New member - My Journey starts today

[MyLoFICO]

Hello myFICO members. I am new to the credit monitoring game. I just jumped in with both feet back in 12-13 and just found this place today and I am glad I did. I apologize ion advance for this wall of text but I feel it is necessary to understand where I am at.

A little bit about me…I separated from my ex in December of 2013 (divorce final 2014). When we split I kept the house and in turn, the poor payment history, about 41 late payments. When my mortgage company refused to refinance my house because of my 593 score, I began making a point to made all my payments on time on all my accounts for 2 years (12/2013-Current Day). And here we are now.

My credit situation:

Income: 40k/yr from full time job

Internet based business: 10k/yr

Cell Phone farm: 2.5k/yr

Mortgage: Current Balance: $125k Started 10-2004

Auto: Current Balance: $29K Started 01-2015

Revolving Credit: $7700

Average age: 4yr/9mos.

Credit Cards            |      Balance: Used/Limit   | Open Date

Capital One Platinum:  $1375 / $1500                4/2010

Capital One QS1:           $1709 / $2000             10/2015

Barclays Rewards:        $26 / $500                        12/2015

WalMart Store Card:      $61 / $800                     11/2015

Amazon Store Card:     $495 / $1500                 12/2015

Chevron/Texaco:           $39 / $400                       11/2015

Credit Union Visa:         $466 / $500                    2/2014

Capital One Spark Classic: $129 / $500           1/2016

Hard Inquiries:

EQ: 15

TU: 10

EXP: 19

Student Loans: 27K currently on IBR for $0 per month

Bad debt/CO

University of Phoenix $1481 started in 2007 and still reporting. Shows closed but no close date.

Goal:

To get my average score above 750

Get rid of store cards and high APR, low limit cards and replace them with no annual fee, low interest, high limit rewards cards.

Refinance my home in my name only

I know my card balances are high (55% usage per EXP and CK). My tax refund will be in my bank in a few days and will cover them all plus the bad debt from many years ago. My question is how to proceed if I want to pay down my cards and get rid of the old debt to increase my score the most?

[Anonymous]

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@MyLoFICO wrote:

Hello myFICO members. I am new to the credit monitoring game. I just jumped in with both feet back in 12-13 and just found this place today and I am glad I did. I apologize ion advance for this wall of text but I feel it is necessary to understand where I am at.

A little bit about me…I separated from my ex in December of 2013 (divorce final 2014). When we split I kept the house and in turn, the poor payment history, about 41 late payments. When my mortgage company refused to refinance my house because of my 593 score, I began making a point to made all my payments on time on all my accounts for 2 years (12/2013-Current Day). And here we are now.

My credit situation:

Income: 40k/yr from full time job

Internet based business: 10k/yr

Cell Phone farm: 2.5k/yr

Mortgage: Current Balance: $125k Started 10-2004

Auto: Current Balance: $29K Started 01-2015

Revolving Credit: $7700

Average age: 4yr/9mos.

Credit Cards            |      Balance: Used/Limit   

Capital One Platinum:  $1375 / $1500                

Capital One QS1:           $1709 / $2000             

Barclays Rewards:        $26 / $500                        

WalMart Store Card:      $61 / $800

Amazon Store Card:     $495 / $1500 

Chevron/Texaco:           $39 / $400 

Credit Union Visa:         $466 / $500 

Capital One Spark Classic: $129 / $500 

Hard Inquiries:

EQ: 15

TU: 10

EXP: 19

Student Loans: 27K currently on IBR for $0 per month

Bad debt/CO

University of Phoenix $1481 started in 2007 and still reporting. Shows closed but no close date.

Goal:

To get my average score above 750

Get rid of store cards and high APR, low limit cards and replace them with no annual fee, low interest, high limit rewards cards.

Refinance my home in my name only

I know my card balances are high (55% usage per EXP and CK). My tax refund will be in my bank in a few days and will cover them all plus the bad debt from many years ago. My question is how to proceed if I want to pay down my cards and get rid of the old debt to increase my score the most?

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Pay off all cards except for one. Leave a small balance of less than 10% of that cards limit - I would suggest the QS1. That will peak the UTI% portion of scores. Paying the CO will not immediately improve scores, but should be done if possiblle anyway. Keep current on everything. Thats really all you need to do.

Regarding your Cap One cards - I would suggest calling customer service, or logging in a going on chat, and request that the add rewards to your Platinum card (I assume its a no annual fee platinum?). Then begin requesting CLIs on both cards (through the account management page) - they should bump you up quite a bit. If you want to avoid the annual fee on the QS1 card, just roll its limit into the upgraded Platinum card.

Call the synchrony bank backdoor number and request they review your Walmart card for an increase - ask for $3500. I just got mine kicked up to $3k with a 642 TU score.

Barclays also uses TU - call their backdoor number and first ask for a soft pull review to see if you qualify for lower interest, then ask for a CLI as well. Otherwise its a hard pull from them.

[MyLoFICO]

Thank you very much. I am somewhat new to credit card...gardening I think i s what you call it? so I am not familiar with some of your recommendations / terminology. When my refund comes in I will pay them all but 10% of the QS1. My QS is only 3 months old. The Platinum has a monthly fee but I can definitely call to see if they can help me out. 

Are all CLI requests hard inquiries? I got declined for a Discover card for too many inquiries so I don't want to add to those I think. As for the bad debt i guess I will call them and see if we can come to an agreement to pay it off and with my QS and then pay that card down again to get the rewards from the old debt. 

My Barclays is only a couple of months old. As a matter of fact, only 2 of my cards are more than 3 months old, The CU Visa and the C1 Platinum. I have added open dates to the above post. How long should a card be open before you can safely request a CLI? And I am assuming I want to do any CLI's after I pay them down, correct?

Edited: Found answer to backdoor # question in another thread.

[MyLoFICO]

I chatted with a C1 rep and got my Platinum upgraded to the QS1 with rewards. They said no HP and same account, just added rewards. They refused to budge on the annual fee though and said I needed to use the request the CLI from the website. They said that it wouldnt be a HP but I am not sure about that. 

[EAJuggalo]

Everything I've read shows all Cap 1 CLIs to be a soft pull.  The general agreement is that after a couple months you can try for a CLI through the automated system and once granted you won't get another one for six months. 

[MyLoFICO]

It is a Soft pull. They actually say on their site if you take the time to read it lol. I got a $250 increase but they just gave me a $500 increase about 4 months ago.  

Edit: I meant my comment about reading it referring to me, not you. I re-read it and it seems kind of rude, not my intent.