topic My FICO Went ▲UP▲ For a Brief, Glorious Moment...It Was a Beautiful Thing. in General Credit Topics

My FICO Went ▲UP▲ For a Brief, Glorious Moment...It Was a Beautiful Thing.

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 06:22:30 GMT

Looks like I'll have to eat my own words about the futility of trying to improve FICO. I got a three-score pull, and found that two of my three FICO scores improved between October 2006 and yesterday.

..............October 2006 ........... April 2007 .......... ∆ FICO
Experian ........ 589 ................... 576 ................ -13
Transunion ...... 585 ................... 607 ................ +22
Equifax ..........589 ................... 677 ................ +88

AVERAGE ......... 588 ................... 620 ................ +32

My methodology was simple...last June I got a partially secured BofA card, $500 limit. I struck a financial patch of black ice and ended up hitting 99.7% utilization last September, but it's down to around 41% now. By the end of this month it will be around 30%. I applied for a credit-line increase and got slapped down because of the four charge-offs on my CR (one came in October; I was about a week too late to head it off). I think that's what probably hosed me. I talked to two supervisors, who told me to be patient. They said few cards graduated (went unsecured) in nine months. By summer or fall, they assured me, my perfect record with them and low utilization would outweigh my credit sins, and I'd get approved for a $1000 credit limit and unsecured status.

In January, I got a Capital One card. $39 annual fee, but I figured it was worth it...remember, 35% of FICO is paying bills on time, and the card would be another bill to pay. The only wrinkle with CapOne is they report the maximum charged as the limit, so I debuted at 100% utilization. I'm down to about 45% now, and will be around 20% by the end of the month. They, too, promise me a credit line increase in early summer. When I get my CL increase, I'll charge the card up to near the limit, let that get reported, then pay it down to $30 or so. I'll end up with a $480 limit reported and utilization of under 10%.

Now the really bad news which probably means all this is for nothing. Thanks to a vengeful ex-wife, I'm going to have a judgment entered into my accounts with all three credit bureaus for child support. So after all this, I'll be back to the Stone Age FICO-wise. (I don't actually owe any arrears; the judgment is for $300 a month, but they don't care--any judgment hits FICO like a tactical nuke).

See folks, this is why I'm likely going to be moving to Africa...there, vengeful ex-spouses aren't allowed to cause such headaches. Before I leave, I'd love to file a discrimination lawsuit, because if I were female or not divorced, this judgment would never have been added to my file.

Message Edited by TheNewWorldMan on 04-01-2007 11:22 PM

You are improving your score

antredd67 — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:02:52 GMT

Wow, i didn't know that a judgement for child support goes on your credit report. I always thought that IF YOU DIDN'T PAY YOUR CHILD SUPPORT OR BECAME DELINQUENT, it would end up on your credit report.

Child support doesn't go on your report unless you are de...

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 19:15:48 GMT

Child support doesn't go on your report unless you are delinquent. My husband has been paying for years.

All personal money judgments go on credit reports.

Anonymous — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 21:28:41 GMT

All personal money judgments go on credit reports.

It seems time if the best fixer of FICO scores.

yoreljm — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 22:12:37 GMT

It seems time if the best fixer of FICO scores.

NWM glad to see the FICO improvement. IF you contact the...

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:27:32 GMT

NWM glad to see the FICO improvement. IF you contact the courts you may head off the judgement beign adde to the report, you can pay it within 30 days. Personally, don't thank your wie, children are a joint responsibility. Just think, the child support you may not have paid probably kept your kid from participating in things other kids their age enjoyed.

I am a strong belilever in Child support being paid. I have the receipts and Microsoft Money to prove that my kid is 16% of my total monthly expense higher than anything else inclulding mortgage, utilities and groceries. That doesn't count the food he eats or the roof over his head. Just his extra activities, school expenses and wannas. Where it not for the fact that his father pays support regularly, he would be excluded from many opportunities.

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-02-2007 08:27 PM

Sorry, I don't believe in child support, at least in a fo...

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 07:28:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
NWM glad to see the FICO improvement. IF you contact the courts you may head off the judgement beign adde to the report, you can pay it within 30 days. Personally, don't thank your wie, children are a joint responsibility. Just think, the child support you may not have paid probably kept your kid from participating in things other kids their age enjoyed.
I am a strong belilever in Child support being paid. I have the receipts and Microsoft Money to prove that my kid is 16% of my total monthly expense higher than anything else inclulding mortgage, utilities and groceries. That doesn't count the food he eats or the roof over his head. Just his extra activities, school expenses and wannas. Where it not for the fact that his father pays support regularly, he would be excluded from many opportunities.

