Help Getting Better Cards+Better CL

[md2020]

Looking for advice on working towards better cards better credit limits to grow my credit.

I have recently seen a nice  bump in my credit score (approx 50 points since May). I currently only have 3 cards. Cap One Savor, Cap One Quick Silver (both $500 limits and haven't asked for increases on either). Both paid off. I also have a Fortiva card with 1000 limit that is at almost max but I am going to pay off or pay down below 30% asap. I Just paid off a personal loan with Upstart recenlty this summer that was perfect (12k). I had another one 14k that Upstart sqrewed up and charged off sold to a debt buyer 3/22 and they tried to sued me. I hired a lawyer and we won so it's been completely removed on Experian but the original creditor still is reporting it on Equifax and TU. Lawyer just sent the notices and court documents  yesterday to get them removed so she anticipates that they will be removed within 30-60 days.  Below is a summary of my combined reports summarized by my credit expert Chat Gpt . 

Just out of curiosity I did several soft pulls to just see today what would happen. Declined on all except Discover offered $200 secure card. Not interested until I can get legit card/cards. Chat GPT predicts a significant jump when Upstart/Finwise 3/22 charge off is removed and the Fortiva card is paid off. I am looking for real life strategy here to start making progress. Thank you so much in advance!

🧭 Current Snapshot (as of October 2025)

Bureau Current FICO 8 Est. Major Negatives Notes

Equifax	628 (verified FICO 8)	FinWise / Upstart $14 K charge-off (9/22), Fortiva utilization > 30 %	The FinWise tradeline is your biggest drag; Fortiva balance adds 15–20 pts loss.
Experian	661	Same FinWise charge-off + authorized-user Cap One 2338 + 2525	Slightly cleaner file than Equifax; higher average age.
TransUnion	≈ 680	FinWise collection + 2 authorized-user Cap One accounts	Less punitive weighting on charge-offs; utilization has small effect.

Common Positives

• 16 years + of credit history, 6-year average age

• No recent hard inquiries

• All open accounts otherwise current

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⚠️ Primary Issues to Fix

1. FinWise / Upstart Loan $14 ,114 Charge-Off → under dispute / deletion via your attorney

2. High Utilization on Fortiva Card (target < 30 %, ideally < 10 %)

3. Two Capital One Authorized-User Accounts (#2338 and #2525) — remove both **sent certified letters this week

4. Minor Late History (Goodwill targets: Credit One & Milestone) **sent certified letters this week. 

[JoeRockhead]

The particulars Chat GTP left out was that score alone isn't everything there is to it... it's great that you'll have a clean profile, but you also have a thin profile with a TCL of $2k. 

To start getting better approvals you'll need to demonstrate 

good management of the credit you have.  No new accounts for a minimum of 6 months.  You should aim to have only one of those cards report a balance  and that balance reporting no more than 5% of the card's limit.  

From there you need to build positive payment history and that just takes time.  Practice AZE1  as described above and in the meantime, if you haven't no open installment loans, research the forum on SSLs.  This will boost your scores once paid down to 9% and also help your credit mix.