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Advice on raising score

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Advice on raising score

Greetings.

 

My wife and I filed Ch 7 in December 2008, and it was recently discharged.  Not known for being patient, I'd love to do whatever I can to raise our credit scores as quickly as possible.  There's no particular reason other than higher = better, and I'd like to have the flexibility to buy a car (or maybe even a house) in the next few years (using that credit responsibly, of course).

Here's the current situation:

  - My current EQ score is 612

  - We have one credit card (with a very high limit - it had a zero balance, was not included in the BK and the creditor did not close it).

  - No other debt (it was all discharged).

 

I ran a simulation on the score, and even with 18-24 months of paying on time (I'm trying to use the credit card for small amounts each month), I only see a 30-50 point increase.  Is that all I can hope for?  Is there anything I can do to get a larger score increase?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
krielly
Established Contributor

Re: Advice on raising score

Have you reviewed your credit reports to make sure all accounts are be reported as IIB (included in BK) with a "0" balance?

 

Something else I might suggest would be to use your current card. Wisely of course. Charge a small amount each month and pay it off when you get your statement. Keep your utilization @9% or less.

 

that's where I would start...


You can't have your cake and eat it too. But you can dip your finger in the bowl and lick the icing!
Message 2 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Advice on raising score


@krielly wrote:

Have you reviewed your credit reports to make sure all accounts are be reported as IIB (included in BK) with a "0" balance?

 


 

The status for all accounts is IIB, but the balance is shown as "not reported" on the account detail page (but 0 on the summary page).  Is there where they should be?  WIll there be any change that reflects the BK discharge?  Thanks.

Message 3 of 6
krielly
Established Contributor

Re: Advice on raising score

Yes, that is how they should be reporting.

Regarding your discharge, I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that will be updated in your "public records" section

 

K


You can't have your cake and eat it too. But you can dip your finger in the bowl and lick the icing!
Message 4 of 6
tommylive
Member

Re: Advice on raising score

Try to remove any inquiries that you didn't do and try to get one name and one address reporting instead of few of them. Equifax will remove them if you ask them. That will raise your score further and open another account that doesn't pull inquiry. But read what the credit report says that is lowering your score. It may say something about inquiries or not enough accounts. You can also pull your score next time at at myfico/12/ and receive 12 reason codes on your score and just do what it says, if you are able or use a credit repair company. We are doing the same thing. We want to purchase a house. My wife has been cleaning my report and its getting pretty high. Just keep reading these boards. Lots of information on it. She did the same thing.

Edited to remove a questionable credit repair site due to the Credit Repair Discussion Guidelines.

 

 

Message Edited by llecs on 04-15-2009 11:08 PM
Message 5 of 6
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Advice on raising score


tommylive wrote:

Try to remove any inquiries that you didn't do and try to get one name and one address reporting instead of few of them. Equifax will remove them if you ask them. That will raise your score further and open another account that doesn't pull inquiry.


OP, think twice about trying to remove inquiries. First off, they are very overrated. Unless your scores are in the 700s and up, inquiries aren't likely impacting you at all. If you do try to remove inquiries, legit or otherwise, especially using a third party, you run a very high risk of a fraud alert. The CRAs will place the FA in response to receiving notification that there are questionable inquiries. Out of caution of ID theft, they will automatically do this. However, if you do have inquiries that aren't yours, then a FA is very important to have in place.

 

Removing extra or old names or addresses will not improve your score any. Demographics aren't part of scoring.

Message 6 of 6
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