1. In veiwing my reports through myFICO, it only lists two accounts with balances -- a student load that is current, and a CC account that was purchased by a CA. My credit usage is calculated as 145% ($2313 balance on the CA/$1600 largest balance... apparently the student load in not included in this calculation. Why not?). I guess my next step is to pursue a DV or PFD with the CA. It is with LVNV Fudning LLC so I will do a search to see what other's experiences have been with them.
Simple. A student loan is an intallment loan, and not a revolving .line of credit. Only revolving .lines of credit (such as credit cards) arfe scored in your % revolving util. Percent util of installment credit is neglible in credit scoring.
2. There is a CA (National Recovery) account for $51 that I have never heard of, nor have I heard of the original creditor. I guess the best strategy is to do DV? PFD? Hell, I'd pay them $100 if they'll just delete it!
Did they ever provide you the requried colledtion (dunning) notice for this collectilon?
3. I contacted Capital One to PFD, but they don't want to do anything because the rep said they have no incentive to because they have already been paid (they sold to a CA). But, it still lingers on my CR. So, is there anything I can do about that or is it just a waiting game until it drops off? I have the same situation with an HSBC account, but have not contacted them about PFD.
If they have sold the debt to a debt collector, they no longer have any authority to acceapt any payment. You can wait, or ask them for earlier Gw deletion/
4. My EX report has several accounts that are "Open/Never Late" that are not mine. I suspect they are my dad's, as we have very similar names and have had problems with co-mingling our credit reports before. Ethics aside, should I leave these accounts on the report or dispute them to get them taken off? I assume they are helping my score and removing them would decrease my score (but they only appear on my EX report).
Up to you. if you decide you wan them removed, we have many methods for getting CR deletion. Just provide the facts.
5. I had a tax lien that is now PIF. I was surpirsed that my score didn't increase when I paid it, but from reading this board I now understand why. Is there anything I can do to clean that up, or do I just have to wait patiently for 7 years for it to drop off?
Getting tax lien removal from a CR is not easy. In many cases, the lien holder is not even the party who posted this public record.
6. I have three inquiries under the heading "Inquiries that affect your credit report" on my EQ report. One I recognize and two I do not. One indicates it is from a law firm. Can that check my credit without my permission? Can I dispute those inquiries to have them removed if they are lowering my score?
This is an area where there might have been credit inquiry violations that were not permissible pulls, but the dispute rules are stacked against you
7. All of my recurring monthly bills -- utilities, cell phone, rent, etc. -- have a perfect payment history. Boy I wish those would show up on my CR! I assume there is no way to accomplish this?
No. the FCRA never requires reporting to a CRA.
8. One of the negative influences from myFICO is "No revolving activity." They suggest I open a new credit card. (I function almost entirely with my debit card -- again, I wish that would show up on my CR!) I get lots of offers for credit cards but they are all clearly geared towards people with bad credit -- e.g. these offers all have huge annual fees, high interest rates, etc. If I'm going to open a new card, I would rather it be with someone like AmEx (my employer will pay the annual fee, and the benefits would really help in my business travel), but I haven't been approved in the past. Is it to my benefit to open one of these sub-par CC accounts and use it once a month or so just to have it show up as a good account with activity?
You need at .least one revolving .line of credit that reports monthlly to the CRAs in order for FICO to score it, and tjus give you a revolvng % uti..
One card is still a thin file, but a start
