I'm slowly coming back.

[brainysmurf]

Hello everyone. I'm very new to myFICO. I've been in what I'll call PlusScore purgatory, I really thought that those scores meant something, but I guess not.

I have some questions about moving up. I currently have a 633 EQ, and a 668 TU.

I think a major problem is that I have no revolving accounts. That said, I recently opened two. One is HSBC/Orchard with a $300 CL Unsecured, and the other is CapitolOne $651 CL Secured. Neither have reported yet. My plan is to have a statement balance of no more than $90 combined, for < 10% Util. By having two I know I'm hurting my AAoA, but I don't think closing one would save me at this point.

EQ TL question: I have a Georgia Power account showing a past due balance of $293, and 120+ days past due in "current status". DoLA is JUN 2004. This account was sent to collections, I paid the CA (Georgia Power does their own collections, so it was also a GA Power TL). The CA TL dropped off, but the original account is still there showing the past due amount. 7 year payment history shows 0 times for 30, 60, and 90+ and "worst delinquency" shows none reported. Should I dispute, or wait for this to fall off? It seems that all I need them to do is properly report balance as $0 and I'll be fine since they never correctly reported the lates.

[llecs]

I would probably wait since it'll fall off sometime this year. You certainly wouldn't want them to verify it and that could cause the DOLA to update to 3/2011. They could also update it with lates up to the point it was sold or paid to the CA.

[mauve]

I'd alternate which card reports the balance - ideally you want less than half of your cards reporting a balance.   Since you're going from 0 revolving accounts to 2, you'll see a good jump just for having those accounts. 30% of your score is utilization, and you previously weren't getting any bonus for this at all.

I'd definitely ask them to update that balance now that it's paid. 

[Anonymous]

sorry if this is repetitive - I wrote this post a few hours ago and forgot to hit post until I got back from shopping.  duh! 

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halld84 wrote:

Hi hall!  Welcome!

Hello everyone. I'm very new to myFICO. I've been in what I'll call PlusScore purgatory, I really thought that those scores meant something, but I guess not.  Glad you're here in FICOland. 

I have some questions about moving up. I currently have a 633 EQ, and a 668 TU.  Those must be FICO's from this site?

I think a major problem is that I have no revolving accounts. Yep.  That's a FICO score killer.  That said, I recently opened two. One is HSBC/Orchard with a $300 CL Unsecured, and the other is CapitolOne $651 CL Secured. Neither have reported yet. My plan is to have a statement balance of no more than $90 combined, for < 10% Util. By having two I know I'm hurting my AAoA, Well, maybe but maybe not.  You'd have to figure out the AAofA after just opening one and then again after opening the second one.  You are likely just fine.  When you only have one revolving account, opening a second is wise.  but I don't think closing one would save me at this point.  Closing an account will not affect your AAofA.  It looks like you have two good rebuilding cards.  Congratulations - wise move!  BTW, You'll likely get your best FICO impact if one reports a zero balance, and the second card reports a less than 9% balance.  Orchard reports your balance on the last business day of the month rather than on the statement date - just a heads up.

I'll let someone else chime in on the following:

EQ TL question: I have a Georgia Power account showing a past due balance of $293, and 120+ days past due in "current status". DoLA is JUN 2004. This account was sent to collections, I paid the CA (Georgia Power does their own collections, so it was also a GA Power TL). The CA TL dropped off, but the original account is still there showing the past due amount. 7 year payment history shows 0 times for 30, 60, and 90+ and "worst delinquency" shows none reported. Should I dispute, or wait for this to fall off? It seems that all I need them to do is properly report balance as $0 and I'll be fine since they never correctly reported the lates.

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[brainysmurf]

Thanks for all the tips so far. I've got the first post goosebumps. It feels great to have all this support in this process.

Wouldn't it be illegal re-aging if GA Power updates the DoLA to MAR 2011 if I'm only calling them to correct a mistake?

Thanks for the heads up on when Orchard reports. I was curious about that. These 2 revolving were opened pretty much around the same time, I was tired of getting terrible scores from not having a credit card.

Does anyone know how likely Cap One is to give a CLI when I increase my deposit? My $651 CL is based on a $500 deposit. I have the money, and very little debt (one auto installment @ $12,000 down from original $20,000). I was thinking of depositing another $200 just to see what they'll do.

[llecs]

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@halld84 wrote:

Wouldn't it be illegal re-aging if GA Power updates the DoLA to MAR 2011 if I'm only calling them to correct a mistake?

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No. DOLA can change due to a payment, a letter like a GW or PFD, a dispute, and can update whenever the TL updates (e.g. a balance). The date that absolutely cannot change and would be considered illegal re-aging is the DOFD. FICO sees this TL as being 7 years old and an updating CO from 2004 to 2011 would very likely drop a score. Now if it does update, it'll still fall off sometime this year so any damage would be short-lived. BTW per FICO scoring, aside from any status changes, a paid CO is just as damaging as an unpaid one. The updating of the balance itself wouldn't help your scores any.

[brainysmurf]

Thanks for the clarification on DOLA. I had no idea that a GW letter could update that. A quick search helped me out with Date of First Delinquency. (I'm picking up more acronyms every day).


What's really odd about this particular account is that there wasn't a charge off. The confusion is my fault though; I didn't fully explain the TLs in my first post.

I had 2 Georgia Power TLs. The status of both was "open account". I called them up and paid the collection account in full. When I did that the original account dropped off, but the collection account remained, and continued to report $293 past due. I think I'm safe here and that it's going to drop off. There is no original account reporting, and it was never a CO. Also there is no DOFD, worst delinquency says none reported, even though it incorrectly says $293 past due they never reported me delinquent (which I don't understand)

Some other things worth noting: I wasn't 18 when this was opened, don't know if that matters. My parents actually had power turned on using my social, I joined the Navy, and they skipped out on the bill. I'm obviously not going to claim fraud or anything, they're my folks.