@Anonymous wrote:
New at this and need some suggestions/help of what to do next.
Have a few negatives on credit report which I am trying to recover from. In no rush, not applying for mortgage/loans, just want to improve score from a few negative events in the past, possibly obtain higher CL.
Since in no real need of quick improvement, however, scores haven't changed much over the past year, so something in the background is holding up the changes, and wondering if I should do anything or just wait them out time wise.
Have a Fako score of about 671.
This is what my report says
Mortagage 15 year is paid off, 11/08
-paid/30 days late 3 times in the 15 years
Citibank-closed
-paid/delinquent 120 past
-last activity 5/09
GE/Gap-closed
-legally paid in full less than balance(belive this is charge off)
-last activity 8/10
GE/LT-open
- Current account/was 30 days past due date four times
- Account status last reported change 12/1/2009
- Account marked delinquent as of 11/1/2009
- reporting 0 balance
Kohls-closed
- Paid account/was 30 days past due date four times
- Account status last reported change 7/1/2006
Bunch of old closed accounts dating back to mid 80s that are all were in good standing
Citiback was the oldest 1988 unfortunately did not realize at the time age of oldest account has really taken a hit.
Have Capital one limit 750 since 7/10 balance $200
Orchard Bank limit 300 reporting zero balance open since 9/11
Wondering what I should do.
Would like to obtain better cards with higher limits.
Welcome to the forums!
I'd suggest reading the following:
Common Abbreviations
Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.
What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.
and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.
In general, a 30 day late stops impacting you after a couple of years. Certainly YMMV, but I bet if all of your 30-days disappear, you won't see any FICO change.
For the mortgage, GE/LT, and Kohls, including any old, closed positive accounts, do nothing at all. If you send a GW letter to these, asking them to remove the 30, there's a chance they could delete and that can drop your FICO score in some scenarios. The risk isn't worth it.
For Citibank and GE/Gap, I would take the risk of losing them and send a GW letter asking them to remove the CO and any lates, including the settlement comment. These are considered major derogs and you really wouldn't want them reporting.
If you have two open and active CCs, for max points, get one to report $0 and the other a balance of under 9% of the CL. You don't need to keep that intensity forever, just make sure it reports as such prior to applying for anything. CapOne is buying your Orchard and both of these would soon be reporting the balance you had on the statement date. Something to plan for in the future.
After repair, and after you get some distance on that new Orchard, then I'd say that it would be safe to apply for another CC. The two cards you have would be very difficult to get a CLI on, so don't count on them growing with you, though they are great at rebuilding.
