Understanding FICO® Scoring

[ariesdreamer]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
minimum requirements for FICO score

In order for a FICO® score to be calculated, a report must contain these minimum requirements:

· At least one account that has been open for six months or more
· At least one undisputed account that has been reported to the credit bureau with in the past six months
· No indication of deceased on the credit report (Please note: if you share an account with another person this may affect you if the other account holder is reported deceased).

Something has to still be reporting. Mortgage, maybe? Or a closed account that is still updating?

ariesdreamer, if it's the second, and these accounts are from 1999, they're on borrowed time. Depending on when they were closed/ paid off, etc., they're about to start dropping off his reports. I'm sure you already realized that, but the second shoe finally dropped for me, lol.

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Hmm...its probably his Macy's card then! The status says its still open....this is interesting....yet confusing.

[haulingthescoreup]

lol, we cross-posted.

I think that if a closed report is still faithfully reporting every month, as it ought to, this satisfies the requirement for an account that has posted within the last six months.

He might want to ever-so-cautiously go to an actual Macy's, grab an armful of stuff, and go to the customer service desk, and tell them that his card isn't working, and can they check the status of his account? They might be able to reinstate the account. For something this old, I would cheerfully accept a hard inq if necessary to get the thing brought back to life. (Make sure that it will keep the original opening date.) They should then report to all three CRA's. (And he might well get a better CL in the process.)

My understanding is that Macy's is one of the easiest creditors to work with in reviving comatose accounts. I wouldn't know, as the nearest Macy's is 200+ miles from my home, dang it.

[ariesdreamer]

We applied for a Chase CC last night but it did not give us an immediate response. We have to await for a letter now. I did tell him about the Macys thing so we're gonna go to Macys when we have a chance!

Thanks for the great info everyone!

[ariesdreamer]

Update: We tried applying for a CC through our bank and it was denied. Well, first, they said they'd review the application. Then it gave a number to call to check status. We called and was told (through their automated system) that it was denied due to a 'low ratio' of something and that he had too many inquiries in the last 12 months. I don't understand the inquiry thing since he's only had 3 inquiries in the last 12 months.

Anyhow, it looks like the Chase CC will probably be declined as well.

Should he start out with department store cards then? Aside from his Macys, should he open one more department store card to get his credit rolling??

[haulingthescoreup]

Ah, sorry about the turn-down. Which CRA did they pull? --presumably the one with 3 inqs. I hope Chase didn't pull the same one.

I'd first get the Macy's card revived and start using and paying, using and paying, so that he can get a record of current revolving usage. If he's made it for 10 years without plastic, it wouldn't hurt to wait 6 more months.

I'm sure others will jump in saying to app for this, that, and the other, but unless there's something coming up in your lives where he would need to show current credit usage, I don't see the hurry. He doesn't need to drop those scores by apping all over, especially when the outcome is a bit shaky.

[nothingman02]

Absolutely agree. My credit is not as good as OPs. I have an OCs CO and its CA on my TU from 2006. Otherwise clean report adn I have a couple of rebuilder cards open since Jan 09. Score on TU is 604. I also have a CITI GW'ed to no lates with a 2 yr history (04-06)

So basically, I do have a derog and lower score but I do have recent history.

I tried for Juniper carnival and BOA platinum plus (I was told this is the way to go to receive an offer for 99/500 or secured by that online chat rep..)

I got denied and I tried recon.

Denied on recon not for the derog but because, they need to see - a CURRENT and GOOD history for a period of time. Atleast 6-9 months. They were more concerned with alck of history. The BOA analyst actually told me that the derog is not as much a concern as the lack of recent history. She wanted to see that I have recovered from whatever happened in the past by consistent good payment history for 6-9 months and which would indicate that I am doing okay now. 

So I think the best way to go would be a couple of good secured CCs from a CU and with over 6 months of good behavior and with those high scores, OP should be ready for 1 or 2 of the high prime cards. Atleast, CITI, BOA, AMEX delta etc...