Need help with increasing my score

[Anonymous]

I had some issues in the past which led me to a mid 500 score. Over the past 6 months, I've been trying to rebuild I've currently got FICO 8's of 608-eq, 612-tu, and 610-ex. I got these score here by disputing some old baddies, opening two new credit card accounts in November (credit one - 300, capital one -300), and not missing any payments for the past 6 months. 

I just applied for and was approved for milestone-300 cc, but it hasn't been reported yet and I suspect it will be at least 30 days before it does. 

I still have two collections on my reports that I have been unable to get removed, one for $200 and another for $1085. I'm not sure if I should pay these or leave them alone. 

I have an open mortgage account and an open auto loan account.

What should my next move be. I'm planning to keep the utilization low (reading here I think I should keep two at zero balance and another at less than 10% balance). What else should I do?

I'm planning on selling my house and buying a new one soon and want to get my scores increased as soon as possible. 

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. 

[Anonymous]

Given your timeline for a home purchase, you should:

*  Keep all cards reporting at $0, except one (which should report a small balance, like $10 say).

*  Work on getting your collections and other derogs removed, not simply paid.  What you want to explore is the possibility of a PFD arrangement (pay for delete) regarding the collections.  You can find out lots of stuff here on the forums about that.  You may be able to get a mentorr here to assist you.  Brutal Body Shots may be able to steer you in the right direction.

*  Keep making all payments on time.

You may find that until your collections are deleted your score will remain low.  You may also find that since you want to buy your house soon you just can't get them removed in time -- and remember that PFD always involves the creditor or CA having to agree to it.  They certainly are not required to do this by law.  Indeed, one might argue that, while PFD does not involve a violation of the letter of the law, that it violates its spirit, since it is getting a company to remove true information from your report in exchange for money changing hands. 

A PFD is still hands down in your interest so you should most certainly explore it.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I had some issues in the past which led me to a mid 500 score. Over the past 6 months, I've been trying to rebuild I've currently got FICO 8's of 608-eq, 612-tu, and 610-ex. I got these score here by disputing some old baddies, opening two new credit card accounts in November (credit one - 300, capital one -300), and not missing any payments for the past 6 months. 

I just applied for and was approved for milestone-300 cc, but it hasn't been reported yet and I suspect it will be at least 30 days before it does. 

I still have two collections on my reports that I have been unable to get removed, one for $200 and another for $1085. I'm not sure if I should pay these or leave them alone. 

I have an open mortgage account and an open auto loan account.

What should my next move be. I'm planning to keep the utilization low (reading here I think I should keep two at zero balance and another at less than 10% balance). What else should I do?

I'm planning on selling my house and buying a new one soon and want to get my scores increased as soon as possible. 

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond. 

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1. You should not apply for any more cards.

2. At some point in the future, after your scores have improved, you can apply for some better cards, and close Credit One and Milestone.

3. Send verifications to try to get rid of the negatives.

4. Definitely pay off the collections; try to get them to remove the credit bureau entry if you do, but whether you can accomplish that or not... still pay them off ASAP.

5. Work it so that 2 of your 3 credit cards report a zero balance, and the third reports a balance of $10 to $25.