topic Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting in Credit Cards

I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:42:01 GMT

I'm new to myfico and the forum.

First question - I'm trying to get my score up to get a mortgage by VA or FHA.

My scores are:

TU: 577

EX: 582

EQ: 591

I am 2-1/2 years post BK discharge.

I have an auto loan with no lates and 7 credit cards with no lates. My balances have been maxed out except for 1 though which is just under 50% of avail. and its my highest credit line.

I recently had some $ to apply to the balances. I didn't know if it was better to pay a couple off or spread it around. I decided to spread it around. When the credit cards report, 4 of the 6 small balance cards should show below 50% of CL also. The problem is, looking at my credit reports, some cards report only to this bureau or that one, or do not report every month, or haven't reported in months making my balances look even higher than they were before the lump payments I just made.

So, here I'm hoping to just wait for the payments to apply and then keep chunking to get the balances down further but NOW my anxiety is that the payments won't report or will take MONTHS or phone calls and letter to get it to report!

Do I have to call the cc to ask them to report or should I dispute balance accuracy on the report? What is the fastest way to get this info updated? I called one that hasn't reported since Feb. and they said I had to send a dispute letter to their dept. to get it updated. This is going to be a bigger undertaking than just paying the bills I'm thinking. Any pointers please appreciated!

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:18:16 GMT

Paying down balances to below 9% and having less than half of your accounts reporting balances is the common advice and it helped me considerably. As far as reporting, give us the names of the accounts and I'm sure someone will have info on each and every one. You shouldn't have to do anything, they should all report. Some are notorious slackers.

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:33:11 GMT

Well, Household bank hasn't reported since June to TU or EQ but reported to EX on 8/3/08 the July bal. (the day I made the big payment actually of course & it didn't make sense with regard to my statement cut date as the payment was made early and was not due until 8/8).

A military credit card I have, AAFES, reports to EX as open and shows correct CL and balance but TU shows derog status as included in BK with incorrect CL and incorrect bal. reported in 2/08 and not since & EQ shows it as derog status with 0 payment and no other info. except included in BK. The credit line is 4500 and the balance is 1840 so I don't know if I should want it reported to EQ or not (might hurt?) but for TU it should help because the CL and bal. are wrong and outdated.

The other cards are Capital One and Credit One.

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:41:19 GMT

and might I add that this is mind boggling madness. Mortgage broker first said pay balances to 50% - then below 50% - then said well 50% won't really change anything should go for 30% but he has actually heard that it should be below 20% to make a difference. The credit reports always say 35%...here on the boards people say less than 10%.

Heck, I'm sure 2% should be my goal at this point LOL but I cannot afford to pay them all down so I'm trying to figure out the best way to apply what $$ I do have/get to get the best boost the fastest. I need to get to 620 and like anybody who wants into the housing market now the sooner the better.

I don't want to be a whiner but seeing how involved this is I go back and forth between thinking forget it I'll never had a house and rolling up my sleeves again and reading everything I can and studying my credit reports and financial plan determined to have a house...

At what percentage can I reasonable expect to see some point increase? Does it have to be below 10% to see it go up? TIA

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:44:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Well, Household bank hasn't reported since June to TU or EQ but reported to EX on 8/3/08 the July bal. (the day I made the big payment actually of course & it didn't make sense with regard to my statement cut date as the payment was made early and was not due until 8/8).
A military credit card I have, AAFES, reports to EX as open and shows correct CL and balance but TU shows derog status as included in BK with incorrect CL and incorrect bal. reported in 2/08 and not since & EQ shows it as derog status with 0 payment and no other info. except included in BK. The credit line is 4500 and the balance is 1840 so I don't know if I should want it reported to EQ or not (might hurt?) but for TU it should help because the CL and bal. are wrong and outdated.
The other cards are Capital One and Credit One.

Household is one of the notorious slackers. Call them and complain, try one of the backdoor numbers you'll find in a search here. I'm not sure I get the rest, did you file BK or are you saying these are open accounts that are reporting as IIB? Cap One and Credit One are ussually johnnie on the spot about reporting in my experience.

