Can't get my score up

[Scupra]

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@apoplex2 wrote:

I'm sorry to hear that and I can definitely understand your situation. I guess I only have to wait 5 years for the CO to fall off (its the only negative thing I ever had). I had an Amex for over 7 years until Amex closed the account last October without citing any reasons. It was never late or high util and I didn't use it in 2012 at all (so it was unused for 10 months, which may be the reason they closed it). So I'd say Amex isn't worth thinking about it, they don't give jack about their customers.

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Haha! I personally envy the Discover IT more than an AMEX! We will all get where we want to be someday as long as we stay on top and give a little effort.

[apoplex2]

Okay, I dropped my util even further (now 6% reporting) and the score didn't move a bit. I'm not travelling for the next month, so I can keep the util low, but if the score doesn't move then, I don't know what else to do. My one and only baddie on the record, a paid CO from 12/2011 isn't going anywhere. Tried lots of GW, and I have a professional credit repair firm on it now (will keep them focussed, because I don't have any other negative items).I could get a second firm in parallel, but not sure that would double my chances.....

[mauve]

Again, the utilization portion of your score is a SNAPSHOT. As in, it does not matter how long you're playing the 0-0-0-9 game, it's not something that has a "memory". The only thing it sounds like you need to work on is your CO problem. Try posting details about your CO and maybe someone here knows something that can help you with that.

[guiness56]

A FICO score, in general, is a snapshot of what is currently on your CR at any given time.  FICO has no memory so if something is on your report this month and is not next month, you are scored for what is there.

You have no lates, no CAs?  Only that one paid CO?

[mauve]

Oh, and just to re-iterate what other people have been telling you, the AMOUNT of the CO isn't relevant to your score - the FACT of it is. 

Much like having a $100 balance and a $200 overall CL is the same thing as having a $10,000 balance and a $20,000 overall CL as far as your score is concerned.

[mauve]

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@guiness56 wrote:

A FICO score, in general, is a snapshot of what is currently on your CR at any given time.  FICO has no memory so if something is on your report this month and is not next month, you are scored for what is there.

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True. I think that in this particular thread, it is important to spell some of this out. 35% of your score is your payment history - i.e., are you acumulating lates? etc. If nothing is being deleted, that's not going to change over time, just age and get updated with new info. The utilization, which is 30% of your score, only captures what's going on *at the last reported balances* whenever that score is pulled. Oh, and OP, you won't see differences in your score month-to-month in regards to your account ages - you'll see score diferences related to your account ages at specific yearly milestones.

[apoplex2]

Yeah, no lates, no CA, just one single negative account, the paid CO from 12/2011.. A total of 13 accounts, 7 open, 12 in good standing, but most of them young. My file goes back to 2002, but the newest open account is from 2007, most of them newer than 2009 (due to divorce closing lots of joined accounts).

I think I understand what is being said by all the people who have replied, but I don't want to sit around and twiddle my thumbs for the next couple of years to make this get better by itself...

[mauve]

So you have a chargeoff with no lates leading up to it? That seems a little odd. In any case, yeah, it's hard to just do nothing. I recommend working on the CO. That's about all you can really do. Playing with your balances can help you figure out your ideal scoring in that regard, but you will not see a good jump until that CO goes away or ages significantly. Maybe if you hit some milestones. 

[apoplex2]

Oh, I see, no of course there is plenty of lates before the CO. I didn't consider those, because I thought they are superseded by the CO and no longer count in addition to the CO....

[apoplex2]

Okay, its almost another month later. I sent several goodwill letters and spend some money on the most premium service a famous credit repair firm offers.....no change at all. Not one bit. The professional credit repair firm is now in its 2nd month, and I cannot see that they have done anything to fix my credit. I should have known this would be this way.....

Just sitting around and not doing anything useful to fix this is driving me crazy.

apo

Starting score (12/2011: MyFico 641)

Current score (4/2013: MyFico: 644)

1 charge-off 12/2011 GECRB Paypal SmartConnect, no other negative accounts