@floweryu wrote:Thanks to everyone here, I first got Wells Fargo secured card ($300) limit and paid in full for 6 months and I just got approved for Capital One Quicksilver ($10K), Chase Sapphire ($8K) and Discover IT ($6.5K). I don't need any more credit (my goal is to get AMEX Starwood when my report is finally clear of all derogs). What are the best options for raising the credit score? I intend to pay my cards in full every month. Currently, I have:
1. Settled for less than full balance Citi charge-off. I paid it through their internal collection agency. They were reporting CO every month until I paid everything off in June (they updated it in July)
2. A small $90 collection for photne bill that was paid in full and reports on Experian and TU. The company is Fairway Capital Recovery and they won't do goodwill deletion
Everything else was removed (Capital One removed the charge off after I paid the Portfolio Recovery collection). Should I try to get a small installment loan and pay it for 1 year to get a mix of credit? I am planning to apply for a mortgage in 2 years and probably for a small car loan late next year. My current scores are in the range 670-675 after all the inquiries from credit card applications.
How old are the derogs? Even though you paid CA & Citi, its still going to show as baddies. Let them age off and then you will notice that those paid off accounts won't have that much effect on your score. At some point you could try GW letters and may be Citi will drop it from your reports.
If you can definitely add a small loan (250-500) which will help your credit mix too. Good luck
+1 on the loan suggestion.
@floweryu wrote:Thanks! I will wait for 6 months and then apply for a small loan. I have no collections on my credit report. Citi is scheduled to fall off in 2019, but the last time it was reported was June 2015 (and it was reported as closed in July).
I had citi on my report too and it disappeared on its own after about 2 years I had paid it off.
