My 6 month Goal....

[darkknight74]

Been a lurker for a bit just reading and trying to figure this all out.

Currently I have hired LL Law to help me work my case,  I'm hoping with this fourms help I will be able to fire them with in 90 days and do it myself.  I am totaly green to this, but I am a fast learner.  below is my only Baddies I'm trying to get rid of, gonna see what LL Law can do in 90 days, then I will try to take the wheel.

Equifax

* CORTRUST BANK CREDIT CARD

* CREDIT ONE BANK

* FIRST NATIONAL BANK

* FIRST PREMIER

* FIRST PREMIER

* JEFFERSON CAPITAL LLC

* LHR, INC/LHR, INC.

* LVNV FUNDING LLC

* MIDLAND CREDIT MGMT INC

* CREDIT SYSTEMS

Experian

* CCS/CORTRUST BANK

* CCS/FIRST NATIONAL BANK

* CREDIT ONE BANK

* CREDIT SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL

* FIRST PREMIER BANK

* FIRST PREMIER BANK

* JEFFERSON CAPITAL SYSTEMS

* LHR INCORPORATED

* LVNV FUNDING, LLC

TransUnion

* FST PREMIER

* CORTRUST BK

* LVNV FUNDING

* FST PREMIER

* CREDITONEBNK

* FNCC

* JEFFCAPSYS

* CR SYST INTR

* MIDLAND FUND

* LHR INC

I have 3 postive tradelines 2 Credit Cards and a 1 car loan that is 6mths old.  My goal is to buy a house in less than 6 Mths.  

Does anyone have any advice on if I need to add any more trade lines to my account to help grow my Numbers?  I dont care if its a secured card, I just dont want any more pulls on my reports.

Current Scores with this Journery are as follows

TransUnion 570 Experian 514 Equifax 547

Any ideas or advice please respond to this thread because I will be updateing it all the time.

[electra]

What is your utilization at? I saw my biggest jump when I got my utilization down to 0%.

[darkknight74]

Right now pretty high like 40% they will be paid off next month.

do you think I should add another secured card to the mix?

what was your big bump when you hit 0%?

i need my score at 650 or so to get a house you long do you think it will take?

was reding some post where people are getting 20+ points a month bump

[electra]

Hi darkknight,  I got a 30+ point jump when I got my utilization to 0%.  It had been at 127% because of an over-the-limit charge off Discover card which wasn't mine (ex-husbands) reporting on my CR.  Once I got that removed, I saw the jump.  I've seen other folks reporting big jumps when they get their utiilization down below 7%.    You should get something significant I would think once you are down to zero.   The other thing I've learned is to find out the date when they report to the CRAs and make sure it's 0 or close to that at least one day before.

[greenpang]

Also, number of accounts with balances hurts you. I had all of my accounts at low util ratios, but this month, I paid them all early (except 2) and left $0 balances. Each of my accounts reports on a different day, so each day as a new card reported a $0 balance (rather than just a minimal balance), I saw a score bump. For someone in my credit score range, the bump was about 4 points for every account brought down to $0. (Even for one that went from $6.00 to $0! So the actual zero matters.) With your score being low, you will probably see even larger bumps.

You will also see large score increases at your range with increased credit limits. What two credit cards do you currently have? Read around here to see what people say about their CLI (credit limit increase) policies (whether they are easy to get, whether they do a hard pull for CLIs), and ask for CLI if you have cards that will give them without giving you another inquiry.

You will also see a boost from having more accounts, so if you are able to get any without hard pulls, that would benefit you as well. (There is a slight disadvantage in having new accounts, but less so when they are 6 months old, so open them now if you can.) Some retailers like Express and Victoria's Secret will offer you a credit line with only a soft pull; however, you may not yet have the credit to qualify with a soft pull, so don't take my word on that... Read around and see if people in your score range were able to get certain retail cards with no hard pull.

So start with improving the good while LL Law is working on eliminating the bad. I have no experience with them, so I don't know what results you will get, but see where you are in 90 days after you've decreased your util, eliminated balances, and possibly gotten CLIs / additional accounts. Then you'll find plenty of advice around here for tackling the baddies after you fire LL Law.

Best wishes!

[darkknight74]

Currently I have a OrchardBank unsecured (320 limit)  card and a Capital One Secured card (200) Limit.

was thinking of taking the Secured Capital One card limit to 800.00 by doing another deposit.  The Orchardbank card is going to be convererted to a Captial One soon due to the buy out.

I was thinking of adding a Sky VIsa or Applied Bank Card secured due to the fact the don't pull your credit.

What are your thoughts?

[electra]

I'm not familiar w/LL but I doubt they could do anything for you that you couldn't do (better) yourself.   You might be better off taking whatever money you are paying them and paying down the Orchard and Cap 1 and then working the baddies yourself.    I've had a number of baddies drop off just by sending out DV or PFD letters.  

Are you in the military or anyone in your family?  Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) is really great to work with for for those with low (or any!) scores.  

[greenpang]

I have not dealt personally with any secured cards, but if you can get these accounts without hard pulls, I would recommend doing so.

In my experience, the hit you take from having a young age for your newest account (and lowering your average age of accounts) is much less than what you gain from having additional accounts -- especially at your credit level, where you do not have many positive accounts established.

I would recommend opening accounts you can get without a hard pull now, and even if your score dips a bit initially from the new accounts' age, in six months, it will be higher than it would have been if you had not opened them. Keep utilization at less than 10% for anything you open. If you use more than 10%, pay it down to less than that before the due date (before the statement cuts and reports the balance).

[NY_Beauty]

Sounds like a good plan to me!  I used a company back in 2011.  I save everything so I was looking over what they removed and I did get my money's worth! Sounds like you have a good plan in place.

[darkknight74]

my Father is a retired Navy guy.... hes been out for a long time... I doubt they will give me account because im his son will they?