In the past year I have been working on getting my credit back up since my bankruptcy. I was doing pretty well (scores around 630) until one of the credit cards that didn't take away my account, decided they were going to close the account because I hadn't used it in 2 years. My scores took a nosedive of 40 points! Currently I am right around 618-624 for my scores again and I've paid $500 of my current credit card debt of $2010 (leaving the $1510 balance). That increased my scores to where they are now. I've just made another payment of $500 leaving the balance at $1010 but that hasn't hit my report yet so I'm not sure how much it will help.
I currently have a lease payment, a motorcycle payment (all kept through the bankruptcy), one regular credit card, a Kohls card, and a $1000 personal loan - all up to date. My question is, how do I increase my scores from here? I feel like I need to get the credit card down a bit more but I'm not sure what other options I have to increase my scores except for time. My hope is that I will be able to puchase a house early next year so I want to do what I can to get my scores up prior to trying for that. If all goes well, my plan is to buy my car outright when the lease is up in August - but again, I'm not sure if that will hurt or help my score. The motorcycle should be paid off by the end of the year as well so removing both of those, I'm thinking, could also hurt my scores.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
@NibblesTreats wrote:In the past year I have been working on getting my credit back up since my bankruptcy. I was doing pretty well (scores around 630) until one of the credit cards that didn't take away my account, decided they were going to close the account because I hadn't used it in 2 years. My scores took a nosedive of 40 points! Currently I am right around 618-624 for my scores again and I've paid $500 of my current credit card debt of $2010 (leaving the $1510 balance). That increased my scores to where they are now. I've just made another payment of $500 leaving the balance at $1010 but that hasn't hit my report yet so I'm not sure how much it will help.
I currently have a lease payment, a motorcycle payment (all kept through the bankruptcy), one regular credit card, a Kohls card, and a $1000 personal loan - all up to date. My question is, how do I increase my scores from here? I feel like I need to get the credit card down a bit more but I'm not sure what other options I have to increase my scores except for time. My hope is that I will be able to puchase a house early next year so I want to do what I can to get my scores up prior to trying for that. If all goes well, my plan is to buy my car outright when the lease is up in August - but again, I'm not sure if that will hurt or help my score. The motorcycle should be paid off by the end of the year as well so removing both of those, I'm thinking, could also hurt my scores.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
List your cards with Credit Lines and balances. You have 3 installment loans. When the last loan is paid off this will drop your score. The longer you can keep any of the 3 open with a balance <8.99% this will help a lot. Who closed you out after no use?
I had a Jared store card with an $8000 credit line that closed out for no use.
Credit One - $1600 credit line, $485 balance
Kohls - $700 credit line, $660 balance
Victoria Secret - $500 credit line, no balance
I can keep the motorcycle loan open for a bit longer than the end of the year if I don't make extra payments as I was intending to.
My lease for my car is up in August so I either need to purchase my car, or purchase another car or go into another lease. I don't intend to get another lease and thought I could just buy it outright so I saved that money each month, but I know that will not help my credit. So, I need to at least increase my score by then so I can get a decent percentage rate for a new loan.
The other small installment loan is a 12 month loan. I've got 10 months left on it.
I'm just not sure, with the exception of aging my account, how to increase my score. I know I need to pay down my balances because only having those small accounts make a bigger impact, but other than that, I'm not sure what else to do.
@NibblesTreats wrote:I had a Jared store card with an $8000 credit line that closed out for no use.
Credit One - $1600 credit line, $485 balance Pay it down to less then $140 reporting each month. This will be your AZEO card. Dont use a store card as the only reporting card.
Kohls - $700 credit line, $660 balance Pay it all down. Dont carry a balance. This card is maxed out right now in FICOland. Major hit.
Victoria Secret - $500 credit line, no balance Great!
I can keep the motorcycle loan open for a bit longer than the end of the year if I don't make extra payments as I was intending to. Dont make extra payments. Keep it open as long as possible and pay off the other loans/lease first if possible.
My lease for my car is up in August so I either need to purchase my car, or purchase another car or go into another lease. I don't intend to get another lease and thought I could just buy it outright so I saved that money each month, but I know that will not help my credit. So, I need to at least increase my score by then so I can get a decent percentage rate for a new loan.
The other small installment loan is a 12 month loan. I've got 10 months left on it. You can pay it off and save interest. Its helping but not by much since there is 3 loans on your report.
