Rebuilding Credit - Not sure where to go from here.

[Anonymous]

Any suggestions on what to do about my Student Loan rehab reporting snafu from 3 posts up? Those 30 "late payments" NelNet added to my report are killing my score.

[Anonymous]

I'm considering going through and closing all of my Comenity store cards.  I don't use any of them, and simply have them there for the total credit limits to help with my Util, however, I keep my util low as it is. Closing those accounts would actually increase my AAoA by over a year, and adding myself as an AU to my GF's account would help out a little as well (plus add much larger open lines of credit) to my report.

Is there any reason I SHOULDNT close the accounts?  Will closing them negatively impact my report somehow?

[Anonymous]

I'm considering closing my store card accounts through Comenity since I don't use them.  Initally, I was signing up for them to help my utilization, but since I keep my balances low, it won't hurt me there, and cancelling them should actually increase my AAoA by about 1.5 years. 

Is there any reason to keep them open?  Will closing them (at my request) be looked at negatively in any way?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm considering closing my store card accounts through Comenity since I don't use them.  Initally, I was signing up for them to help my utilization, but since I keep my balances low, it won't hurt me there, and cancelling them should actually increase my AAoA by about 1.5 years. 

Is there any reason to keep them open?  Will closing them (at my request) be looked at negatively in any way?

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Closing them will not effect AAoA. They will continue to contribute to AAoA for ten years after closing.


No valid reason to keep them open, IMO. If they do not have any annual fees, I would just cut them up and let the lender close them at their leisure for lack of use.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm considering closing my store card accounts through Comenity since I don't use them.  Initally, I was signing up for them to help my utilization, but since I keep my balances low, it won't hurt me there, and cancelling them should actually increase my AAoA by about 1.5 years. 

Is there any reason to keep them open?  Will closing them (at my request) be looked at negatively in any way?

---

Closing them will not effect AAoA. They will continue to contribute to AAoA for ten years after closing.


No valid reason to keep them open, IMO. If they do not have any annual fees, I would just cut them up and let the lender close them at their leisure for lack of use.

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Ah.  I didn't know that they would still count if they were closed.  In that case, I'm just gonna let them age together and if Comenity closes them, so be it. 

One more question:  I've never recieved any pre-approval offers from Discover or AMEX (two companies I'd like to get in with).  If I were to be added as an AU on a Discover & AMEX account, would that be a good way to get my foot in the door to start getting pre-screened offers?  Will it make a difference?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm considering closing my store card accounts through Comenity since I don't use them.  Initally, I was signing up for them to help my utilization, but since I keep my balances low, it won't hurt me there, and cancelling them should actually increase my AAoA by about 1.5 years. 

Is there any reason to keep them open?  Will closing them (at my request) be looked at negatively in any way?

---

Closing them will not effect AAoA. They will continue to contribute to AAoA for ten years after closing.


No valid reason to keep them open, IMO. If they do not have any annual fees, I would just cut them up and let the lender close them at their leisure for lack of use.

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Ah.  I didn't know that they would still count if they were closed.  In that case, I'm just gonna let them age together and if Comenity closes them, so be it. 

One more question:  I've never recieved any pre-approval offers from Discover or AMEX (two companies I'd like to get in with).  If I were to be added as an AU on a Discover & AMEX account, would that be a good way to get my foot in the door to start getting pre-screened offers?  Will it make a difference?

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No idea there, I've no experience with either of those two lenders.

[Anonymous]

Just a little periodic update...

I started receiving offers from Chase about a month ago. Pre-Qual offers for Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, Slate, & CSP. So I checked out the offers and terms and pulled the trigger on the Freedom app with invitation number. Got the dreaded 7-10 day message online. Today got a call from security department to verify some information and boom. Instantly approved for a 2k CL with 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months.

I finally feel like I'm starting to make some progress again. That expands my major account to Cap 1, Barclay, & Chase. Next up are discover, Citi, & Amex.

In case anyone is wondering, they pulled EX only.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for coming back and updating this over time. It was informative for me as I'm in the beginning stages but keep coming back here to learn. 

[Anonymous]

No problem. I realize that updates are few and far between, but the fact is: this is a marathon, not a sprint. Progress is often made very slowly, and there's not a whole lot you can do to speed things up. Obviously there are some small tips and tricks to help put you in the best situation to be able to succeed, but the rest is just diligence and good financial decisions.

Honestly, if what I've gone through (or am still working on improving) helps anyone in anyway then it's all been worth it.

Also, if you have any questions, or aren't sure where to go for help, NormanFH has been one of the best sources of information and encouraging pushes in the right direction. I can't thank him enough for helping me get on the right path when I didn't even know what direction was up.