Looking for rebuilding guidance

[Anonymous]

I'm slowly rebuilding my credit and am looking for a little guidance on what steps to take next. 

A little of my story first. Never had a credit card, was of the mind set if I didn't have cash, I didn't buy it. Over the course of years I was able to secure auto, personal and motorcycle loans. All of these have been paid on time and in full. The mortgage on my house was through my wife's credit. This has been paid and on time every month. About 5 years ago I decided I needed to go back to school to futher my career. I needed to go the student loan route.. Prior to finishing school, my wife lost her job. Neededless to say I pulled out of school and eventually defaulted on my SL's due to the lack of income. The bride has been back at work now the last 24 months and we are back to a comfortable monetary existance. Back in march I had a small monetary windfall which allowed me to completely pay off the defaulted SL's. The only outstanding debt I currently have in my name is a small personal loan and a motorcycle loan. These are paid on time every month and current. 

Recently I pulled my credit reports through TU and noticed that all 3 CRA's were reporting a balance owed on the SL's. I disputed these and have gotten satisfactory results. TU completely deleted the SL accounts while EQ now reports them PIF but defaulted. I have not heard back from EX as of yet but I expect the same results as EQ. Today I pulled my FICO scores from here and found my scores as follows. EX:583 EQ624 TU722 I'm all over the map score wise. 

Besides waiting on the dispute results from EX, what steps do I need to take next to get my credit scores over 740? I'm leery of going to credit cards but will go that route if necessary.

[Anonymous]

Credit scoring is mostly about credit cards. Difficult if not impossible to push scores that high without them, IMO. I would suggest applying for a couple of Capital One cards.

Since you are CC averse, you need not use them fore more than a token purchase or two each month. Let that smakl usage report each month and pay in full as soon as you get the statement.

[Anonymous]

Norman, I'll research the Cap 1 cards and see if they pull from TU since that's my strongest report. I'll pay off the monthly balance if it helps up my scores. I'm looking at the long term here and don't expect results for 6-12 months.

Nick, the difference in the reports is from what's reported by on the SLs. My dispute on Experian is still out while the TU report completely deleted them. All my baddies with the SLs are on Equifax. That's the differences.

[Anonymous]

Cap One pulls from all three CRAs.

[Anonymous]

Synchrony pulls TU. If you already shop there, try Walmart, Amazon, and Lowe's.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the input NormanH!

I apped Barclays Rewards. They pulled only my TU score. Got the 7-10 response and then I backdoored asking for recon. They declined and said I needed to have a couple of active trade lines for "some time" before they approved. No problem I figured. Tried Discover but that was dismal since they only pulled my EQ score. No success back dooring them too. I did this last night and figured I'd let things lie for now.

Today, I read a few other threads regarding rebuilding and saw that the other posters suggested Cap1 as you did. I checked the prequal site and they suggested the Platinum and Quicksilver cards. I figured I would do this one last time risking a hard pull on my score. Sure enough, I was approved for the Quicksilver with a $1k line. Outstanding! I thought I'd quit while I was ahead. I sat, had dinner, chatted with the spouse a bit and went back to reading here. A couple of other threads suggested apping for the Platinum if you were approved for the Quicksilver since they would use the original hard pull. I figured I might as well press my luck, Sure enough, I was approved for the Platinum as well with a $2k line of credit. I'll certainly quit while I'm ahead today!

My game plan with the 2 cards are as follows. Use them sparingly over the course of the billing period. A week before their due date, I'll pay them in full. I'll do this for 6 months. I'll then reapply for the Barclays since it'll show 2 trade lines. I'll also request a CLI on both Cap1 cards a couple weeks prior to applying to Barclays. I play the 3 card game for awhile and keep it rolling until I see the desired increases in my FICO scores.

Any other input you have is greatly appreciated! This forum is amazing with the information and generous input from all the members! My hat is off to you!

[gizmotchy]

Sounds like you are well on your way - garden those 2 cap one cards well, and they will grow with you!  I admit I do not have experience with Barclay's, I've stuck to CapOne and Chase CC offerings - have a Platinum with a 1500 line, a quicksilver with a 5K line, and a Chase Freedom with 800.  Also have FNBO with 2750, plus various store cards.  You might be advised to look into one of the larger credit unions after things are cleared up - DCU, SDFCU, Alliant, or NFCU if you are eligible.  They will often give more generous lines than the banks do.

You could also start a GW campaign at the student loan tradelines to try to get them removed.  It sounds like you had a really good reason for what happened, and you *might* get someone who will take pity on you.  But, other than that, the only thing that will help you is time!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input Gizmo! The SL's are going to be a headache until they drop off. In the meantime I've a couple of GW's drafted for the Dept of Ed. Some folks have had luck getting them removed, others haven't. All I can do is keep trying. In the meantime, I'll stick to my plan and garden as I go!

[Anonymous]

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@gizmotchy wrote:

Sounds like you are well on your way - garden those 2 cap one cards well, and they will grow with you!  I admit I do not have experience with Barclay's, I've stuck to CapOne and Chase CC offerings - have a Platinum with a 1500 line, a quicksilver with a 5K line, and a Chase Freedom with 800.  Also have FNBO with 2750, plus various store cards.  You might be advised to look into one of the larger credit unions after things are cleared up - DCU, SDFCU, Alliant, or NFCU if you are eligible.  They will often give more generous lines than the banks do.

You could also start a GW campaign at the student loan tradelines to try to get them removed.  It sounds like you had a really good reason for what happened, and you *might* get someone who will take pity on you.  But, other than that, the only thing that will help you is time!

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My score way lower and got approved for Barclay cash forward with s SL of 1000. Score when applied was in the high 500 between 570-595. My score just updated today and it's all in the 620-650 which I'm really happy.

[Anonymous]

60 DAYUPDATE:

Since my original post I've been playing the garden game and am liking the results so far. As previously stated, I now have 2 CAP1 cards and am smartly playing them. Making a few purchases with them then paying most of it off during the course of the month. I keep 1 card at a <10% utilization while the other gets some activity but reports PIF for the last 2 months. I pulled my CR's today and found some nice increases in my score but I'm still scratching my head as to why there's distinct differences in the three of them. Maybe someone smarter than I can enlighten me. I know the scores are calculated differently but a 110 point difference between my lowest and my highest is confounding.

My disputes regarding my SL's went the way I thought they would. EX and EQ are reporting the 6 SL's as defaulted but PIF. In April they will have been PIF for 1 year with no other activity. The difference between those 2 scores is 30 points. Not too bad but still a significant difference in their calculations. My TU score doesn't show any of the SL's at all. That's why they're over the top from what I can see.

My scores 60 days ago were: TU 722 EQ 624 EX 583

Today's scores:                          TU 741 EQ 665 EX 633

Outside of maintaining my current game plan, can anyone see something I am missing that I should be doing?