Need advice on my next move (building credit after defaulted student loan)

[Anonymous]

I am in need of advice as to my next move and I am curious what everyone would do in my situation. I just started building credit a year or so ago when I had a federal student loan that I defaulted on mysteriously fall off my credit (it was my only negative, but other than that I had no credit). In that time I have gone from around 460-490 credit score on all 3 bureaus to 740-770 depending on the bureau since last March. I am trying to build up as much credit (limits and score wise) as quickly as possible while getting my utilization down on all my cards to under 30% just in case my student loan reappears on my credit report in the near future. 

Currently, I have an AAoA of 10 months and my oldest account is 1 year and 2 months old. 

This is a breakdown of my accounts:

Capital One Quicksilver - $0 Balance $500 CL 0%UTI (14 Months)
Fingerhut - $0 Balance $1100 CL 0%UTI (14 Months)

Boscov's Store Card - $0 Balance $11,600 CL 0%UTI (12 Months)
Wayfair Store Card - $435 Balance $11,350 CL 3%UTI (12 Months)
Capital One Quicksilver One - $0 Balance $750 CL 0%UTI (7 Months)
Navy Federal CU CashRewards - $0 Balance $1500CL 0%UTI (7 Months)
Newegg Store Card - $979 Balance $3000 CL 29%UTI (7 Months)
Overstock Store Card - $4,468 Balance $6,900 CL 64%UTI (7 Months)
Victoria Secret Store Card - $0 Balance $250 CL 0%UTI (7 Months)
Kohl's Store Card - $0 Balance $750 CL 0%UTI (7 Months)
Walmart Store Card - $0 Balance $1000 CL 0%UTI (7 Months)

Hard Inquiries: 11 in the last year, 0 in the last 6 months. 
0 Missed Payments, 0 Late Payments, 0 Collections in the last 7 years.
Overall Credit Limit: $37,700
Overall Balances: $5,882
Overall Utilization: 15%
Income: $45k/yr

I made the mistake of doing a large 24 month deferred interest purchase on my Overstock card thinking that per card utilization wouldn't affect my chances of getting approved for additional credit, but I have been reading a lot more about this since then and realize now that having 64% Utilization on that one card is potentially a bad thing... but does it mean I am more likely to get denied for additional credit since it's my only card (out of 11) with 30%+ utilization? Would love to hear any thoughts at all on this. 

I am wondering what my best plays would be at this point to add as much credit limit as quickly as possible and lower my overall and per card utilization? I am not worried about any temporary lowering of my score in the short term as long as I can build it (as well as credit limits) long term. If all goes as plan I'd like to apply for a home loan in 2 years so I'd like to thicken my file and get as much credit established as possible in the next year or so before I go into garden mode for a year. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated! 

[Anonymous]

I would check pre-qualification for discover it, amex everyday, and Citi double cash.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I would check pre-qualification for discover it, amex everyday, and Citi double cash.

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I have checked ALL the prequalifications and nothing popped up for me on any of them. Oddly enough 7 months ago Discover It secured popped up for me and now it doesn't despite having higher scores and more credit than I did 7 months ago...

I have a feeling it has to do with the fact that I had near 100%UTI on my Navy Federal and Cap One cards until this month when I paid them down to 0%UTI which just recently started showing on my credit reports.

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am in need of advice as to my next move and I am curious what everyone would do in my situation. I just started building credit a year or so ago when I had a federal student loan that I defaulted on mysteriously fall off my credit (it was my only negative, but other than that I had no credit). In that time I have gone from around 460-490 credit score on all 3 bureaus to 740-770 depending on the bureau since last March. I am trying to build up as much credit (limits and score wise) as quickly as possible while getting my utilization down on all my cards to under 30% just in case my student loan reappears on my credit report in the near future. 

Currently, I have an AAoA of 10 months and my oldest account is 1 year and 2 months old. 

