Help! Trying to raise score from 550 to 700+

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Is SkyBlue a better option or does everyone really feel strongly I should just do this myself? No, they are no better. All credit repair companies are regulated and what they can do is nothing more than file disputes on your behalf. You have more options such as GW letters and PFD negotiations. They cannot legally do these for you.

Also is opening a secure credit card of just $500 and then increasing it by $100 every month better than opening a secured credit card of $2000? Don't see why either would be advantageous, score-wise.

I thought what matter was the % utilisation rate with a $500 card I can only use $100 to be under 20% whereas I have $400 with a $2000 one. Two things to keep in mind about UTI%, with regard to scores - 1. It has no memory. What your UTI% was two months ago is no more relevant than what it was ten years ago. Only the most *recent reported* balance is counted in the scoring. 2. It is based ONLY on the Reported Balance. This is the balance that is on the account when the statement closes. You can charge it up to the limit and pay it down the next day and repeat ten times in the month but as long as its paid down when the statement closes - your UTI% will be low. There is at least one bank, (Chase I think?) that will immediately report to the CRA's whenever your balance is $0. Whether they will do so multiple times per month I do not know.

Thank you for all the advice. 

---

[Anonymous]

I just pulled my three free credit reports from annual credit report .com and it looks like the only things I have are two negative accounts with Capital One for $500 and $200 that got charged off a year ago.

At this point are my only options Pay to Delete Letter and a Goodwill Letter? 

The problem is the charge-off acount got sold to a collection agency. Any suggestion on how I deal with this? Even if I negiotiate a pay to delete with the collection agency only the original lender can delete the account right? 

Thank you, 

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I just pulled my three free credit reports from annual credit report .com and it looks like the only things I have are two negative accounts with Capital One for $500 and $200 that got charged off a year ago.

At this point are my only options Pay to Delete Letter and a Goodwill Letter? 

The problem is the charge-off acount got sold to a collection agency. Any suggestion on how I deal with this? Even if I negiotiate a pay to delete with the collection agency only the original lender can delete the account right? 

Thank you, 

---

Yes, try to negotiate for deletion with the collection agent, and with the original lender you request GW removal. It generally take patience and persistence, as you'll usually get a lot of 'no' before you hear a 'yes'.

[takeshi74]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Get a three credit statement report - I really need reccommendations on which service to use to obtain this because this is important for the next step.

---

Doesn't really matter but direct from the CRA's (or via AnnualCreditReport which redirects you to each CRA) is recommended as that leaves out any possibility of data issues with the service.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Hire Lexington Law for 6 months to contest everything on my credit reports

---

Skip that.  Do your research and see what you can do to address your derogs.  The REbuilding subforum is specifically intended for this purpose.