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-02-2007 08:27 PM

Sorry, I don't believe in child support, at least in a form anything like what we have today. I think it's too easy for a woman to divorce her husband, break up her family, and then use the ex as an ATM machine and have the government hound him the rest of his life while she lives high off the hog. My ex sits at home and plays video games all day, while she keeps our daughter over two hours away from me. Why? So she can have a higher percentage of custody (thereby getting more of my money) and a higher support award (by staying at home).

I don't think a woman should automatically get the kid, nor should she be able to automatically get support money just for being warm and breathing. I think having a child should be its own reward. Now in the case of abuse, I think the rules should be different...if a man beats his wife and she takes the kid away in the middle of the night for their own safety, heck yes he should pay support. But if she just "gets tired" of the relationship and "wants to live the wild life," then no, I don't think she should be entitled to child support. She CHOSE to end the relationship, and she should be responsible for her CHOICE.

That's another thing I like about Africa--that kind of nonsense isn't tolerated there. A couple Africans I chat with online said American men should revolt against the "man tax" that the child support system in America is. I agree.

I dont think the term "man tax" as an appropria...

yoreljm — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 21:45:29 GMT

I dont think the term "man tax" as an appropriate term, as it is not applied to all men indiscriminately; rather, it is mainly applied to men who do not support their kids. I'm a man, and I support child support. I don't see it as "man tax", but being responsible. Yes, i think it is bad that men have to be forced to pay child support. But in countries where the government does not force men to pay up, men tend to take the easy way out by not giving the woman a dime.

LOL!

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 22:01:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
NWM glad to see the FICO improvement. IF you contact the courts you may head off the judgement beign adde to the report, you can pay it within 30 days. Personally, don't thank your wie, children are a joint responsibility. Just think, the child support you may not have paid probably kept your kid from participating in things other kids their age enjoyed.
I am a strong belilever in Child support being paid. I have the receipts and Microsoft Money to prove that my kid is 16% of my total monthly expense higher than anything else inclulding mortgage, utilities and groceries. That doesn't count the food he eats or the roof over his head. Just his extra activities, school expenses and wannas. Where it not for the fact that his father pays support regularly, he would be excluded from many opportunities.

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-02-2007 08:27 PM

Sorry, I don't believe in child support, at least in a form anything like what we have today. I think it's too easy for a woman to divorce her husband, break up her family, and then use the ex as an ATM machine and have the government hound him the rest of his life while she lives high off the hog. My ex sits at home and plays video games all day, while she keeps our daughter over two hours away from me. Why? So she can have a higher percentage of custody (thereby getting more of my money) and a higher support award (by staying at home).

I don't think a woman should automatically get the kid, nor should she be able to automatically get support money just for being warm and breathing. I think having a child should be its own reward. Now in the case of abuse, I think the rules should be different...if a man beats his wife and she takes the kid away in the middle of the night for their own safety, heck yes he should pay support. But if she just "gets tired" of the relationship and "wants to live the wild life," then no, I don't think she should be entitled to child support. She CHOSE to end the relationship, and she should be responsible for her CHOICE.

That's another thing I like about Africa--that kind of nonsense isn't tolerated there. A couple Africans I chat with online said American men should revolt against the "man tax" that the child support system in America is. I agree.

LOL!! Just having the kid reward enough in and of itself. Its apparent that you really don't spend time raising your kids. Love him as I do, a teenager is no ones reward. LOL!! Just kidding. When my son is ill or he needs me to particiapte in school, I lose income, I don't complain about it. Kids are not some walk in the sun that shines everyday. They get attitudes, problems and illness and as a custodial parent you can't just walk away from those things, they must be dealt with. Writing a check is one heck of a lot easier to do than raising a child. I write plenty of them and once they're written they're forgotten.

YOU have the option of moving 'God Knows where' because you don't have a kid. I spent over 1.5 years looking for a house simply because I was trying to find one in the same area to prevent from uprooting the kid from his friends and schoolmates in the same town.

LOL!! Responsible men take responsibility for their children because they want whats best for those children. They don't punish them for a failed relationship by witholding support of any type, physically, emotionally or fiscally.

As far as using a man for an ATM machine. That's also hilarious since I seem to come up on the short end monthly. Not that I blame him it is my CHOICE to allow my son to be involved in the activities he's involved in and I wouldn't have it any other way. Do you have any idea of how much is spent on clothes when a kid goes from newborn to men sizes in 12 years? My 13 year old is 5'10, wears a size 14 mens shoe (which have to be ordered online or special ordered) and a 34" waist in mens clothing.

