Hi everyone! I have been lurking on the forums quite a bit the past couple of weeks trying to absorb as much as possible and after I discovered that identity guard sells me FAKO scores (TU at 810 and EQ and 756), I decided to bite the bullet and pay for my TU and EQ scores. Since I'm relatively close to the 800 range, I wanted to seek out some of your expert advice to improve.
A little bit of history: I started in the high 500 range (according to identity guard, which I didn't know was a bad idea in 2007). I always knew it was important to have a good FICO score and manage my debt and credit responsibly, but I was immature and foolish. In 2007 when I applied for identity guard, I also elisted the aid of a CCCS and they helped me painfully, slowly, pay down my near $19,000 credit card debt. I finished paying this off in February of this year. In working with CCCS, my B of A and Chase credit cards were closed and my AMEX cards were closed by me (I had two AMEX cards and once I paid them off, I closed them in 2010). The only things remaining are the loans: Sallie Mae at just under $3000, ACS Education at $1625, a credit union personal loan at $1400 (I have funds diverted from my paycheck automatically each month to pay this down), and I am paying back borrowed funds to my 403B account (this will be completed in September). This may be more information than you needed, but I thought being as forthcoming as possible wouldn't hurt.
According to my TU report, the only thing holding me back is my non-mortgage/non-credit card debts, which total just under $3000. I'm working on paying this down as quickly as possible. The report also mentioned that my length of accounts being a bit sub-par. My credit history dates back 12 years and 8 months and my AAoA is 10 years. TU lists 1 account, my ACS Education account being late 10/2006 for 30 days, but the snapshot didn't list it as being a problem for some reason.
With my EQ report, I have one deliquent blemish that dates back to December 2005, a 30 days late notice. Now my EQ is much closer to 800 than my TU. Is it worth the effort to send a GW letter to Bank of America to remove the 30 days late notice? I have paid off the full amount as agreed. I am just not sure they would consider the request because I have about 1.5 years until the information should fall off my report and they closed my credit card account once I enrolled in a CCCS.
I recently applied for an AMEX True Earnings card and was approved for a CL of $3500 because I felt like I was ready to manage a small amount of money again. They have not provided me with an EX report and score, but I am going to call today to ask for a copy, if at all possible. AMEX also backdated me to 1999, which was the date I opened my first card with them.
Basically, what can I do to improve my scores other than to send the two GW letters to have the 30 day lates removed and pay down the loan amounts to $0? Thanks so much in advance for reading my long post and for any advice you can provide!
