Effect of Parking Ticket Collection on Score

[Anonymous]

Hello there.  First time posting.  

I recently paid off a bunch of debt and some old collections and have seen significant improvements to my credit scores.  However, one bureau (Transunion) is giving me a much lower score (611) than Equifax (673) and Experian (657).  I compared all three reports and found that Transunion shows a $61 collection account for "Innovative Collections", City of San Jose Parking.  This collection isn't on the other two reports.  

Could a $61 collection be dragging my score down that much, particularly one that isn't tied to any sort of credit line?  I've paid all my bills on time for 4+ years and have a debt/credit ratio of <30%.  

Thanks

Tom

[namvet]

IMO yes

[RobertEG]

Yes.

A collection is a collection.

Well worth trying for GW deletion.

[Anonymous]

Interesting.  I haven't explored the MyFICO that much yet.  What's a GW deletion?

[llecs]

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations

Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.

What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.

and Example letters - PFDs, GWs, DVs, etc.

[rckstrscott]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hello there.  First time posting.  

I recently paid off a bunch of debt and some old collections and have seen significant improvements to my credit scores.  However, one bureau (Transunion) is giving me a much lower score (611) than Equifax (673) and Experian (657).  I compared all three reports and found that Transunion shows a $61 collection account for "Innovative Collections", City of San Jose Parking.  This collection isn't on the other two reports.  

Could a $61 collection be dragging my score down that much, particularly one that isn't tied to any sort of credit line?  I've paid all my bills on time for 4+ years and have a debt/credit ratio of <30%.  

Thanks

Tom

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Also; Where are you getting your scores from?

-scott

[Anonymous]

A loan officer at my credit union pulled credit via Credco.

[rckstrscott]

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@Anonymous wrote:
A loan officer at my credit union pulled credit via Credco.

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Good deal. I was going to give you the whole FAKO vs FICO thing, and I now I don't have to because those are likely FICO haha

Really, that one collection can bring it down that far. As mentioned above, a collection is a collection. The amount doesn't matter, it will impact the same. 

Since based on your original post, where you mentioned that you had old collections on your report, this new collection will drop your score further because new collections will be worth more in FICO point terms than an older collection, esp since FICO will now see a 'new negative factor'

How old are the other collection accounts and how many are on your report? Just paying a collection will not have any FICO score impact, as FICO does not reward paying negative collection debt, it only counts the negative impact of the account itself. 

-scott

[Anonymous]

This isn't a new collection, only one I missed when going through my list, paying all my debts. I guess the ticket goes back to 2008, but I don't know when it was first reported. I have 6 negative accounts in total. I either paid the balances in full or I settled. Per my initial post, I have been current on all my bills for 4+ years. If there's even more that I can do to bring my scores up, I'm all ears.

[rckstrscott]

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@Anonymous wrote:
This isn't a new collection, only one I missed when going through my list, paying all my debts. I guess the ticket goes back to 2008, but I don't know when it was first reported. I have 6 negative accounts in total. I either paid the balances in full or I settled. Per my initial post, I have been current on all my bills for 4+ years. If there's even more that I can do to bring my scores up, I'm all ears.

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Well, as mentioned before, in FICO terms, paying a collection account is worthless. Obviously, in the real world its not worthless, because you cannot be sued for the debt anylonger, but FICO terms, nothing. Having 6 collection accounts paid on a report is exactly the same as having 6 collections accounts unpaid. That fact they are paid is good for the financial peice, but it isn't going to get you any FICO points.

First off, FICO prefers untilization below 10 percent for high scoring, so right off the bat you can easily get points by dropping your overall credit utilization to below 10 percent. A often discussed method is having as many cards as possible reporting a 0 dollar balance, and then one card showing a sub 10 percent balance. You mentioned 30 percent. Thats good, but not great. You will get points by dropping it further

With the open collection account, you may want to send a PFD (pay for delete) offer to them, to the address listed on your credit file. The idea if you need that account deleted. Paying it will not help the FICO side. If that doesn't work, you can pay it and then send a GW (good will adjustment letter)

That is essentially what you will want to do on those other 5 accoutns. Send them a letter indicating you would like the collection account deleted from the credit reporting, as they are old, and you have paid.. ect ect .. make up whatever story you would like. Be convincing. You may be able to get them deleted that way. Once they are all deleted, your score will go up quite a bit.

-scott