topic Re: Been a while. in General Credit Topics

Been a while.

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 14:09:20 GMT

So last I posted I wasn't doing so good, but I did get a car. That I'm still paying on. With 20% interest... ugh... Didn't get the job. The car didn't pass inspection and needed $900 worth of work to pass. My new to me $2000 car that I couldn't drive for 9 months due to having to save to get it fixed. That I was also paying on, and the insurance...

Still on SSI. Still $750 a month. Credit scores in the 700's. One secured credit card that I've had for 7 years. Paid in full every month and then used for things like cell bill etc...

Looking into something different. New job offer again. Looking for a personal loan. Same issues. High credit usage. Not enough credit accounts. HOW DO I GET MORE!!! Grrrr... I have all good stuff but these few things hear repeatedly. Do they ONLY look at the BAD?!? Don't they look at the numbers? $300 card... get one tank of gas and blam! 35%+ usage.

Looked into an RV specific loan again. I can handle the payments. Let's see what happens. Will be looking to my own bank again tomorrow.

What am I doing wrong?!?!

Thank you for reading this.

Re: Been a while.

kimbersleep — Fri, 11 May 2018 01:09:39 GMT

You mention that you are being abused by your roommates but that you cannot get help with that. I am sorry this is happening to you. You also mention you are on SSI. If you are a person with a disability, you may be considered a vulnerable adult and may be able to get assistance with identifying another living situation through your state, city or county's Adult Protective Services.

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 14:24:13 GMT

I'm sorry about that. I was frustrated and was just typing. I have removed that part of the post not that it's any less true.

Any advice for the other problems? Specifically why the broken logic of not giving more credit to a 700+ score because they don't have enough of a history?

The 3 main problems I see across all my reports are High credit usage, Loan balances, and Few accounts paid on time.

High credit usage: one card $300 limit. I buy gas or groceries and there goes that.

Loan balances: I have 1 car loan that I have 7 payments out of 24 left on. How is that high?

Few accounts: I have 2. They say the "normal" is 6. How do I get more if places only see 2 and won't give more because of that?

Paid on time: The 2 account is paid on time. The report even says so.

So my overall question is what am I doing wrong?

Thank you.

Re: Been a while.

QuakerOatmeal — Fri, 11 May 2018 15:33:21 GMT

20% interest on a car loan? Thats pretty high, considering your credit scores in the 700s. Have you considered refinancing through your bank/credit union?

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 15:44:53 GMT

@AnonymousNot enough credit accounts. HOW DO I GET MORE!!! Grrrr... I have all good stuff but these few things hear repeatedly. Do they ONLY look at the BAD?!? Don't they look at the numbers? $300 card... get one tank of gas and blam! 35%+ usage.

A $300 card is just fine for things like tank of gas. Real-time usage % is irrelevant, it's reported usage that matters. Just make multiple payments on the card. I know it can be a bit of a pain, but it is literally just a few clicks that takes 10 seconds. Buy your tank of gas, pay it off. Done deal. The only constraint to a $300 card is that you can't make a single purchase that's > $300. You can still make $200-$300 purchases every few days if you wanted to, so long as you pay off the $200-$300 right away every time.

If you're looking to scoop up more accounts to thicken your file, try some secured cards. You can get one from a local credit union, a Discover and a Capital One. There's 3 right there and you'll go from a thin file to a non-thin one. After 6 months of making on-time payments, chances are all 3 would let you unsecure them and you'd probably have your limits raised to $1000-$2000 on them (or maybe even higher, who knows) with credit scores in the 700's.

Regarding an installment loan, negative reason statements can be present if the loan isn't paid down to < 8.9% of the original balance. You mentioned 7 out of 24 payments; that's > 8.9% so you score is being held back relative to if you had < 8.9% of that balance left. This could be 10-15 points or so. It's just a reason statement educating you saying that your score can still be boosted by bringing that balance down. This is a good thing and not a negative, IMO.

Re: Been a while.

DollyLama — Fri, 11 May 2018 15:57:22 GMT

The factor on loan-the balance is too high, hits everyone unless you have over an 800 score, or your balance hits under <8.9%, I really would not concern with that factor. Dismiss it.

Utilization, the key is to pay and never let a balance report at statement cut, not your due date , of higher than 8.9% of your total tradeline, if that can't be obtained, the next threshold is no more than 28.9% of its' credit line.

