@Anonymous wrote:
Over the last 4 months, I've been able to remove 11 open collections and 4 charge offs, and PIF 6 charge offs. I've also added 3 new revolving lines of credit with low balances and no lates. As you can tell in my siggy, my scores have only increased slightly.
Here's what I still have remaining.
Equifax: 9 unpaid charge offs and 3 open collections
Experian: 7 unpaid charge off's and 5 open collections
TransUnion: 4 unpaid charge offs and 3 open collections
I realize I still have alot of work to do but I feel like alof of improvement has been made here but my scores are only a little higher than when I started. I guess I expected them to be higher. Getting rid of all those collections improved my untilization, plus adding the 3 new lines of credit.
The remaining baddies are all old and if I let them age off, they would all be gone by the end of next year. I have 2 new revolving lines that will be reporting in a couple of months, which I intend to keep at a zero balance. What is it thats keeping my scores so low? The charge offs or the open collections?
Revolving account Charge Offs that are recent, updating monthly and reporting a balance (by the OC) are by far the worst item you can have on your reports. Even if they are old, if the OC is reporting a balance those are pulling your scores down. The reason is that FICO holds the charge off and late payments as a major derog against your payment history (35% of your score) AND the unpaid balances are held against your current credit UTI% - another 30% of your score.
The lack of current credit accounts more than a couple of months old is also the reason your scores are still low. As the other two new accounts report, and as all the accounts age you'll see your scores rise as time passes.
Keep in mind that this is a marathon not a sprint, rehabbing your scores is typically a minimum 24 month long process, and requires lifelong attention.