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:45:42 GMT

I believe you will see change when you get down to under 35% or so, and then even mroe change as you get under 10%. Just remember that you want to get as much paid off while at the same time putting some money aside for down payment, clsoing costs, and reserves. It may take a bit but you are heading in the right direction.

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:48:47 GMT

2longofahaul wrote:

Well, Household bank hasn't reported since June to TU or EQ but reported to EX on 8/3/08 the July bal. (the day I made the big payment actually of course & it didn't make sense with regard to my statement cut date as the payment was made early and was not due until 8/8).

This is normal for HSBC-issued cards, including Household Bank. Normally, they report on the last business day of the month. In your case, it looks like they reported shortly after the first of the month. The statement date and statement balance are almost always irrelevant when it comes to HSBC reporting.

2longofahaul wrote:

A military credit card I have, AAFES, reports to EX as open and shows correct CL and balance but TU shows derog status as included in BK with incorrect CL and incorrect bal. reported in 2/08 and not since & EQ shows it as derog status with 0 payment and no other info. except included in BK. The credit line is 4500 and the balance is 1840 so I don't know if I should want it reported to EQ or not (might hurt?) but for TU it should help because the CL and bal. are wrong and outdated.

Was it actually IIB? Which report has it right? We can't help without complete information.

2longofahaul wrote:

The other cards are Capital One and Credit One.

Are they reporting accurately and up-to-date? What's the reporting issue with these, if there is one?

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:50:31 GMT

2longofahaul wrote:

and might I add that this is mind boggling madness. Mortgage broker first said pay balances to 50% - then below 50% - then said well 50% won't really change anything should go for 30% but he has actually heard that it should be below 20% to make a difference. The credit reports always say 35%...here on the boards people say less than 10%.

Generally, the lower the better, but as a rule, you need to get below each 10% threshold to see a resulting increase in score.

So, what your broker told you was correct. Below 50% is good. However, below 30% is even better, and below 10% is better still.

The magic number is 1-9% for maximum scoring purposes.

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:51:21 GMT

Agree with Mickie, what I have read makes me think there are several plateaus. The ultimate, best-est being sub 10% utilization.

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:53:33 GMT

yes the AAFES account was actually a side issue/problem.

It was included in my BK (2-1/2 years post discharge now) but I reaffirmed on the debt so the account is still open and no lates ever.

So, 1 CRA shows derog in BK - wrong CL - wrong bal - noted reported on since 2/08

and another shows derog status in BK - no CL, no bal, nothing...

Question on that is obviously I correct the one CRA so it shows the accurate CL and bal. info. but should I worry about including it on the CRA not reporting? That is the CRA with my highest score actually so I'm confused about it.

& thanks for the other advice - I will look for and call Household's backdoor # and also shoot for below 35% to start and then go for pay offs on a few and then below 10% on those carrying balances.

I wish I had started much earlier to fix this stuff! Just got my reports 3 weeks ago (and got fooled by Truecredits FAKO scores - learning by mistake but I'm learning!) so today MYFICO true scores and harder work begins...

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:58:35 GMT

2longofahaul wrote:

yes the AAFES account was actually a side issue/problem.

It was included in my BK (2-1/2 years post discharge now) but I reaffirmed on the debt so the account is still open and no lates ever.

So, 1 CRA shows derog in BK - wrong CL - wrong bal - noted reported on since 2/08

and another shows derog status in BK - no CL, no bal, nothing...

Question on that is obviously I correct the one CRA so it shows the accurate CL and bal. info. but should I worry about including it on the CRA not reporting? That is the CRA with my highest score actually so I'm confused about it.

IIB is a derog status. The report that is not reporting the account may be your highest score because this is actually a derog account that is hurting. I'm not sure if it can be reported as IIB if you reaffirmed the account. I'll have to check on that.

2longofahaul wrote:

& thanks for the other advice - I will look for and call Household's backdoor # and also shoot for below 35% to start and then go for pay offs on a few and then below 10% on those carrying balances.