What two cards do you have? With a seven year revolver, and no credit line increase or graduated to unsecured?

Have you tried pre-qual with Capital One to see if you have any offers.

Lastly, do you have previous or current derogs on your file, late payments, chargeoffs?

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 16:08:34 GMT

wrote:
20% interest on a car loan? Thats pretty high, considering your credit scores in the 700s. Have you considered refinancing through your bank/credit union?

Yep. Best I could do at the time. I had a 700 score then also. Bank said no. The car was too old and had too many miles. Got taken very badly on it also. $3500 I put my entire savings as a down payment, $1500 (SSI allows savings of $2000 max). Found out it had major issues a few months after and it was only worth about $400.

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 16:14:22 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@AnonymousNot enough credit accounts. HOW DO I GET MORE!!! Grrrr... I have all good stuff but these few things hear repeatedly. Do they ONLY look at the BAD?!? Don't they look at the numbers? $300 card... get one tank of gas and blam! 35%+ usage.

A $300 card is just fine for things like tank of gas. Real-time usage % is irrelevant, it's reported usage that matters. Just make multiple payments on the card. I know it can be a bit of a pain, but it is literally just a few clicks that takes 10 seconds. Buy your tank of gas, pay it off. Done deal. The only constraint to a $300 card is that you can't make a single purchase that's > $300. You can still make $200-$300 purchases every few days if you wanted to, so long as you pay off the $200-$300 right away every time.
-----
I pay this off in full every month for the past 7 years.
-----
If you're looking to scoop up more accounts to thicken your file, try some secured cards. You can get one from a local credit union, a Discover and a Capital One. There's 3 right there and you'll go from a thin file to a non-thin one. After 6 months of making on-time payments, chances are all 3 would let you unsecure them and you'd probably have your limits raised to $1000-$2000 on them (or maybe even higher, who knows) with credit scores in the 700's.

My card is a Capital One secured card. It satarted out at $100 and I was able to put more money into it to get it to $300. In 7 years Ive never gotten an increase and now they don't allow more deposits. I've requested increases/unsecuring and was told I wasn't eligible.

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 16:22:08 GMT

wrote:
The factor on loan-the balance is too high, hits everyone unless you have over an 800 score, or your balance hits under <8.9%, I really would not concern with that factor. Dismiss it.

Utilization, the key is to pay and never let a balance report at statement cut, not your due date , of higher than 8.9% of your total tradeline, if that can't be obtained, the next threshold is no more than 28.9% of its' credit line.

What two cards do you have? With a seven year revolver, and no credit line increase or graduated to unsecured?

Have you tried pre-qual with Capital One to see if you have any offers.

Lastly, do you have previous or current derogs on your file, late payments, chargeoffs?

I have one Capital One secured card with $300 of my own money that I've had for 7 years. I pay in full every month before the due date.

The other account is the car loan.

No derogs at all, no late payments, no chargeoffs EVER.

Could it be my income? I get $750 month from SSI. I just got another job offer that 90% perfect for me (can handle my physical and mental issues) in another state. I'm trying to get off SSI. I'm a bit... rushy... the car won't pass inspection next month ($2000+ in repairs)and I'm looking to get a small/cheap motorhome to drive there.

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Fri, 11 May 2018 16:35:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
wrote:
The factor on loan-the balance is too high, hits everyone unless you have over an 800 score, or your balance hits under <8.9%, I really would not concern with that factor. Dismiss it.

Utilization, the key is to pay and never let a balance report at statement cut, not your due date , of higher than 8.9% of your total tradeline, if that can't be obtained, the next threshold is no more than 28.9% of its' credit line.

What two cards do you have? With a seven year revolver, and no credit line increase or graduated to unsecured?

Have you tried pre-qual with Capital One to see if you have any offers.

Lastly, do you have previous or current derogs on your file, late payments, chargeoffs?
I have one Capital One secured card with $300 of my own money that I've had for 7 years. I pay in full every month before the due date.
The other account is the car loan.
No derogs at all, no late payments, no chargeoffs EVER.

Could it be my income? I get $750 month from SSI. I just got another job offer that 90% perfect for me (can handle my physical and mental issues) in another state. I'm trying to get off SSI. I'm a bit... rushy... the car won't pass inspection next month ($2000+ in repairs)and I'm looking to get a small/cheap motorhome to drive there.

