Should I Do Nothing or Something?

[smallfry]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:
GW 2 lates. With only 1 installment your score could drop slightly with FICO 08. Might want to take out 1 more installment to be prepared. But this will lower your score too for now I'd GW hard and see what happens. Other than that you have done all that you probably can do with out installments. I wouldn't apply for more CCs.

---

This is the first I've heard that FICO 08 somehow punishes someone for having only 1 installment. Can you elaborate?

---

Me too. Where did you hear that pizza?

[marty56]

Try to pay off one of the CCCs.  I do better with only my mortgage, autoloan and one CC reporting.

According to my TU report, it says high FICO acheivers only have 3 accounts reporting a balance.  Not sure why tahat would be the case since 3 accounts out of 20 seems better then 3 accounts our of 3 but my scores always go down if another CC reports a balance, even a very small one.

Dont dispute the lates especially if it is an old account.

[Anonymous]

---

@marty56 wrote:

Try to pay off one of the CCCs.  I do better with only my mortgage, autoloan and one CC reporting.

According to my TU report, it says high FICO acheivers only have 3 accounts reporting a balance.  Not sure why tahat would be the case since 3 accounts out of 20 seems better then 3 accounts our of 3 but my scores always go down if another CC reports a balance, even a very small one.

Dont dispute the lates especially if it is an old account.

---

Yes, but I already have only 3 accounts reporting a balance. Are you saying I need to reduce it to only 2?

And, except for the installment, any balance reporting is entirely intentional to show usage. My outstanding revolving balancing is about $500 out of $77K revolving credit line. The highest amount is about $400 on a card with an $11K limit.

[haulingthescoreup]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
I doubt that two baddies from 6 years ago are affecting OP's scores, if they're just 30 days. Now if they're something a good bit bigger than that, I can see GW'ing.

Don't know if these baddies are on a closed account (or accounts), but be aware that GW'ing or disputing baddies on a closed account can result in the sudden disappearance of the entire account, which is generally worse than the presence of the baddie.

---

Yes, they are indeed just 30 day lates. And they're on accounts that are no longer open, but which also happen to be some of my oldest accounts.

It sounds like you're saying the cure could be far worse than the disease should I dispute them and have the accounts disappear altogether.

---

Bingo. We've had quite a few sadder-but-wiser members who have learned this the hard way.

I have a 20-year-old gas card (closed) with a 30-day for the last payment. We closed it because mail was repeatedly stolen from our box, and we weren't getting statements. This was pre-Internet days, children. It's only on EX, and the last/ closing payment was late, so it shows as a "late 30 days" status. But I don't care what that status does --it's my oldest account, and I'm not touching it. The late will fall off in April 2011, with the account reporting until April 2014, and I guess I'll see what my scores do then!

[MidnightVoice]

haulingthescoreup wrote:

This was pre-Internet days, children.

You mean there was a time without the internet? 

[haulingthescoreup]

---

watchnerd wrote:

---

@marty56 wrote:

Try to pay off one of the CCCs. I do better with only my mortgage, autoloan and one CC reporting.

According to my TU report, it says high FICO acheivers only have 3 accounts reporting a balance. Not sure why that would be the case since 3 accounts out of 20 seems better then 3 accounts our of 3 but my scores always go down if another CC reports a balance, even a very small one.

Dont dispute the lates especially if it is an old account.

---

Yes, but I already have only 3 accounts reporting a balance. Are you saying I need to reduce it to only 2?

And, except for the installment, any balance reporting is entirely intentional to show usage. My outstanding revolving balancing is about $500 out of $77K revolving credit line. The highest amount is about $400 on a card with an $11K limit.

---

I agree with marty. The best scores I've gotten, back when I had relatively few cards, were when only one * CARD * reported a minimal balance. (Open loans and mortgages, by definition, have balances.) FICO seems to like the idea of you being a credit-tease!

Again, if someone has a killer deal going on a card, as you do with your 1.99% car loan, fiscal sense should trump scoring sense, unless you're getting ready to app for something.

Otherwise, especially since you're just trying to show usage, I'd just let one report and see what happens.

[Anonymous]

Okay, for the next billing cycle I'll let only 1 CC report a balance and see what happens.

Would it matter which CC reports? Younger account vs older?

[haulingthescoreup]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Okay, for the next billing cycle I'll let only 1 CC report a balance and see what happens.

Would it matter which CC reports? Younger account vs older?

---

Nope.

For most people, without your CL's, I usually say let the one with the highest CL post, because the low dollar amount will have a lower util than on a dinky card. Don't think it matters in your case, though.

I would also make sure that the chosen card is one of those that update as reliably as clockwork, like Bank of America or Discover. This can reduce the exasperation of trying to figure out when the silly thing is going to post.

[Anonymous]

So in summary it sounds like, other than paying my bills, the only consensus recommended proactive step is to make it such that only 1 CC reports a balance.

Is that about it?