Can you please clarify how lates affect your score less and less over time. I'm very confused

[danny4l]

I need someone to give me somewhat of a definitive answer as to how old late payments affect your score over the seven year period that they report.  Last year I applied for a BOA secured card and I was denied.  I wasn't denied for my 180 day Sallie Mae lates from 2010.  I was denied due to recent collection accounts.  I even asked them the reason why I was denied and they said they didn't care about the lates or even a judgment I had on file at the time because they were over several years old.

Right now I have five 180 day lates from Sallie Mae as well as three 90 day lates from 2010.  As of now, I do not have any collections on file, the judgment has been completely removed, and my utilization ratio is steadily dropping and I believe it is at 36% right now.

The only issue I have is I am in a DMP till June 2015.  The DMP said that being in the program should not be reason for not getting credit but I want to know where do you guys think I stand as far as trying to rebuild my credit with at least getting one unsecured card?

My FACO is 681 as per Capital One's My Credit Premier. 

Honestly, I just really want to know if my situation is getting better or if it won't get better till mid-2017 when the last Sallie Mae late is scheduled to come off.

[guiness56]

30 and 60 day lates only impact your score for around 2 years.  90+ days are major degrogatories, the equivelant of a CO or collection.  Though they do lose some impact over time, they will hurt for 7 years.

That is scoring wise.

A creditor can choose not to take those things into account, which they apparently did not.  They were more concerned with a recent collections which would indicate you did not pay your current debt.  You can have a clean report and be denied due to 2 inquires.  It really is all left in the hands of the creditor, score aside.

As for the DMP, if yours allows you to seek new credit (some will not), that would again be up to the creditor you are applying for.  If they see you are in a DMP they could deny you for that alone.  No matter what is on your report or your score.

With all that said, how lates affect YOUR score depends on your profile.  A person with a 720 score will be affected by an older 30 day late than someone with a 600 score.

[danny4l]

I'm just under the impression right now that due to those 180 day lates.  I'm pretty much out of luck till they come off.

The thing is if I even apply for credit with good faith and I get denied, my score will drop even more.

I'm trying to do what I can do to improve my score but without concrete information from creditors as to how they look at my score, I don't really know what I can do without taking a huge risk.

[guiness56]

Try for a secured CC that does a SP. 

https://www.sdfcu.org/