I'm just not sure, with the exception of aging my account, how to increase my score. I know I need to pay down my balances because only having those small accounts make a bigger impact, but other than that, I'm not sure what else to do.
First you have to get that maxed out card paid off. And get Credit One to report each month <8.99%. Start the all zero except one (AZEO) method. You only need 3 cards and 1 open installment loan for best FICO scoring. To increase points for now. No more apps. Get to AZEO and which ever loan will be open the longest one open . Keep that loan reporting. The other 2 is helping payment history and showing responsibilty. But not much of an impact on scores. As the longest loan goes below 8.99% that will be a preety good bump in scores.
In rebuild mode I like to say. Use your cards like you have no CC's. Its a debit card from your bank. Use the cards all you want but pay them off so AZEO is reporting each month. Once the CC's are at AZEO. Theres at least maybe 15-20 points waiting for you. And even more when the last loan is nearing the end. Then you should be good to go with the future plan. Good Luck!
Thank you FireMedic1! That is very helpful. I've got the money to pay down the two cards and get straight into AZEO mode so I'll do that right away. I haven't had any inquiries because honestly, my credit isn't good enough to try for anything right now anyway.
I will try this out and see where I am come August when I need to purchase my car and hopefully that will give me a good enough bump to get a decent percentage rate. I appreciate your help!
@NibblesTreats wrote:Thank you FireMedic1! That is very helpful. I've got the money to pay down the two cards and get straight into AZEO mode so I'll do that right away. I haven't had any inquiries because honestly, my credit isn't good enough to try for anything right now anyway.
I will try this out and see where I am come August when I need to purchase my car and hopefully that will give me a good enough bump to get a decent percentage rate. I appreciate your help!
Pfft! I dont want to wait that long. Post your updated scores (FICO) once the AZEO reports. And just make sure. Dont go by any Vamtage scores. Ex: CK,Wallethub and so forth. You can get a free FICO score at Discover Scorecard from EX. And Yeah hold off on the Inq's. Save the HP or pulls for the car/truck. You could if possible to pay off that personal loan. (Save interest) It will still report as paid in full no lates for 10 yrs. Whichever loan like I said has the longest pay off date keep open and pay monthly until its paid off. If its the lease. Pay off the other 2. If the lease ends before the loans. Keep one of the loans open. More score boost.
Good Luck! Cant wait to see the updates! 
Haha - yes I'll post the new scores after applying these amounts. Just for the record, they are currently:
EQ: 615
Trans: 611
EX: 624
I only use MyFico.com for my scores so I'll go by that any time I make changes. The plan is to do nothing else prior to getting a new car. I have no plans to try for any other credit prior to that. I need to get my score up so I can get a car loan that I can afford. What I think I'll do is keep the loans open until I get a new car. Once I get a new loan for the next car, I'll pay off the loansmallers so that I have the longest one still reporting and the smaller ones paid off.
Wish me luck! I'm regretting every day claiming bankruptcy but it is what it is and I now need to get my scores back to at least where they were to start with!
@NibblesTreats wrote:Haha - yes I'll post the new scores after applying these amounts. Just for the record, they are currently:
EQ: 615
Trans: 611
EX: 624
I only use MyFico.com for my scores so I'll go by that any time I make changes. The plan is to do nothing else prior to getting a new car. I have no plans to try for any other credit prior to that. I need to get my score up so I can get a car loan that I can afford. What I think I'll do is keep the loans open until I get a new car. Once I get a new loan for the next car, I'll pay off the loansmallers so that I have the longest one still reporting and the smaller ones paid off.
Wish me luck! I'm regretting every day claiming bankruptcy but it is what it is and I now need to get my scores back to at least where they were to start with!
Good Luck! One loan open before the purchase. Dont walk in the dealer with 3 and creditors will think you'll have 4 with approval. Anything to get the lowest interest is your goal. Look forward to the new scores.
Well, I paid down my credit card balances to show $318 left (still not quite down to the 8% or less mark); however, another payment is about to hit and if I'm lucky, the payment will reflect on the account prior to the reporting date - which means it should show less than 8% utilization with the next report to the credit agencies (should be after the 20th of this month)
BUT, since I made that first larger payment, paid off two cards and continued the balance on the regular credit card, today my scores are as follows:
Equifax: 645 (+30 points since last post)
Transunion: 629 (+18 points since last post)
Experian: 646 (+22 points since last post)
I'm hoping with this next payment that goes through, I get another bump to bring me above the 650 mark. Still not where I want to be by any means, but it's progress. 