I guess I could shop at Salvation Army or Goodwill but I also chose not to do that. His father pays a fair amount of support and he is supported on TWO incomes not one. Or does it matter that as a programmer I don't need any man's ATM

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-03-2007 05:58 PM

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-03-2007 06:01 PM

I think child support in its current form is just another...

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 08:20:31 GMT

I think child support in its current form is just another socialist redistribution-of-the-wealth scheme. Not saying that would apply to any support system, but the way it is done now is WAY too automated. I'm not a believer in anyone getting automatic, free money. And I especially don't like the way the government taxes me on this money that it plans to divert from my paycheck. If they would take the support money pretax, that would be easier to swallow, and more fair. But they won't, which simply reinforces my idea that child support is a system designed to rook the male half of the species. I'd like to find the people who created it and deport them to Cuba.

All I know is that the child support people said the child support judgment would go on my credit no matter what I did, even though I'm not behind. My response was not printable here.

Yet another reason I'll be buying a home abroad. They don't have this kind of nonsense where I'm ending up. If this were Africa, I'd have custody of my kid, and my ex could visit her...when she could tear herself away from the computer long enough, that it.

Interesting discussion.

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 03:37:20 GMT

I agree completely. It takes two people to create a child and they're both responsible for that child for as long as they live. What support is paid rarely equates to more than 1/4 of what it costs to keep up a home much less all of the extras that children require. Paying for the care of a child is an obligation to the child NOT the other parent.

Whether a parent sits on their buns most of the time or works like a dog every day is irrelevent. They're providing a home, food and other necessities and shouldn't have to soley bare the responsibility unless they choose to do so. If it burdens the parent financially to do so then the child ultimately suffers.

If I were a creditor, I'd be much more suspicious of someone who has to be forced to care for their child. If someone tries to shirk his financial obligations to his own flesh and blood then obviously the lender would be the lowest man on the totem pole.

Getting Back to FICO...

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:17:10 GMT

I discovered, unfortunately, that my FICO score really hasn't gone up. Rather, there is a HUGE difference between the credit score Bank of America provides as part of its PrivacyAssist program, and FICO scoring. Thus, my leading post wasn't an apples-to-apples comparison. Comparing apples to apples, over the past four months, two out of three scores have actually gone down.

The BofA scores are lower than FICO...about a hundred points lower than FICO for my TU score. This certainly sheds light on what they turned me down for an unsecured card: BofA apparently views the world through crap-colored glasses. Using their credit simulator, I get the same rosy projections they gave me four months ago...if only I pay my bills on time, my score will increase about 25 points in the next three months. This is, of course, the same thing they told me before, so I don't really believe them.

Whether or not my FICO score went down during the same time period is unknown, because I don't have FICO scores from six months ago. But from what I can see, the scores have probably moved sideways. Projecting into the future, both the FICO and the PrivacyAssist simulation tools tell me things will get better...which is the same song and dance I've been hearing ever since I started this credit score improvement project.

Reminds my of a book I read about the old USSR, where there were always shortages of everything, but the government-run radio assured Russian citizens that improvement was always around the corner. So there was a Soviet saying: if you want milk, take your pail to the radio. If you want to see a good credit score, use the simulator, because that's the onyl way you'll ever see one.

I agree with support

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:19:35 GMT

However, The amounts that they give out are way to bloated. My ex doesn't work so that's held against me (Score yet another one for the lazy people)and her new husband makes more than me. I have no problem with paying a reasonable amount per month but I know from my 12 year old daughter she's not getting any of the money. Not to mention the fact that because I sent my Ex so much per month I can't really afford to do much with her when she is with me. I have two younger boys that I know I don't spend as much to raise them per month that I give to my ex every month and they are very well taken care of...They need to make people that have nothing to do with their kids pay more than the ones that actively support and help raise the child not punish the ones that try to do the right thing...

Hate to hear that

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:40:10 GMT

fast5frog wrote:
However, The amounts that they give out are way to bloated. My ex doesn't work so that's held against me (Score yet another one for the lazy people)and her new husband makes more than me. I have no problem with paying a reasonable amount per month but I know from my 12 year old daughter she's not getting any of the money. Not to mention the fact that because I sent my Ex so much per month I can't really afford to do much with her when she is with me. I have two younger boys that I know I don't spend as much to raise them per month that I give to my ex every month and they are very well taken care of...They need to make people that have nothing to do with their kids pay more than the ones that actively support and help raise the child not punish the ones that try to do the right thing...

