topic Ask a friend to include you on one of his/her credit card... in Understanding FICO® Scoring

how long does it take to raise fico scores

Anonymous — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:26:42 GMT

my bankruptcy was discharged in march 2005, i have obtained credit cards, auto loans (both paid off),student loans and a mortgage. i had two consecutive late payments on my car last Jun/Jul then paid it off after a refi in Aug. My scores are 648,665,691. I was told that i need to be two years out of my bankruptcy, and one year past my late payment to get a construction loan and my score at least 680 to get approval. can anyone tell me how long it would take me to reach a score of 680+ and what I need to do. I want to do my construction late spring? which score is the most accurate that is used by lenders?

...can anyone tell me how long it would take me to reach...

Barry — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 22:18:32 GMT

...can anyone tell me how long it would take me to reach a score of 680+ and what I need to do. I want to do my construction late spring? which score is the most accurate that is used by lenders?....

southie --

While no one can really say how long it will take to reach a score of 680, it looks like you're already there with one bureau and getting there with the other two. The best things to do over the next few months, besides not being late on anything, are: 1) get your credit card balances down as low as possible without paying them off completely or closing them, i.e. <$100 is ideal; and 2) don't open any new accounts.

As for which score is the most accurate that is used by lenders, all bureaus tend to be equal in terms of accuracy of data and the scores are always as accurate as the data. Often a lender will look for the middle of the three scores to be at a certain level, regardless of which bureau, so you may want to check on this with your lender.

Good luck with your construction.

Barry

Ask a friend to include you on one of his/her credit card...

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 05:22:33 GMT

Ask a friend to include you on one of his/her credit card as a join member and you could raise your score very quickly within 30 dyas by as much as 40 points...

Good Luck

Southie

Anonymous — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 16:53:15 GMT

You may also want to visit www.mileshomes.com they do Construction to perminant loans and you only have one closing cost, When I spoke with them they said you had to have a mid score of 640 to qualify. It looks as if you already have that. Good luck hope to hear your building soon.

Message Edited by nikkoslilmouse on 03-18-2007 09:52 AM

Message Edited by nikkoslilmouse on 03-18-2007 09:53 AM

Barry said: "1) get your credit card balances down a...

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 15:37:39 GMT

Barry said: "1) get your credit card balances down as low as possible without paying them off completely or closing them, i.e. <$100 is ideal;"

Why do you say "without paying them off completely"? I'm confused now.

I have two cards - The first has a zero balance and the second is at 43% of it's limit.

I want to apply for a loan in a few months and thought that beforehand I should pay the balance of the second off completely. Should I carry a small balance on the first card?

joint creit

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 22:45:05 GMT

how does being added to a friends credit card boost your FICO score?

fico score is increased

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 03:13:13 GMT

if you get added to someone elses credit card you dont even have to do anything, all they do is keep paying there bill and it reports on both your credit reports and both of you get the credit, but on the downside,if the other guy does not pay or misses payments then you are both liable for the same bill and you both will get negative score ratings from one person being late and you were the innocent one!!!!!!

"if you get added to someone elses credit card you d...

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:43:46 GMT

"if you get added to someone elses credit card you dont even have to do anything, all they do is keep paying there bill and it reports on both your credit reports and both of you get the credit, but on the downside,if the other guy does not pay or misses payments then you are both liable for the same bill and you both will get negative score ratings from one person being late and you were the innocent one!!!!!!"

AU has no contractual liability unless the AU uses the card. Both on the perspectives of paying or having negative info on the report.

How to raise your fico score

antredd67 — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 02:26:52 GMT

Everyone's scenario is different. But what I have discovered is that when I stopped charging things on my credit cards, paying down $7,000 of my debt in one month which helped reduced my balances below 50% of my credit limit, my Fico scores shot up 30 points that month. I can attribute this also to not being late payments on any of my bills for over 2 years and having some accounts with ZERO balances.

I did notice using Fico's Score watcher that when I merged two credit cards I had with the same bank, closing the newer account thus increasing my credit limit on the older card, my fico score shot up 6 points that month for doing th at.

How to raise your fico score

antredd67 — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 02:26:52 GMT

How to raise your fico score

antredd67 — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 02:27:10 GMT

My experience has been you can't raise your FICO. It's li...

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 08:06:58 GMT

My experience has been you can't raise your FICO. It's like your DNA. Once you are assigned a low FICO, that's it. Ever see Gattaca? That's what credit scoring is: a lifetime mark.

The theory is that you should have multiple cards, but ne...

Anonymous — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 18:33:16 GMT

The theory is that you should have multiple cards, but never actually use them for credit. Charge just enough to get a bill each month, and then pay the minimum on the bill. A $30 purchase does the trick nicely. Lather, rinse, repeat for a year, then bug the card-issuer for a credit line increase. Not that you'll actually use all the credit, mind you, it just looks good. Keep charging a little bit, and studiously paying on time, and you should be up to $5000 limits in a few years with a great FICO. That's a great tactic if you're just starting out...now if you're like me and have charge-offs on your credit report, forget it. Nothing will improve your score, because as soon as it begins to rise, a collection agency will re-report your old debt and make it look new so your score drops again. If you have charge-offs just keep one card for emergencies and forget about FICO until the charge-off drops from your account (seven years).

Message Edited by TheNewWorldMan on 03-25-2007 11:33 AM

Newworldman, Your postings crack me up. I'm happy that...

yoreljm — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 03:30:14 GMT

Newworldman,

Your postings crack me up. I'm happy that recent increases in your scores have given you a little more faith in FICO. Personally, I dont like all the hoops one has to jump through with CCs. I just got 3 card and I've already maxed them out...that's what I got them for! to use!