Where are you taking this car for service? Have you gotten a second opinion? Also, have you checked the list of your state's inspection requirements to make sure the items they say need fixed are even on it?

I had a shop tell me a few years ago during inspection that I had a bad axle. I thanked them for the heads up and said I'd keep an eye on it and would have to deal with it later, and had them give me my sticker since that item isn't on NY's inspection requirements list. That was 5 years ago and I'm only seeing the signs of it needing replaced now.

Re: Been a while.

TaperRandy — Sat, 19 May 2018 22:42:29 GMT

7 years with a secured card at $300 without any increase is almost inconceivable. Yes, you are being held back by your fixed income. Try asking or replying for an unsecured card.

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Tue, 15 May 2018 12:59:17 GMT

The factor on loan-the balance is too high, hits everyone unless you have over an 800 score, or your balance hits under <8.9%, I really would not concern with that factor. Dismiss it.

DL, this negative reason statement can still be viewed with scores > 800. A large portion of CMS software out there omits negative reason statements at scores that are 800+, but there are many that do not. On my last Discover CLI denial letter I had the negative reason statement that "Proportion of loan balances to loan limits is too high" and that was with a score of 835. In 3 weeks after my Discover score updates on their site to 850 (I already know it's at 850 from another source) I'll try another CLI and will likely get another denial letter. I'm curious to see if Discover still provides reason statements at a score of 850 and if so, what they are.

Re: Been a while.

MakingProgress — Sat, 19 May 2018 18:17:15 GMT

@TaperRandy wrote:
7 years with a secured card at $300 without any increase is almost inconceivable. Yes, you are being held back by your fixed income. Try asking or replying for an unsecured card

<mod edit: Removed suggestion that can't be promoted here. --UB>

Are you suggesting that they lie on the application? If that is what you are suggesting then you are dead WRONG! That is completely unethical.

Re: Been a while.

TaperRandy — Thu, 17 May 2018 11:14:21 GMT

Algorithms don't care about ethics my friend. Who's to say that it's a lie? Sell one thing only, and the predicate is no longer a lie. If it bothers you personally.

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Thu, 17 May 2018 13:02:56 GMT

@TaperRandyAlgorithms don't care about ethics my friend.

Algorithms may not, but I can assure you myFICO does, as do the moderators. I'm quite sure making such suggestions is a violation of the TOS and I wouldn't be surprised if the mods make note of that.

Re: Been a while.

CreditCuriosity — Thu, 17 May 2018 13:16:21 GMT

@TaperRandy wrote:
Algorithms don't care about ethics my friend. Who's to say that it's a lie? Sell one thing only, and the predicate is no longer a lie. If it bothers you personally.

Falsifying information in this case being income to yield better outcomes on CL or CLI's or whatever on this forum is prohibited. Not to mention if the banks does a income verification on you for whatever reason most likely that card will be shut down, etc. This isn't up for discussion either.

--CC

MyFICO Moderator

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2018 16:15:04 GMT

Roommates got back from vacation and let me out of my room. I got my computer, phone, keys, and legs back today.

Denied everywhere. My own bank said they would never give me a loan for any amount ever. Talked with the underwriter himself.

Thank you all anyway.

Sorry for bothering everyone.

Moderator, please lock.

Goodbye.

Re: Been a while.

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2018 16:30:12 GMT

I'm not understanding the above post at all. I went back and read the original post trying to piece them together, but don't get it.

Re: Been a while.

Pikaboo-icu — Tue, 22 May 2018 16:59:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm not understanding the above post at all. I went back and read the original post trying to piece them together, but don't get it.

The OP has edited their original post to remove info about abusive roommates.

I think they need help with more than just credit issues.. This saddens me a great deal.

Help is out there..

OP- If you're uncomfortable discussing in the open, there are people that can/will help you. You can contact via pm or google for help with this issue, in your local area..

This most recent post has me extremely concerned..

Do NOT be ashamed or afraid of seeking help. My stepfather was a victim of abuses on an at risk elder..

Prayers for you...

Re: Been a while.

CreditCuriosity — Tue, 22 May 2018 17:29:39 GMT

Locked per OP's request.