topic Re: Problem raising score... in General Credit Topics

Problem raising score...

jsjroo — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:20:28 GMT

Here's the situation. My current scores are about 640-650 with the big 3. My credit balances are only around $100, mortgage of 215K with value of 240K, no car loans. I've had 2 auto loans in the last 4 years which are all paid off now.

Back about 4.5 yrs ago, I was without a job for almost 3 months and right in the middle of a side business deal. I only had funds to pay rent/auto/gas/food. Thus many cards went 30-60-90 days late. Right after 2-3 months I was signed on to do credit counceling which helped out with interest and payment. The accounts were never late after that. I've never had a mortgage or installment loan late pay nor any collections accounts.

What's my best option to bring the score up in the 7's. I'd rather not wait another 2.5 years before my score goes up. I've paid almost all my credit cards off, though when I signed up for counseling, many were closed. I only have $1700 available credit. I spend about 15-20K per month for a business I own so I could tie that into a secured card to build credit. Income is in the 100's.

What will help the most. Goodwill letters? Secured card? Applying for a new un-secured card with larger limit.

Any help or advice would be appreciated. I also hired a law firm which to date hasn't helped out scores at all.

Thanks

Message Edited by jsjroo on 01-29-2009 10:20 AM

Re: Problem raising score...

Tuscani — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:10:03 GMT

Fire the law firm. They are not doing anything you cannot do yourself.. and doing yourself generally leads to better results.

What is your util? Aside from lates, util is the next important factor in score calculation.

Also get GW letters out on all late payments. See my sig for an example.

Re: Problem raising score...

MidnightVoice — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:17:03 GMT

Is that a Tusker I see before me, risen from the grave?

Re: Problem raising score...

Tuscani — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:21:26 GMT

^^^^^ something like that.

Re: Problem raising score...

MidnightVoice — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:57:29 GMT

Welcome back!!

Re: Problem raising score...

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:34:14 GMT

Good information! Thank you!!

Re: Problem raising score...

jsjroo — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:07:06 GMT

I'm just about ready to give up on the whole FICO BS. Private investors are much easier.

My score was 645 yesterday. Today 599. An account which showed open for the last year after being paid off( it was suppose to be closed after paying off as that was agreeed when it went to a Credit counceling agency 4 years ago) was moved to the closed section of my report. It is a closed account but while it showed open it sure did help.

I still can't believe that a person who has...

Over 4.5 years w/o a late payment at all, has a 2K a month mortgage, had two car loans for $400-500/mth each which are now fully paid off with no strikes, and has zero credit card debt, collections, or any other negs...

and can't get above 599 for a credit score?

Can you offer to Pay the CC companies for their troubles in dealing with you in the past if they can remove negs from a long time ago? I haven't been pushing getting my score up until recently but now I hate the idea of having to wait a few years to get a good score.

Thanks again for all the help.

Re: Problem raising score...

llecs — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:11:38 GMT

jsjroo wrote:
I'm just about ready to give up on the whole FICO BS. Private investors are much easier.

My score was 645 yesterday. Today 599. An account which showed open for the last year after being paid off( it was suppose to be closed after paying off as that was agreeed when it went to a Credit counceling agency 4 years ago) was moved to the closed section of my report. It is a closed account but while it showed open it sure did help.

I still can't believe that a person who has...
Over 4.5 years w/o a late payment at all, has a 2K a month mortgage, had two car loans for $400-500/mth each which are now fully paid off with no strikes, and has zero credit card debt, collections, or any other negs...

and can't get above 599 for a credit score?

Can you offer to Pay the CC companies for their troubles in dealing with you in the past if they can remove negs from a long time ago? I haven't been pushing getting my score up until recently but now I hate the idea of having to wait a few years to get a good score.

Thanks again for all the help.

How severe are the lates?

Do you have any open CCs?

Do you have any "settled" accounts?

Any public records?

Any collections in the Accounts section?

Where did you pull your score from?

No, you can't pay off anyone; that's unethical and in some cases illegal. But you can send off GWs.

Re: Problem raising score...

jsjroo — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:46:08 GMT

There are about 5-90's & 3-30's on 3 diff accounts. then 6 30's on 5 other accounts. About 11 accounts were open then. 2 showed no negs. 1 of the 90 account and one 30 were settled. I have 2 open cards. One 700(9yrs) and one 950(3yrs). No pulbic records, no collections, pulled from experian FICO scores.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Re: Problem raising score...

llecs — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:46:47 GMT

Split post off to form a new thread.

