I'm new - don't get it - question about cc reporting

[Anonymous]

I'm new to myfico and the forum.

First question - I'm trying to get my score up to get a mortgage by VA or FHA. 

My scores are:

TU: 577

EX: 582

EQ: 591

I am 2-1/2 years post BK discharge.

I have an auto loan with no lates and 7 credit cards with no lates.  My balances have been maxed out except for 1 though which is just under 50% of avail. and its my highest credit line.

I recently had some $ to apply to the balances.  I didn't know if it was better to pay a couple off or spread it around.  I decided to spread it around.  When the credit cards report, 4 of the 6 small balance cards should show below 50% of CL also.  The problem is, looking at my credit reports, some cards report only to this bureau or that one, or do not report every month, or haven't reported in months making my balances look even higher than they were before the lump payments I just made.

So, here I'm hoping to just wait for the payments to apply and then keep chunking to get the balances down further but NOW my anxiety is that the payments won't report or will take MONTHS or phone calls and letter to get it to report!

Do I have to call the cc to ask them to report or should I dispute balance accuracy on the report?  What is the fastest way to get this info updated?  I called one that hasn't reported since Feb. and they said I had to send a dispute letter to their dept. to get it updated.  This is going to be a bigger undertaking than just paying the bills I'm thinking.  Any pointers please appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Paying down balances to below 9% and having less than half of your accounts reporting balances is the common advice and it helped me considerably. As far as reporting, give us the names of the accounts and I'm sure someone will have info on each and every one. You shouldn't have to do anything, they should all report. Some are notorious slackers.

[Anonymous]

Well, Household bank hasn't reported since June to TU or EQ but reported to EX on 8/3/08 the July bal. (the day I made the big payment actually of course & it didn't make sense with regard to my statement cut date as the payment was made early and was not due until 8/8).

A military credit card I have, AAFES, reports to EX as open and shows correct CL and balance but TU shows derog status as included in BK with incorrect CL and incorrect bal. reported in 2/08 and not since & EQ shows it as derog status with 0 payment and no other info. except included in BK.  The credit line is 4500 and the balance is 1840 so I don't know if I should want it reported to EQ or not (might hurt?) but for TU it should help because the CL and bal. are wrong and outdated.

The other cards are Capital One and Credit One.

[Anonymous]

and might I add that this is mind boggling madness.  Mortgage broker first said pay balances to 50% - then below 50% - then said well 50% won't really change anything should go for 30% but he has actually heard that it should be below 20% to make a difference.  The credit reports always say 35%...here on the boards people say less than 10%. 

Heck, I'm sure 2% should be my goal at this point LOL but I cannot afford to pay them all down so I'm trying to figure out the best way to apply what $$ I do have/get to get the best boost the fastest.  I need to get to 620 and like anybody who wants into the housing market now the sooner the better.

I don't want to be a whiner but seeing how involved this is I go back and forth between thinking forget it I'll never had a house and rolling up my sleeves again and reading everything I can and studying my credit reports and financial plan determined to have a house...

At what percentage can I reasonable expect to see some point increase?  Does it have to be below 10% to see it go up?  TIA

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well, Household bank hasn't reported since June to TU or EQ but reported to EX on 8/3/08 the July bal. (the day I made the big payment actually of course & it didn't make sense with regard to my statement cut date as the payment was made early and was not due until 8/8).

A military credit card I have, AAFES, reports to EX as open and shows correct CL and balance but TU shows derog status as included in BK with incorrect CL and incorrect bal. reported in 2/08 and not since & EQ shows it as derog status with 0 payment and no other info. except included in BK. The credit line is 4500 and the balance is 1840 so I don't know if I should want it reported to EQ or not (might hurt?) but for TU it should help because the CL and bal. are wrong and outdated.

The other cards are Capital One and Credit One.

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Household is one of the notorious slackers. Call them and complain, try one of the backdoor numbers you'll find in a search here. I'm not sure I get the rest, did you file BK or are you saying these are open accounts that are reporting as IIB? Cap One and Credit One are ussually johnnie on the spot about reporting in my experience.

[Anonymous]

I believe you will see change when you get down to under 35% or so, and then even mroe change as you get under 10%.   Just remember that you want to get as much paid off while at the same time putting some money aside for down payment, clsoing costs, and reserves.  It may take a bit but you are heading in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

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2longofahaul wrote:

Well, Household bank hasn't reported since June to TU or EQ but reported to EX on 8/3/08 the July bal. (the day I made the big payment actually of course & it didn't make sense with regard to my statement cut date as the payment was made early and was not due until 8/8).

This is normal for HSBC-issued cards, including Household Bank.  Normally, they report on the last business day of the month.  In your case, it looks like they reported shortly after the first of the month.  The statement date and statement balance are almost always irrelevant when it comes to HSBC reporting.

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2longofahaul wrote:

A military credit card I have, AAFES, reports to EX as open and shows correct CL and balance but TU shows derog status as included in BK with incorrect CL and incorrect bal. reported in 2/08 and not since & EQ shows it as derog status with 0 payment and no other info. except included in BK.  The credit line is 4500 and the balance is 1840 so I don't know if I should want it reported to EQ or not (might hurt?) but for TU it should help because the CL and bal. are wrong and outdated.

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Was it actually IIB?  Which report has it right?  We can't help without complete information.

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2longofahaul wrote:

The other cards are Capital One and Credit One.

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Are they reporting accurately and up-to-date?  What's the reporting issue with these, if there is one?

[Anonymous]

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2longofahaul wrote:

and might I add that this is mind boggling madness.  Mortgage broker first said pay balances to 50% - then below 50% - then said well 50% won't really change anything should go for 30% but he has actually heard that it should be below 20% to make a difference.  The credit reports always say 35%...here on the boards people say less than 10%. 

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Generally, the lower the better, but as a rule, you need to get below each 10% threshold to see a resulting increase in score.

So, what your broker told you was correct.  Below 50% is good.  However, below 30% is even better, and below 10% is better still.

The magic number is 1-9% for maximum scoring purposes.

[Anonymous]

Agree with Mickie, what I have read makes me think there are several plateaus. The ultimate, best-est being sub 10% utilization.

[Anonymous]

yes the AAFES account was actually a side issue/problem.

It was included in my BK (2-1/2 years post discharge now) but I reaffirmed on the debt so the account is still open and no lates ever.

So, 1 CRA shows derog in BK - wrong CL - wrong bal - noted reported on since 2/08

and another shows derog status in BK - no CL, no bal, nothing...

Question on that is obviously I correct the one CRA so it shows the accurate CL and bal. info. but should I worry about including it on the CRA not reporting?  That is the CRA with my highest score actually so I'm confused about it.

& thanks for the other advice - I will look for and call Household's backdoor # and also shoot for below 35% to start and then go for pay offs on a few and then below 10% on those carrying balances. 

I wish I had started much earlier to fix this stuff!  Just got my reports 3 weeks ago (and got fooled by Truecredits FAKO scores - learning by mistake but I'm learning!) so today MYFICO true scores and harder work begins...