FICOS +70 in may alone

[creditreformer]

Background: 4/08 fico was 577.  had 4 subprime ccs w/low cls (1.2k total)- 2 first premiers/2 orchards.  Tried my luck @ target- denied and hooters- denied.  Felt a little frustrated (mainly b/c my current + tls are just subprime ccs and old paid off car loans that are going to drop off in the next 1-2 yrs) and wondered if I would/will be stuck in subprime land for forever.  I am still in the land of subprime ccs (first premier is going bye bye in early 09; orchards will be combined or go bye bye), but it looks like I am nudging up/making some progress.

Since april 08, ficos have risen +70.  all I have done is-

app for cap 1- approved for a whopping 300

app for ba- denied (expected it) but got offered the 99/500. total available credit is now 2k across 6 ccs

pif the 4 suprime ccs (they had balances of roughly 700 for about 1.5 mos. due to an emergency.

Idk if either ba or cap 1 are reporting the credit bureaus yet since I haven’t received the ba cc yet and just got cap 1 cc the last week of april.

Can’t think of any recent old ‘baddies’ that have come off of my reports, but maybe some old 30-90 day lates from late 2001-early 2002 dropped off

Current utilization= 5/6 ccs are 0 balances, cap 1 has a balance of 70 (will PIF after I get the statement).

Still have some major baddies (tax lien- since 05- on reports til 2020 unless it gets resolved) that are keeping me down fico wise, so I still have work to do.  Trying to resolve those baddies, but that is a long, frustrating road.

I never thought I would break the 600s (been ‘stuck’ in the mid-high 500s for what seemed like AGES), so it is nice to finally see that after all this time, 600 (actually I am now in the 640s) WAS in reach.  Here is hoping I continue and see a 4 digit CL sometime in my lifetime again.

[Anonymous]

Inquiries hurt scores too... and new accounts under a year hurt scores. I was hit for -60 points because of inqs and new accounts showing a $0 bal. Avg age can raise scores 2 points ever 6 months. You have to apply, get, then not apply and wait. It is a time game for sure. However it seems that you have negative accounts that may be the reason your score is held down. Try GW or PFD to remove these neg accounts. If unable to delete them, it is somewhat of a time game. Sounds like you are doing great. You'd be surprised how many points are deducted because inqs and new accounts are less than 12 months old.

[creditreformer]

I have not had that many inquires and so far, since my app spree in 4/08 (hooters/target/cap 1/ba), my scores have not dropped?  First premier/orchards are approx 1.5 yrs old (and were the only inquiries I initiated in 2007) and from 1/07-4/08, there were no inquiries initiated by me.  Am not apping for anything new for quite awhile.  Next plan is to dump 2 first premiers in early 2009 b/c that is my 2 yr mark of ‘perfect history’ w/them and reality is, the fees are killer and the ccs will not grow w/me.  Hopefully by then, my ba 99/500 will have graduated (or will within a short time later) and I will have my 1st 4 digit CL assuming BA gives me a CLI @ graduation.  Orchards are my oldest + cc and so I am on the fence about what to do w/them.  would like to dump them b/c they will not grow w/me, but I don’t want to wipe out all 4 of my oldest cc tradelines @ 1x in early 2009.

Have thought of GW/PFD, but most of my lingering bads are ready to drop off in 1-2 yrs and I have heard sometimes that can stir up more trouble (restart the clock/delete the entire TL/bad reporting/etc.), so I am just laying low on those right now.  Tax lien is my biggest dinger and trying to resolve that, but it is much harder than dealing w/old bad ccs.

If things keep going as they are, in about 1-2 yrs, my reports should be baddie free (outside of the tax lien- which will hopefully be resolved by then- but even if PIF, it lingers on my report unless they voluntarily remove it).