Need advice to help my Credit Sores jump

[Anonymous]

I am trying to figure out how I can make my score jump quicker than a I like. Right now I have this on my report and it is saying I am in between (poor & fair catagory).

Equifax -621

Experian - 618

TranUnion -606

10 Good Accounts

1) First Premier - Credit line $250 - Balance $0 - open for 8 months

2) First Premier - Credit line $300 - Balance $0 - open for 1 months

3) Lord & Taylor - Credit line $400 - Balance $0 - open for 8 months

4) (6) Student Loans - Credit line $8,159 - Balance $7,689 - open for 1 year 5 months

5) Ford Auto Lease - Credit line $13,488 - Balance $6,744 - open for 12 months

3 Deliquent Accounts - All Closed and paid off

(Currently Disputing)

Currently 9 inquires

Should I apply for a credit card from Bloomingdales or Nordstrom's? Will I even get approved? Or do I focus on paying more toward my school loan getting that balance knocked down to a zero balance?

I appreciate any advice.

Thank you,

[Anonymous]

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AGJR wrote:

I am trying to figure out how I can make my score jump quicker than a I like. Right now I have this on my report and it is saying I am in between (poor & fair catagory).

Equifax -621

Experian - 618

TranUnion -606

10 Good Accounts

1) First Premier - Credit line $250 - Balance $0 - open for 8 months

2) First Premier - Credit line $300 - Balance $0 - open for 1 months

3) Lord & Taylor - Credit line $400 - Balance $0 - open for 8 months

4) (6) Student Loans - Credit line $8,159 - Balance $7,689 - open for 1 year 5 months

5) Ford Auto Lease - Credit line $13,488 - Balance $6,744 - open for 12 months

3 Deliquent Accounts - All Closed and paid off

(Currently Disputing)

Currently 9 inquires

Should I apply for a credit card from Bloomingdales or Nordstrom's? Will I even get approved? Or do I focus on paying more toward my school loan getting that balance knocked down to a zero balance?

I appreciate any advice.

Thank you,

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Welcome to the FICO Forums!

The first thing I notice is that your revolving utilization is $0.  You can usually expect a small jump in FICO scores by letting a balance of 1-9% of the credit limit report to the CRAs.  In your case, I would suggest using one of your First Premier cards to make a small purchase between $3 and $15 or so, and letting that balance stay on that card until the statement generates so that balance will be reported.  Once you have the new statement, pay it in full to avoid finance charges.

Paying down your installment accounts (your student loans and your auto loan) ahead of schedule will usually not help your FICO scores.

Before giving advice on which specific cards you may be able to get, we need to know a little more about your baddies.  How old are the delinquent accounts you mentioned?  How long ago did they go delinquent?  What types of accounts are they?

I will say that you might want to hold off on applying for Nordstrom's.  They're sticklers, and like to see clean reports.

[Anonymous]

I have had  my cards maxed out on all my cards and paid them off last month. I will go shopping today lightly to put a balance back on them.

My Deliquent accounts are :

Equifax - 1

Experian - 3

TransUnion -3

1) First Premier Credit Card opened in 6/2005 $439. It went deliquent for 1-30, 1-60, 1-90. Account is paid in full and only on my Experian - TransUnion.

2) Car Loan opened 2/2000 $13,175. It went deliquent 2-30 Account is paid in full and only on my Experian.

3) Collection opened for Sprint Cell phone bill12/2006 $236. I have never had a Sprint phone and disputed it for over a year before just giving up and paying it. I am still disputing it and has a zero balance. This is on all my credit reports.

4) Colelction opened this past week for  2/2008 $205. I forgot about an insurance payment and once I saw this post a few days ago I paid this in full and started a dispute with Experian. This is on Experian only.

Should I hold off on applying for any credit cards and just keep using the ones I have and paying them off every month?

Thank you