FICO Score 675, Fairly stagnant

[kynative]

My credit score (MyFiCO score, Equifax: 675) has been fairly stagnant for awhile.  In the past, I had both collections and late payments. 

Collection:

The last collection that remains on my record was paid off in December 2006.  I assume this clears in December 2013?

Late Payments:

I have 5 accounts with late payments (not good, I know).  However, they are not recent.  Here are the most recent late payments on accounts:

*  Account 1: March 2011

*  Account 2: May 2010

*  Account 3: December 2007

*  Account 4: December 2007

*  Account 5: March 2006

The bad points, according to MyFICO are:

Delinquency/Collections

Bad Payment History

Recent Missed Payments

Consumer Finance Account

The good points, according to MyFICO are:

Long account history

Low credit usage

It says I have 2 Consumer Finance Accounts... I am pretty sure I found one (from 2001).  The other would have been around the same time.  I thought that stuff would be gone after 7 years or at least not affect me.  Is this not true?

My biggest question is this.... My rating goes up and down based upon credit usage and that is the only time my credit report changes.  What can I do besides continue to pay on time?  It looks to me like nothing is going to change except a VERY slow creep up.  

[Revelate]

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@kynative wrote:

My credit score (MyFiCO score, Equifax: 675) has been fairly stagnant for awhile.  In the past, I had both collections and late payments. 

<snip> 

My biggest question is this.... My rating goes up and down based upon credit usage and that is the only time my credit report changes.  What can I do besides continue to pay on time?  It looks to me like nothing is going to change except a VERY slow creep up.  

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Pretty much anything under 2 years on a late payment is generally considered to be recent; if your lates are >30 days, the time window goes up to the point where 90+ day lates can and probably will count significantly against your scores for the full 7 years the derogatories stay on.

The collection should drop as when it reaches 7 years from the date it was filed, not 7 years from when it was paid... so it may come off earlier than the 12/13 date.  If it's the only collection reporting, you should see a bump in scores when that drops off.

Consumer finance accounts, if the tradeline is in good standing it can be up to 10 years, and sometimes those get missed.   I'm admittedly not an expert on consumer finance accounts and how they're handled in the FICO model, but it could simply be that the CRA didn't airstrike it 10 years after the closing date: sometimes it gets missed (EQ I'm looking at you).

As for all the rest, building a credit score is not a quick fix and there's no instant gratification in it.  If you can your lates goodwilled off, then you might be able to improve your score via that route, but other than that it's a long journey as time passes and you continue to pay your bills on time. 

Edit: further thought, if all you have is revolving accounts (credit card tradelines) then you may be able to jump up your score a little bit by getting an installment loan of some sort, but with your length of credit history I suspect you have those on record anyway.

[hateAshbury]

That's my experience. I PIF every month, keep my utilization in the single digits, and I'm struggling to get my nose over 700. The only baddies I have are some delinquencies circa 2007-08 and a collection or two from the same period that's since been paid off.

Nothing more I can do; at some point time will age these delinqy-dinks and my score will rise

[AndySoCal]

I would try a few good will letters.  I woul send good will letters to collection account and to account #1 and Account number #2.

[kynative]

What, exactly, are good will letters?

The recent late payments are 30 days... and those were 1 time each with nothing close to those dates on either account.

I do have installment accounts, so another one of those probably won't help much. 

[kynative]

Ok, I did some search and figured it out... stupid question

I've got a 'Goodwill letter' drafted and will send it out tomorrow.  Company is local, so hopefully will find out relatively quick (although my guess is they would remove, or not remove, the collection without telling me... so may have to wait for score increase)

[AndySoCal]

I would send one goodwill to collection agency asking for the deletion of the reporting of the collection account.  I would also ask account # 1 And Account #2 for a good will deletion of 30 day late if this is the only late on the account. Glad you found the information.

[gallifrey]

We're in the same bucket. Similar payment histories, similar score problems. I've been cruising at 669 since I signed up 7 months ago.

[gallifrey]

So I just checked my EX fako and guess what... it's 669! So all three scores are exactly the same! 

[kynative]

Update:  I sent the goodwill letter and it worked!!!   My score is now at 695!  Much better.