How to bump up Experian for Mortgage

[Anonymous]

Trying to get approved for FHA mortgage. In just less than two weeks, our Experian score dropped over 40 pts.

I had a charge off deleted, collection accounts deleted, and disputes removed.

TU went UP over +40 pts.

Equifax dropped -20.

This means that TU is our new high -- and both EQ and EX are LOWS so our new middle is low!!!

It's like my worst nightmare here.

What can I do to bring Equifax and Experian up? Even just a little? They aren't budging.

Equifax: BEACON 5.0 - 638

Experian: FICO II           664

TU: CLASSIC 04            613

Now:

BEACON 5.0 - 617 (EQ)

FICO II             620 (EX)

CLASSIC 04    652  (TU)

I am trying to get a couple things corrected through Rapid Rescore but it takes like a week or so.

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

Unless you have a lot of utilization you can pay down, you are not likely to get back 40 points right away.  It was the updating of those negatives that caused it to plunge.  This is why people should not do anything in terms of disputes, updates, within six months of apping for a mortgage (said to help others, not make you feel bad!).

Honestly, I think you are probably stuck for six months unless you can get goodwill deletions.

[Revelate]

EX 98 can be influenced by installment loan utilization.

I paid down my baby loans as part of the mortgage process and gained a non-trivial amount of points on EX when we're talking playing in the middle tiers.  Beyond that, revolving utilization or more negatives deleted are the best bet; actually I'd focus on those two first as installment utilization does not affect the FICO 04 algorithms used in a mortgage.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Installment-tradeline-utilization-thread/...

[Anonymous]

okay thanks, those are good tips! In an ideal world, yes it's better to do it all before and not backwards.

I have one CA that's been paid twice (a medical bill) and they sent letters they are deleting it. Hopefully, that will make a difference.

My improved UTI reporting at the end of the month -- thanku MyFico boards!!! --- should help (I HOPE).

I just found out we have a bit more time -- another extra month so hopefully that will help as well. (Not before UW but before closing).

It's nerve wracking.

[Anonymous]

I also think we need more CCs.

We only have 2: Credit1 ($450 limit) and First Premiere ($750). Those I paid to 0 until I learned about UTI here -- MyFico!!

FP offerred another card and a CL increase but I'm too afraid of an HP.

I can't risk it at this point, right before UW so instead I focused on maximizing UTI.

[redbeard]

Do NOT get another credit card until your mortgage is done.

Adding another account will hurt your score, not help it, at least in the short term.  More credit cards will NOT help your score, unless utilization is a problem that is dragging your score down.  The extra pull, the damage to AAoA and the fact the credit line won't report for probably 30 days all mean it will have a negative impact, not a positive one.

Will the removal of a collection account help?  Maybe.  Is it the only one?  If there are others, it might help, but not by much.

What else is on the report?  You really didn't give enough information to get real advice.  Personally, I'd ask the mortgage lender.  He should have someone who can help with this, including the rapid rescore company.  They usually have this stuff dialed in.  Its not free, but it is very effective.

Dan

[CH-7-Mission-Accomplished]

This is risky, but if it were me and I was 40 pounds points shy (I'm not 40 pounds shy!), I would get one more credit card to make it three.  I would get a store card to help with mix and I would get it using the shopping cart trick (never thought I would say this).  You won't get an HP, you will have three revolving cards and you will have a store card for mix.

You might get 10 points out of the deal, but then again you might lose.  Only one way to find out, but you know you are not going to get that loan if you need 40 points so it seems less risky than it might be for others.

[Anonymous]

Just what I was thinking! (Re: SCT)

Right now we are in UW, we are 620 MIDDLE so we *barely* made it. If it doesn't work out -- then I'm going to try a couple techniques and see.

Right now -- I have only 1 Collection on the credit report. (It's mine and got stuck on my husband's, a $39.00 medical bill! I've paid it twice and they promised to delete and sent me a letter stating would delete -- still on there. It's recent though, within the past 12 months so I'm hoping once the end of the month updates and it's deleted -- that will give us a boost).

Some old debt that was either settled and paid, paid in full, or charge-off (1 or 2) from 6-7 years ago. I'm working on deletes.

Student loans -- that's another story. We are current on these.

There are a couple lates. I'm working on getting those corrected. They are from 2 years ago. One of them is in error (a Credit Union account we paid off but they showed us as late that month. I've complained and filed with CFPB and they sent me to some other agency. And one is a Cap1 that charged us fees for 2 years on a card I never used and I didn't stay on top of it. Cap1 said they would remove them then changed their mind so I might have to live with those -- but they're 2+ years old).

[Revelate]

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.

Take that idea of SCT and kick it to the damned curb: it does not help mix of credit, it will not help you in the short-term other than utilization, and it may actually damage your credit and create further complications of getting your mortgage underwritten.

If you open up an account in the middle of UW you are going to get slapped by your lender, just say no.

The time to do that sort of thing was six months ago, not in UW: you have 2 credit cards, and a couple of student loans, you are NOT a thin file from a lending perspective, so take what you have and go.

Google HIPAA process on that medical collection too.

[Anonymous]

okay thanks!

I agree. I meant that only as a last ditch desperate effort if somehow we are turned down.

But I agree.

I am not even sending GW or anything because I don't want to open any disputes.

I will google that HIPAA.