Rebuilding My Life.....

[rrr66]

Hello all, new to the boards.  Just got through a messy divorce and have been trying to rebuild my life after sacrificing my credit scores in favor of someone else for years.  I have multiple legacy lates but have been perfect for 7 months.  Had many closed cards and only had a Cap One QS in my wallet with a $4K limit.  Been working on paying off many of these closed cards and gettng my score to recover. 

Current Scores were EQ 670, TU 670, EX 694

Finally had the courage to put in some applications yesterday to try and increase my available credit to decrease utilization further.  Don't have any plans on using the new credit.  I had no inquiries at the time of applications.

Results of the app spree are as follows:

Penfed Cash Rewards   $6500

Penfed LOC   Denied

Cap One QS CLI   Denied

JDCU Visa     $5000

JDCU Debt Consol Loan   $15000

Barclay Rewards $2500

Discover IT    7 - 10 day message, I'm guessing denied

Chase Freedom   7 - 10 day message, I'm guessing denied

Old Navy   $300

Kohl''s   $400

I will continue to let my lates age out and maybe have another go in 6 months if the scores continue to rise up.  I don't know how long it takes a late to age away before I start to see a recovery.  It's sad that a late payment has such a negative impact as bad as a BK.  I've always paid my debts and fortunately been blessed enough to  not have had to walk away.  Old Fair Issac still thinks I'm a train wreck though!!! 

[Anonymous]

You might try a recon on the Chase Freedom. They're nice people, so it isn't intimidating to do it.

[Anonymous]

Don't go crazy on those store cards unless you really want/need them. They usually result in low CL's and you end up with a bunch of INQ's that you could use, or save, for some quality cards. That's just my opinion. I see too many people go crazy apping for all these low limit store cards and they won't help you as much as getting quality bank cards. Your scores are not terrible. You have obviously scored a few very good cards. Don't waste your time gathering store cards just to have more reporting. You don't need them.

[rrr66]

Yeah, I'm done with the store cards.  Have some shopping to do at Old Navy and Kohl's, only reason I did them.  Will try the love button with them in a while and see if they at least double them for me.  I was hoping for $1K on each but they both gave me starters.   LOL...........late 40's and I'm a starter.

Oh well, I can just continue to eliminate debt and hope that score climbs.  I've got a 90 day death mark on my record, so I'm scarred for life. 

[Spotsy]

Glad you joined the forums and MyFICO!  This place is a god-send and will become your "go to" point for info on all things credit related, and more. :-). Your scores are not that bad....in a year, or sooner you will probably see your scores up over 700 again as long as you don't have any more derog marks on your credit report.  I absolutely agree with a previous poster...stay away from store cards if possible....low limits and that really hurts your utilization ratios when you use them and let a balance revolve.

Credit Unions are your best best for getting better rates and higher limits on CCs.  Try to keep utilization on all of your cards at 20% or less.  Don't necessarily pay them all off to zero ,as that can have a negative impact on your score as well.....yes....that sounds crazy, but when you have no balances, the FICO scoring model dings you for not getting experience on managing revolving debt.

Best of luck to you....and lay low on the CC apps...it can be addictive to keep applying for more and seeing if you can get higher limits...but resist! :-)

-Rob

[Anonymous]

First off, welcome to myFICO - a great resource for everything credit and scoring related info and help! I think you're doing the right things and you will see your scores increase over the next year. My recommendation is to go into garden mode for a while now and let the HPs age a bit.

[Anonymous]

best of luck 

[Dw4250]

As others have said, garden for awhile and you'll be golden!

[MissMoni223]

Way to go, you seem to be rebuilding quite nicely!!!