In the state I live in there is a fixed percentage of the absent parents income that is ordered for child support, no more without special needs and no less. Its also dependant on the number of other children he has to support. My ex gets buy with 17% of his income going to support. I wish I could pay half the mortgage and utilities on 17% of my income. So in my state it doesn't matter who earns what, much like the FICO system, its an algorithm

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-09-2007 03:40 PM

Well, yesterday I got a score alert indicating my FICO we...

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:41:10 GMT

Well, yesterday I got a score alert indicating my FICO went up 13 points. There was no accompanying credit alert...I am assuming the increase came because I have continued to reduce utilization on my credit cards.

Way to go! I gained 16 points this month...whoo hoo!!

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 21:01:58 GMT

Way to go! I gained 16 points this month...whoo hoo!!

Child Support - Tough issue

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:08:11 GMT

Good points all, on child support.

I love it when I see blended families where one parent sends child support to the other, who, thanks to their new spouse, use it to pay child support to a another parent, and so on down the line.

Credit, like Child Support, like governmnet intervention, like poker, is unfair. Do the best you can with what you have. Consider the alternatives.

Hmmmmmmm.....ok, ok, don't consider the alternatives too deeply now!

Message Edited by NPugetSoundRE on 04-10-2007 04:08 PM

Re: Child Support - Tough issue

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:17:19 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Good points all, on child support.
I love it when I see blended families where one parent sends child support to the other, who, thanks to their new spouse, use it to pay child support to a another parent, and so on down the line.
Credit, like Child Support, like governmnet intervention, like poker, is unfair. Do the best you can with what you have. Consider the alternatives.
Hmmmmmmm.....ok, ok, don't consider the alternatives too deeply now!

Message Edited by NPugetSoundRE on 04-10-2007 04:08 PM

I think it's time we recognized child support for what it is: a transfer payment program. It redistributes wealth from divorced men to single women. And I'm opposed to all transfer payment programs that are not 1) means-tested and, 2) placing an emphasis on the person receiving the transfer payments increasing his or her own income and becoming independent.

I'm never in favor of anyone who is not substantially disabled receiving long-term money just for being warm and breathing. Do you think a woman should be allowed to commit adultery, divorce her husband without cause, quit a well-paying job, get custody of her kid, and live with her husband's mother, spending her day playing video games--all while collecting money from her ex?

The only reason child support exists the way it does in California is politicians LOVE the idea of getting ahold of more taxpayer dollars, using whatever "justification" they can conjure. That's the motivation: socialism, a la Marx. All that's missing is the red flag with the hammer-and-sickle, and "La Internationale" playing on TV every morning. Take as much money from the working class as possible, and make sure as much sticks to the fingers of the bureaucrats redistributing it as possible.

And to add insult to injury, not only am I being milked, but they're going to put the judgment on my credit report, thus making sure I'll never be able to have a mortgage and buy a home. And people wonder why I hate the government. Gee, let me think...

Re: Child Support - Tough issue

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:05:21 GMT

It's really funny to hear males complain about paying child support. What SHE is doing is irrelavent, the question is, is your child being taken care of? The reason I say this is that it doesn't matter how she provides the housing or if someone provides it for her, there is a fixed cost associated with raising a child. I have yet to hear child support in an amount more than it would take for a person to live on. My ex pays a fair amount of support around 8k a year but to support those arguments you would have to believe a family of two could live on 8k a year.

It reminds me of a coworker complaining that he was paying child support and his ex wife had just bought new furniture....huh? Mind that the woman worked herself. Does the fact that a male pays child support mean that the woman, who also works, can't spend a part of her pay on herself. Not to mention the child would be using the furniture too.

Glad my ex is confident in what his support pays for. I would have hated to hear his response when I bought my new 52 in widescreen plasma TV. With MY money. I don't understand why males think because they pay child support that somehow that magically means that a woman is not contributing to her child's welfare whether she's working or not. Try paying a sitter 24/7 and child support will look like a blessing. Try paying one for 12 hiours, the amount of time every day 7 days a week that you as the ABSENT parent should be dedicating.

My teen came in the house a few moments ago with an attitude, I'm on the phone with a client and I've got doors slamming in the background so I have to mute my conversation and deal with him while on a conference call..... yes a blessing unto itself.

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-11-2007 05:05 PM

Re: Child Support - Tough issue

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 07:57:27 GMT

I got a notice from the child support people...now they're accusing me of being behind.

All I'm gonna say is that if I woke up tomorrow morning and read in the papers that a meteor strike wiped the state government off the map, I'd take every dime I have left and throw the biggest party my block has ever seen. Then I'd go see the crater, put some music on my iPod, and dance on the politicians' graves.