:Hey all,
I've been referring to the forums for advice for a while now, and I've taken a lot of it in mind over the last couple of months of my rebuilding. I think it's finally time I get some advice for my particular situation from some of you all. I made a lot of stupid decisions when I first started using credit earlier in life, and I had some financial trouble in 2016. I just wanted to get some input on my best course of action with my situation.
My current FICO scores as of today are 538/531/525. I have an annual income of 60k. Apart from rent and bills, I have no other financial obligations. As for the major things on my credit report determining this :
- Repossession in May 2016. The auto loan was established in 2015. Remaining balance on the auto loan is $8690. I have received an offer to settle the balance for $2k. Should I settle? I know this can look bad to future lenders, but I don't plan on getting a car for awhile as I live in NYC now. Yes, I'd settle. Paid for less than full isn't as good as PIF but getting sued sucks more. This is a good offer, I'd take it if it was me
- I have a secured CitiBank card that was opened in December 2016 for 300. I have not missed a single payment on this card, and my utilization has always been around 30%. I have also been approved for a DiscoverIt Secured Card, that I plan on opening with $500, and increasing in the near future (2-3 months) This is good, but get a third card. Have you tried Capital One?
- I have a closed NFCU CC with a remaining balance due of $2138. This card was closed in March 2016. I want to eventually re-open a NFCU, so I want to pay this back in full to repair my relationship with NFCU. Once you PIF, you should not have an issue getting back in with them.
- I have two closed paid as agreed Synchrony accounts.
- I have a closed loan for Opportunity Financial in the amount of 1472. This was both opened and closed in 2016. \
- I have a derogatory mark for a Verizon account that appeared on my report on June 2017. I have this currently in dispute, as I was shown receipt from my roommate who was the primary on the Verizon account that our account was paid. The account was paid in August 2016. It does not show as a collection in myFICO, only as a loan? They can be listed weird sometimes. What does you credit report show?
- I have a collection from Optimum that I will also be disputing, as I closed this account due to a better offer from Verizon FiOS and I was told by the representative that the service would be canceled. Apparently it was not, but I was not aware of this until this appeared on my record. This collection is only reported to Experian.
- I have two student loans, one for 1267 and one for 863 remaining.
- I have 7 inquiries on my account, all from 2016 with the exception of one from October 2017 and one from this month for the DiscoverIt card.
Any input on the best order to tackle this list in to get the biggest return on my score would be very appreciated! I definitely want to have all of this handled by the end of this year.
You're doing everything right, I do recommend to get a third credit card for the free FICO points. Continue to dispute the inaccuracies on your reports and be patient - it takes a little time.
Capital One is pretty forgiving, at least the credit card part of them is. Do you have any installment loans reporting right now? Edited - missed your student loans. As long as your student loans are paid and current you won't get any more points with a self lender account Self lender is only needed if you don't have any installment loans reporting. (I have a self lender account myself, and it takes around two billing cycles to report, btw).