Re: Problem raising score...

llecs — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:59:44 GMT

jsjroo wrote:
There are about 5-90's & 3-30's on 3 diff accounts. then 6 30's on 5 other accounts. About 11 accounts were open then. 2 showed no negs. 1 of the 90 account and one 30 were settled. I have 2 open cards. One 700(9yrs) and one 950(3yrs). No pulbic records, no collections, pulled from experian FICO scores.

Any ideas?

Thanks

The 90 days are still hurting and may continue to do so up to the 7 yrs mark. Wherever possible, send out GWs and ask for the lates to be removed.

If any of your accounts have the word "settled" in it, you'd also want to get that remark removed. Per FICO scoring, settled is the same as a charge-off.

Which website did you pull your scores from?

Sites like freecreditreport.com, creditchecktotal, and other Experian-related websites sell their own score and do not sell FICO scores. Their FAKO score is called an Experian PLUS score and mine has been traditionally lower by as much as 100 points.

Re: Problem raising score...

jsjroo — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:03:01 GMT

freecreditreport.com is where I got the # from. I though they used a true FICO score? When I got my home mortgage about a year ago it was almost identical for all three bureaus. At that time I purchased the other 2 to see what all three were.

Is it tougher to remove the settlement marks on my credit? I have heard on the forum here that it might be possible to pay some of the settlement difference to help them to remove the strike. Does that work?

Which hurts my score more, the 90's or the 2 settlements?

Thanks again for your help.

Re: Problem raising score...

llecs — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 22:49:33 GMT

jsjroo wrote:
freecreditreport.com is where I got the # from. I though they used a true FICO score? When I got my home mortgage about a year ago it was almost identical for all three bureaus. At that time I purchased the other 2 to see what all three were.

Is it tougher to remove the settlement marks on my credit? I have heard on the forum here that it might be possible to pay some of the settlement difference to help them to remove the strike. Does that work?

Which hurts my score more, the 90's or the 2 settlements?

Thanks again for your help.

Ah ha moment. FCR doesn't use a FICO score, but rather their own scoring system that is totally off-base from a FICO score. As an example, my last CA popped off in August. My score through CCT (FCR and CCT use the same scores called a PLUS score) after the CA was removed dropped 8 points. My real EX FICO score increased 58 points. Unfortunately, lenders don't use the PLUS score and I always recommend that people ignore these scores and the annoying jingle from FCR too! Your FICO can go up and FAKO down for the same event and vice versa. My FAKO through the PLUS score has been as much as 150 points lower than the FICO. Pull all three scores and you'll likely see a stark difference.

IMO, the settlements hurt your FICO score more. Before doing anything, keep a super close eye on your history. Look for your avg. age of accounts (found on TU or EQ FICO reports or calculate it yourself) and if the account in question is younger than your AAoA, the GW away. If they delete then they delete. No harm. But if older, tip toe around them and proceed carefully. Yes, GWs can get it fixed, but some have had success by paying the difference after offering a PFD, or modify the PFD to fix the "settlement" remark.

Re: Problem raising score...

jsjroo — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:02:36 GMT

Thanks for all the good info. I just pulled a Experian here and got 665. That a great difference.

Can you PFD for less than the amount that was waved. I owed discover 6600 and I was only late for 60 days then they sent a letter to settle for $3200. I didn't know the ramifications back then. Would a creditor remove the strike for less than the full difference?

Thanks again

Re: Problem raising score...

llecs — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:35:02 GMT

jsjroo wrote:
Thanks for all the good info. I just pulled a Experian here and got 665. That a great difference.

Can you PFD for less than the amount that was waved. I owed discover 6600 and I was only late for 60 days then they sent a letter to settle for $3200. I didn't know the ramifications back then. Would a creditor remove the strike for less than the full difference?

Thanks again

You can offer a PFD of sorts to get them to either remove the TL or fix the lates, settled remark, etc. It has been done successfully w/ a number of CCCs, but I can't speak for Discover. Another option is to have them reopen the CC if you pay off the balance. Some actually do that (Amex via their Oasis program and Macys comes to mind). I'd call several times to get a "yes" about fixing the TL or new card (if that is what you want). After several "no's", I'd start w/ the PFDs.