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Credit Mentoring!

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Anonymous
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Credit Mentoring!

Hi I have just joined this great forum. I have read all of the stickies in this forum and am ready to get started. Here is my story.
 
I refi-ed my house and I had a credit score of 705. I just applied for another loan and it went down to 680! My mortgage lender stated it had dropped alot due to a $70 collection from a light company. He also stated that I had high util. This was 1.5 months ago. I then took it apon myself to raise my credit score. I payed off 2 credit cards, 1 being Sears(over 10yrs history) and 1 being a Visa(6+yrs history) and I paid down a MC that I was close to the limit. It has a 3500 limit and I had 3400 on it. I paid $1000 on it and I paid $1000 on my discover (7000 limit 1200 on it). I also paid down my Lowes and HomeDepot(5000 limit with 3800on it). Thinking I did good my score is now at 630!
 
I thought I knew what I was doing but when I found out my score was 630 last week I started looking for help. I almost paid a credit restore company out of desperation. I then stumbled on to this forum and in a short time I have learned a lot. Have a couple of ?s.
 
1. Should I move some debt around, 1000 from my MC to my Discover, 1000 from my Home Depot to my Discover to lower my Util?
2. Can I reopen the 2 cards I closed and recover my history and accounts?
3. Should I challenge all hard credit pulls in the last 6 months?
 
Plenty more ?s to come in my great FICO journey.
 
Thanks in advanced
 
 
 
 
Message 1 of 8
7 REPLIES 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Mentoring!

Did all those payments percolate through to your actual credit report yet? These things can take time--often weeks.
Message 2 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Mentoring!

Yes I think so I made the transactions about a month ago. Thanks for the quick response.
 
I also have an update today I contacted the creditor that issued the collection. I used the GW script and got it removed in less than 2 hours. I called first and spoke with the collections dept and got a supes email address and I sent him the script. He responded within 2 hours and stated they made a mistake and have already contacted the collections agency to cease collections and he had the collection removed. He stated it will take 15-45 days for it to be deleted.
 
Hooray! This website is awsome. Thanks for the help and the knowlege.
 
As for the ?s will they help my credit score even more?
 
 
Message 3 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Mentoring!

Credit Masters, any suggestions on the following?
 
1. Should I move some debt around, 1000 from my MC to my Discover, 1000 from my Home Depot to my Discover to lower my Util?
2. Can I reopen the 2 cards I closed and recover my history and accounts?
3. Should I challenge all hard credit pulls in the last 6 months?


Message Edited by Rasputin713 on 08-21-2008 01:54 PM
Message 4 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Mentoring!

Is there a reason you need higher scores? If you're set with your mortgage and recently took out a loan and already have a couple of credit cards, why not wait it out?

1. Should I move some debt around, 1000 from my MC to my Discover, 1000 from my Home Depot to my Discover to lower my Util?

I'd say it's not worth the transfer fees. Pay the minimum on Discover and pay any extra you have on MC and HD. In addition to utilization by card, they look at total utilization, so you may be paying the fees and going through the hassle for not very much gain. Not to mention even adding $1000 to the Discover puts your util. over 14%.

2. Can I reopen the 2 cards I closed and recover my history and accounts?

You can try. If you do, make sure you ask about keeping your history. This will probably cost you a couple more inquiries and bring your score down in the short term..

3. Should I challenge all hard credit pulls in the last 6 months?

Are they legitimate? If you requested credit and they did not tell you they would be soft inquiries then what reason do they have to remove them?

Time will help with the inquiries and possible new accounts (did you get the loan and how recently did you re-fi?). In the meantime work on utilization.

No more from me as there are experts around. But, if I were in your shoes I would refrain from doing anything but bringing down util. and re-evaluate when the bad mark falls off.
Message 5 of 8
athensguy
Valued Contributor

Re: Credit Mentoring!

If you closed the two cards you paid off, that probably contributed significantly to your score drop.
Message 6 of 8
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: Credit Mentoring!

That collection was the score killer. Once off the reports your scores will rebound a lot. Closing a credit card will not hurt you immediately as long as it doesn't effect your utilization or your credit mix. I am betting it is a combination of the collection and the new accounts that tanked the score. The collection is the biggie though.
Message 7 of 8
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Credit Mentoring!

Thanks for the great info. Answer some of the ?s. I plan to refi another house in about 3 months and I wanted to maximize my credit score starting now. I didnt expect it to drop so much so soon.
 
I thought the util was measured by account as well as overall. I was thinking of balancing it out acording to some info I found in this forum, about Util tiers. If I move the debt around I will take all of the individual cards to 39%, or the second tier. Thats about the only thing I can do besides paying them down because I donot have any derogs.


Message Edited by Rasputin713 on 08-22-2008 03:56 PM
Message 8 of 8
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