Trying to Hit 620 ASAP

[silentdance]

OK, I have a few questions about raising my score in the near future. Any help would be much appreciated

I have an RBC cc in their own collections dept. They're refusing to do a PFD. It is still within SOL. Has anyone had any luck with them? Would PIF status and 0 balance most likely raise or lower my score?

I have a Portfolio Recovery Associates collection that is not a very large amount. I tried a PFD letter but they refused and terminated my dispute. Should I DV? Would PIF most likely raise or lower my score? Does anyone have any address suggestions for them for successful PFD?

Lastly, I have recently obtained two new cc's as I had no majors on my reports, only store cards. One is unsecured from Orchard Bank and the other is secured from BofA. I know this will affect my AAOA but I felt it would be beneficial long-term to establish more positive tradelines as I have a lot of negatives on my reports. Unfortunately the BofA is listing on Experian as secured thus far, which is not what I was told by the BofA reps. Is this going to reduce the points I get from this tradeline?

I'm really trying to hit 620.

[nickdymez]

I hear different things, but once i paid my collections, my score improved drastically

[RobertEG]

Hi silentdance.

Quick and dirty answer.  Paying or not paying either a charge off, internal collection, or third-party collection account, once posted to your CR, has no affect on your FICO score.  But FICO is not the whole picture.

If you want to continue attempts to secure a PFD, then you do that at your risk.

Offers to pay are not payment.  They can, at any time, bring suit for collection, which could add a public record, by way of a legal judgment against you.  Not good.

You might want to negotiate a payment  for less than the balance they are attemtpting to collect, if they enter that as payment and closing of the CA.

As for your new CCs, FICO does not look into the terms of your CC agreement.  It looks at your CL and %util. 

[medicgrrl]

Actually, paying the RBC CO will probably give you a good boost in score. Since it is a cc it is being calculated into your utilization. I rec'd a good increase in score after my CO's showed a 0 balance.

As far as the CA, for those that I couldn't get to do a PFD, I went ahead and paid and GW'd the heck out of them until they were removed.  I can't say that they will remove them but it felt good to at least know that I would never have to deal with them again!  I have 2 last CA's that are not reporting now but I am paying off.  By the end of this year I think I will have the past truely in the past! 

So, do what you feel is best for YOU and your personal situation.  If the items are still within the SOL then make sure you can PIF immediately if you contact them.  Just remember, even if items fall off your credit report, a creditor has the right to attempt collection forever until the items are paid.  My sister has accounts from 20 years ago and the CA still call my parents monthly and they even called my ex-husband a few weeks ago!!  This is a time consuming process but you will get there!!   Good Luck!!

[valley_man0505]

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@medicgrrl wrote:

Actually, paying the RBC CO will probably give you a good boost in score. Since it is a cc it is being calculated into your utilization. I rec'd a good increase in score after my CO's showed a 0 balance.

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I have heard this MANY times.  However, this is actually not the case with me.  On EQ and EX, none of my CO's are being factored into my utilization.  On TU, some are and some aren't (I have never figured out the difference between the ones that are and the ones that aren't--they all are reporting the same).  The fact that some of them are included in UTL on TU has cause my TU score to lag as much as 140 points behind the others since this puts my UTL over 100% on TU whereas it is typically only about 20% on EQ and EX.

Not sure why this is happening, but I think it is safe to say that CO's don't ALWAYS factor into UTL.  If they are included, then, yes, paying them could have a substantial positive effect depending on what you your UTL is with and without these included.  If they are NOT included in UTL, then there is nothing good that come out of paying them as far as your actual score is concerned (unless they PFD).  It will, obviously, look better on a manual review, but that won't make much difference if your score prevents you from even getting anyone to do a manual review.

If you are trying to buy a house, the best option may be to not pay them now (which will keep you score up), then after your potential lender has pulled your credit, tell them you are willing to pay these accounts if you need to in order to get improved.  That way, the person who would actually be making the approval/denial decision can tell you what THEY want to see.