topic Re: Needing some wise counsel... in General Credit Topics

Needing some wise counsel...

tbone74 — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:33:10 GMT

As I’ve perused the various topics of the forum, the general consensus appears to be ‘time’. With that being said, I’d like to see if there are any other avenues I might take to help expedite my FICO scores in the upward direction.

Negatives- CH. 13 discharged in 2007

Collections (All paid in full as of 03/09)

Excessive Inquires

Positives- Credit Union Credit Card (unsecured) $1000 (8 month history, never late)

Auto Loan (14 month history, never late)

X2 Signature Loans - $2300 and $4000 remaining

Seasonal Loan (Credit Union Special) - $500 remaining

Student Loan

Given the information above, is there anything that I can do to help my situation? Additionally, my credit card balance was at $960. I just paid the balance to 0…however, it hasn’t reported yet. What type of change can I expect to my FICO score when this reports?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Starting Today: 04/23/09 - FICO/ TU: 508 EF: 533 FAKO/ EXP: 588

Re: Needing some wise counsel...

llecs — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:41:59 GMT

Welcome to the forums!

There's nothing you can do about the BK or the inquiries, other than to let time go by, as you mentioned. You will see a large score increase if you get the CAs removed. Whether paid or unapid, whether you owe $0 or $10,000, the presence of a CA on your CR is equally damaging. Send each CA a GW asking them to remove.

Good job on paying the sole CC off or down. You could see at least a 30 point increase just by that. Also, your mix of credit is taking a small hit. Dod not do this yet, but once your scores reach into the high-600s, and assuming you aren't planning to buy a home or car within the next 12 months following that point, then you may want to consider adding another revolving CC and a charge card like store or gas. Doing that will really help, though you can easily have scores into the mid to high-700s without those two new CCs.

Re: Needing some wise counsel...

tbone74 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:33:36 GMT

Thanks you very much for the feedback! We do intent on purchasing a home w/in the next 12 months (VA Loan). So with that, I'll hold of on opening another revolving account. Could you clarify "your mix of credit" is taking a hit too? Does that mean the types of credit I currently have or the amount of open accounts I have?

Thanks again for everyone's time!

Re: Needing some wise counsel...

tbone74 — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 12:34:12 GMT

I'm a terrible proof reader as you can tell..lol

Re: Needing some wise counsel...

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:49:13 GMT

If you have only 1 CC, let it report a very small balance. You will get dinged for having 0% revolving utilization.

Check the "Freq Requested Threads" for Credit Scoring 101.

Re: Needing some wise counsel...

llecs — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:00:00 GMT

And to add, when I first started rebuilding my credit, I had 0 CCs. I became a FICO junkie by that point and pulled my reports a few times each month. I noticed that when I added my first CC, a revolving TL, my scores shot way up. I added a second revolving CC and again my scores went up a little, even after the first reported with a $0 balance. Finally, my third to report was a store charge card and again, my FICOs went up more than for the second CC. After that, cards 4-12 eventually reported over the next couple of years and my scores dropped every single time. I figured that the mix that FICO talks about (I think 10% of your score) played a big part into that initial increase. And as Sidewinder mentioned, it is a WHOLE lot easier managing util on several cards vs one.