Hi Everyone,
I joined this site over two years (maybe three now) ago to help my fiance rebuild his credit.
With your help he's:
1) gotten two collections PFD'd
2) started with a secured card
3) got a real capital one card
4) got a brand new truck (and traded it in a year later for a jeep--- better on payments and gas) and the interest is 6% 
5) got a credit line increase on both the secured and non secured cards
6) gotten farther away from the 18 student loan lates he's had (although we can't get rid of them) I think they will come off in 3 years now.
7) gotten approved for a mortgage and are shopping for a house.
over the last 3 years his score has steadily come up, all the way from a 480 at rock bottom to 675 now!
the only thing is, it has pretty much plateaued. I don't know what to do now to keep it rising. his two cards are at 50% utilization and he has something like 17 credit inquires from the two car loans and mortgage process. He has no lates besides the loans and nothing else bad at all on his credit.
other than that no baddies. I am thinking that maybe he should apply for a new card that he can transfer his balances to to avoid interest and pay them off. but other than that I would love to know if you guys have any advice!
thank you so much!
** edit: everyone is saying that he should have a third card- what should he apply for? I don't want anything that is going to give him another inquiry without getting a card? so something easy but good.
@tangerinze wrote:Hi Everyone,
I joined this site over two years (maybe three now) ago to help my fiance rebuild his credit.
With your help he's:
1) gotten two collections PFD'd
2) started with a secured card
3) got a real capital one card
4) got a brand new truck (and traded it in a year later for a jeep--- better on payments and gas) and the interest is 6%
5) got a credit line increase on both the secured and non secured cards
6) gotten farther away from the 18 student loan lates he's had (although we can't get rid of them) I think they will come off in 3 years now.
7) gotten approved for a mortgage and are shopping for a house.
over the last 3 years his score has steadily come up, all the way from a 480 at rock bottom to 675 now!
the only thing is, it has pretty much plateaued. I don't know what to do now to keep it rising. his two cards are at 50% utilization and he has something like 17 credit inquires from the two car loans and mortgage process. He has no lates besides the loans and nothing else bad at all on his credit.
other than that no baddies. I am thinking that maybe he should apply for a new card that he can transfer his balances to to avoid interest and pay them off. but other than that I would love to know if you guys have any advice!
thank you so much!
He should have a third credit card, and carry a balance on only one card, ideally below 10%. That will peak his scores.
@tangerinze wrote:Hi Everyone,
I joined this site over two years (maybe three now) ago to help my fiance rebuild his credit.
With your help he's:
1) gotten two collections PFD'd
2) started with a secured card
3) got a real capital one card
4) got a brand new truck (and traded it in a year later for a jeep--- better on payments and gas) and the interest is 6%
5) got a credit line increase on both the secured and non secured cards
6) gotten farther away from the 18 student loan lates he's had (although we can't get rid of them) I think they will come off in 3 years now.
7) gotten approved for a mortgage and are shopping for a house.
over the last 3 years his score has steadily come up, all the way from a 480 at rock bottom to 675 now!
the only thing is, it has pretty much plateaued. I don't know what to do now to keep it rising. his two cards are at 50% utilization and he has something like 17 credit inquires from the two car loans and mortgage process. He has no lates besides the loans and nothing else bad at all on his credit.
other than that no baddies. I am thinking that maybe he should apply for a new card that he can transfer his balances to to avoid interest and pay them off. but other than that I would love to know if you guys have any advice!
thank you so much!
From studying the forums here, you will find that 50% utilization lowers your scores. AFAIK anything above 30% is basically a no-no, and ideally as mentioned you would want all cards except 1 to report 0%, and that one card to report between 1-9% utilization if you are trying to maximize your credit scores.
Get those balances paid down!
@Anonymous wrote:
@tangerinze wrote:Hi Everyone,
I joined this site over two years (maybe three now) ago to help my fiance rebuild his credit.
With your help he's:
1) gotten two collections PFD'd
2) started with a secured card
3) got a real capital one card
4) got a brand new truck (and traded it in a year later for a jeep--- better on payments and gas) and the interest is 6%
5) got a credit line increase on both the secured and non secured cards
6) gotten farther away from the 18 student loan lates he's had (although we can't get rid of them) I think they will come off in 3 years now.
7) gotten approved for a mortgage and are shopping for a house.
over the last 3 years his score has steadily come up, all the way from a 480 at rock bottom to 675 now!
the only thing is, it has pretty much plateaued. I don't know what to do now to keep it rising. his two cards are at 50% utilization and he has something like 17 credit inquires from the two car loans and mortgage process. He has no lates besides the loans and nothing else bad at all on his credit.
other than that no baddies. I am thinking that maybe he should apply for a new card that he can transfer his balances to to avoid interest and pay them off. but other than that I would love to know if you guys have any advice!
thank you so much!
From studying the forums here, you will find that 50% utilization lowers your scores. AFAIK anything above 30% is basically a no-no, and ideally as mentioned you would want all cards except 1 to report 0%, and that one card to report between 1-9% utilization if you are trying to maximize your credit scores.
Get those balances paid down!
+1
Hi OP,
Up to 15 inquiries count as 1 i believe for car loan inquiries and mortgages within 30days. This is due to shopping for the best rate. However, each CC inquiry counts as 1, so besides CC, those installment inquiries should not affect him as much.
As for your utilization, that is high. You need to bring that down to 1-9% between all your cards. Ideally, you count your total credit to factor this. This is mainly if you are applying for something and the best score I heard but if you are not applying for anything you can leave it below 30%.
Example,
8k for two cards. You need to keep on all the other cards 0%, meaning you PIF before due date, and just one card reporting. The crap card, you would want to do this with and the better cards you want to PIF and leave 0% reporting. This is due to CLI goals.
Here is the math, 400 dollars left on one card after you PIF the other cards (make the minimum payment for this card,) take the total credit of all your cards and do this, (Left on one card) / (Total Credit) x 100 = % utilzation. With numbers= 400/8000 x100=5% utilization. Again stay between 1-9% and your score should improve massively. It says if I pay my bills on time for 2 years my score will go up 40-80points on each Bureau. We shall see if that is true. Probably including the AAoA.
Anyway, GL in your adventure. I am so totally addicted.