Household's backdoor number won't do you any good. The account is reporting the way that virtually all HSBC accounts report, as I mentioned above, and they're not going to change that.

2longofahaul wrote:

I wish I had started much earlier to fix this stuff! Just got my reports 3 weeks ago (and got fooled by Truecredits FAKO scores - learning by mistake but I'm learning!) so today MYFICO true scores and harder work begins...

You are definitely not alone. A lot of people are fooled by those fake scores before they eventaully end up here and discover the real deal.

I'll look into the IIB question and see what I can find.

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:11:29 GMT

Thanks!

So Household not reporting since 6/30 - there is just nothing I can do but wait to see if they feel like reporting?

Here is what the aafes account looks like on my combined 3-in-1 report

Transuion Experian Equifax

Condition: Derogatory Open Derogatory

Balance: 2065 1870

Type: Charge Acct Charge acct

Pay status: Current Current

Experian is correct (except for most recent payment).

TU hasn't been reported since Feb. 08.

Equifax since 2005 when BK was filed.

Should I just dispute it with the CRA with TU hoping the correction in CL and bal will help my util?

EQ is my highest score (so I'm wondering if it is helping my util to not have it listed?)

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:20:17 GMT

2longofahaul wrote:

Thanks!

You're welcome!

2longofahaul wrote:

So Household not reporting since 6/30 - there is just nothing I can do but wait to see if they feel like reporting?

You said they reported the July balance to one CRA. I'd say the odds are about 99% that they also reported to the others on the same date. It sometimes takes up to two weeks or so for the CRAs to update your reports even after a creditor reports a new balance, and they each update on their own schedules. It's very common to see an update appear on one, then another, then finally on the third one within days of each other. Wait it out, and I have a strong feeling the other two CRAs will update like they're supposed to.

2longofahaul wrote:

Experian is correct (except for most recent payment).

The payment reported is not the amount of the payment you actually made. It is the amount of the minimum payment that was due on the last statement.

2longofahaul wrote:

TU hasn't been reported since Feb. 08.

Did anything in particular happen with this account in Feb 08?

2longofahaul wrote:

Equifax since 2005 when BK was filed.

If it's still counting it as IIB, that makes sense.

2longofahaul wrote:

Should I just dispute it with the CRA with TU hoping the correction in CL and bal will help my util?

I'd hold off on disputing anything until we get some answers on the IIB thing. How big of a hurry are you in?

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:20:47 GMT

Actually, I just thought of something else.

Would it help my other 2 scores if I requested aafes update 2 other CRAs with info. they reported to Experian? (i.e. open/current/not derog) It is my oldest account and I reaffirmed and never missed a payment because it is military and could have been an unofficial career killer...

Just looking for points wherever I can get them without making anything worse...

Re: I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:30:48 GMT

2longofahaul wrote:

Experian is correct (except for most recent payment).

The payment reported is not the amount of the payment you actually made. It is the amount of the minimum payment that was due on the last statement.

**Thanks - actually it is my correct current balance (not taking into account my most recent payment which of course will not report until next month is what I meant)

2longofahaul wrote:
TU hasn't been reported since Feb. 08.

Did anything in particular happen with this account in Feb 08?

** The only thing I can think of is 2 year-mark for BK discharge (filed BK 10/05 - discharged in 02/06)

I'm not going to dispute anything else until I know it will help and not hurt.

I already disputed my child support for showing open with 1 (120) late and so they closed it and reported 12 (120) lates for my CS arrears that went on all year though I was paying current (just not arrears) until the arrears was paid this past spring - I guess that was my kiss goodbye by the CS bureau! I read that CS isn't taken into account for mortgages though but that is the only thing that could have dropped my scores 3 points since May that I could see. Everything else is just on time pays and decreasing balances (albeit slowly until these pays I just made that aren't reporting yet).

I kind of am in a hurry - we'd like to get FHA before Oct. 1 Ameridream downpayment assist goes out but then again we can go VA so it won't be the end of the world - just my inpatience. I need a 620 like yesterday!