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will a cli help my fico score?

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MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: will a cli help my fico score?


@missjade wrote:

 



I thought I read somewhere that having too many things reporting has a negative effect.  What about in case of old, paid collections?  Do those hurt the score and should be requested off?  Or is it better that they stay to help average age?  How is average age calculated anyway?  Is it the sum of months reporting for all reporting accounts beginning with the date open divided by # of accounts?  

 


May I ask how old these are?  Since a paid collection is scored the same as an unpaid one and if it can be removed early through a GW letter it seems like it might be worth the effort. The goal is to get everything negative removed as soon as possible to have a clean report. Often what remains on your reports is just as important as what is showing.

 

GW efforts have no guarantees of course but they do work.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

 

Message 21 of 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: will a cli help my fico score?

hauling....but is it true if you have a zero balance on a cc for to long they can or will cancel your account?

Message 22 of 29
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: will a cli help my fico score?

 


@Anonymous wrote:

hauling....but is it true if you have a zero balance on a cc for to long they can or will cancel your account?


 

I say from personal experience that this does happen. Smiley Sad

 

Message 23 of 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: will a cli help my fico score?

how long straight have you had any account report as zero balance?

Message 24 of 29
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: will a cli help my fico score?


@Anonymous wrote:

how long straight have you had any account report as zero balance?


My Best Buy store card has not been used since last May but I think they are an exception and every company has different standards. It's better to err on the side of caution and don't wait too long. If in doubt use a card for something small every 3-4 months and then PIF as soon as it hits your account just to show activity.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

Message 25 of 29
missjade
Member

Re: will a cli help my fico score?

 


@MarineVietVet wrote:

May I ask how old these are?  Since a paid collection is scored the same as an unpaid one and if it can be removed early through a GW letter it seems like it might be worth the effort. The goal is to get everything negative removed as soon as possible to have a clean report. Often what remains on your reports is just as important as what is showing.

 

GW efforts have no guarantees of course but they do work.


There is one collection that originally was for a utility bill in May of '03.  It was way more for one month's of billing then I was able to pay at the time (about $850 but I was a full time college student with no job) and the utility gave it right to a collection agency, without any time for me to even attempt to make a payment plan.  Either way the collection agency let me pay it off gradually at $50/month that they were supposed to be taking out of a checking account each month.  Eventually they stopped and I didn't even really notice (wasn't keeping track how many payments I had left).  In mid 2005 I got a notice from the same collection agency (and also a collection on my CR, which wasn't there before) for the same debt.  They stated that the account was never paid off since they stopped taking payments from my checking account.  Apparently at the end of that year they attempted to call me to verify that it was still OK for them to do so.  I have never heard of something so ridiculous, but they told me they have to do that every year.  Since I changed cell phone numbers they weren't able to reach me to verify it so they stopped taking the money out.  They never attempted to mail me anything, by the way.  So I got really mad at them and didn't pay.  In 2007 it was given over to another collection agency and I settled with them for about half to report it as PIF on my CRs.  So it is showing PIF but the date opened on it shows 2007.  My understanding is that the actual time on CRs should count from May of '03, not from '07, correct?  Which would mean I can make a request to the CRs to take it off since 7 years from original debt has passed, correct?

 

Message 26 of 29
MarineVietVet
Moderator Emeritus

Re: will a cli help my fico score?


@missjade wrote:

 



There is one collection that originally was for a utility bill in May of '03.  It was way more for one month's of billing then I was able to pay at the time (about $850 but I was a full time college student with no job) and the utility gave it right to a collection agency, without any time for me to even attempt to make a payment plan.  Either way the collection agency let me pay it off gradually at $50/month that they were supposed to be taking out of a checking account each month.  Eventually they stopped and I didn't even really notice (wasn't keeping track how many payments I had left).  In mid 2005 I got a notice from the same collection agency (and also a collection on my CR, which wasn't there before) for the same debt.  They stated that the account was never paid off since they stopped taking payments from my checking account.  Apparently at the end of that year they attempted to call me to verify that it was still OK for them to do so.  I have never heard of something so ridiculous, but they told me they have to do that every year.  Since I changed cell phone numbers they weren't able to reach me to verify it so they stopped taking the money out.  They never attempted to mail me anything, by the way.  So I got really mad at them and didn't pay.  In 2007 it was given over to another collection agency and I settled with them for about half to report it as PIF on my CRs.  So it is showing PIF but the date opened on it shows 2007.  My understanding is that the actual time on CRs should count from May of '03, not from '07, correct?  Which would mean I can make a request to the CRs to take it off since 7 years from original debt has passed, correct?

 


The only date that applies to this is the DoFD. That is the date you first went late on this account and never caught back up. The CRTP is keyed to that. You'll need to confirm what the actual DoFD was. You can contact the OC if you're not sure.

 

If the DoFD was truly 5/2003 then yes it should already be gone because collections cannot be reported longer than 7.5 years from the DoFD.

 

 

 

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 9/09 pulled by lender 802, EQ - 10/10-813, TU - 10/10-774

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

 

 

Message 27 of 29
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: will a cli help my fico score?

 


@Anonymous wrote:

hauling....but is it true if you have a zero balance on a cc for to long they can or will cancel your account?


 

Two different issues here: a $0 balance showing on your credit reports, versus not using the card.

 

If you're using the card during the month and paying it off before it reports, the CCC can see that you're an active customer. They don't look at what's report to the bureaus; that's a scoring issue. Many of my CC's haven't reported a balance in over a year, but they're definitely being used, and I haven't had any problems. In fact, I've gotten CLI's on several.

 

But if you don't use it at all, there's an excellent chance that they'll close it for non-usage.

 

But not for "non-reportage."*  Smiley Wink

 

*Or at least, I haven't heard about it. It could happen, I'm sure, but it would be an awfully dumb lender that evaluated card usage on the basis of balances reported to the bureaus. For instance, back in the days when I used to battle with Citi/ Sears over trying to get a CLI on my pitiful MC, it had been reporting $0 for months, but the CSR said, OK, I can see that you've been using your card a lot. (Didn't do any good, though! Smiley Very Happy)

* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 28 of 29
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: will a cli help my fico score?

Hauling...your response is much appreciated and confirmed what i was thinking. Because i want to pay off my cards but have a reaccuring charge to it every month so im actively using it and that will be ok.

Message 29 of 29
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