This is a breakdown of my accounts:

Capital One Quicksilver - $0 Balance $500 CL 0%UTI (14 Months)
Fingerhut - $0 Balance $1100 CL 0%UTI (14 Months)

Boscov's Store Card - $0 Balance $11,600 CL 0%UTI (12 Months)
Wayfair Store Card - $435 Balance $11,350 CL 3%UTI (12 Months)
Capital One Quicksilver One - $0 Balance $750 CL 0%UTI (7 Months)
Navy Federal CU CashRewards - $0 Balance $1500CL 0%UTI (7 Months)
Newegg Store Card - $979 Balance $3000 CL 29%UTI (7 Months)
Overstock Store Card - $4,468 Balance $6,900 CL 64%UTI (7 Months)
Victoria Secret Store Card - $0 Balance $250 CL 0%UTI (7 Months)
Kohl's Store Card - $0 Balance $750 CL 0%UTI (7 Months)

Hard Inquiries: 11 in the last year, 0 in the last 6 months. 
0 Missed Payments, 0 Late Payments
Overall Credit Limit: $37,700
Overall Balances: $5,882
Overall Utilization: 15%
Income: $45k/yr

I made the mistake of doing a large 24 month deferred interest purchase on my Overstock card thinking that per card utilization wouldn't affect my chances of getting approved for additional credit, but I have been reading a lot more about this since then and realize now that having 64% Utilization on that one card is potentially a bad thing... but does it mean I am more likely to get denied for additional credit since it's my only card (out of 11) with 30%+ utilization? Would love to hear any thoughts at all on this. 

I am wondering what my best plays would be at this point to add as much credit limit as quickly as possible and lower my overall and per card utilization? I am not worried about any temporary lowering of my score in the short term as long as I can build it (as well as credit limits) long term. If all goes as plan I'd like to apply for a home loan in 2 years so I'd like to thicken my file and get as much credit established as possible in the next year or so before I go into garden mode for a year. Any and all input would be greatly appreciated! 

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Hi and welcome to the forums 

You dont need to thicken your profile, you need to stop applying.  

Lower utilization by paying it down. If you cant, that means you're getting in financial trouble after only 14 months of using credit cards 

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

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Hi and welcome to the forums 

You dont need to thicken your profile, you need to stop applying.  

Lower utilization by paying it down. If you cant, that means you're getting in financial trouble after only 14 months of using credit cards 

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I definitely agree with what you're saying and realize this is genuinely good advice. However, I have no idea if the defaulted student loan is going to reappear on my credit report so I am trying to establish as much credit and establish relationships with as many creditors as possible before that might happen. I could pay down the balances if needed but they are 24-month deferred interest purchases so I'd like to hold off if it's not going to make a big difference to my approval odds. 

[kilroy8]

Why did Student loan disappear?

That is something that they always collect on, so it likely is coming back. If/when it does, you would look at AA coming from just about anyone other than those that you already have (Cap One, etc.).

I would stand pat, you are thick enough.

[Remedios]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Remedios wrote:

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Hi and welcome to the forums 

You dont need to thicken your profile, you need to stop applying.  

Lower utilization by paying it down. If you cant, that means you're getting in financial trouble after only 14 months of using credit cards 

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I definitely agree with what you're saying and realize this is genuinely good advice. However, I have no idea if the defaulted student loan is going to reappear on my credit report so I am trying to establish as much credit and establish relationships with as many creditors as possible before that might happen. I could pay down the balances if needed but they are 24-month deferred interest purchases so I'd like to hold off if it's not going to make a big difference to my approval odds. 

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Any delinquency showing up on your CR after excessive credit seeking with such a young profile as yours can lead to AA

Th excessive apps are the reason you cannot get pre approvals. I know it's been 7 months since last app, but most lenders look at the past two years. 

If your plan is to improve odds at future approvals for cards you can actually use, and buy a home, garden. 

If that sounds like a bad plan, feel free to share more about your spending habits and i am sure you'll get some suggestions 

[Anonymous]

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@kilroy8 wrote:

Why did Student loan disappear?

Honestly I'm not sure. It was over 7 years since I defaulted on it when it dissapeared. It's been gone for 14-15 months now. 

[kilroy8]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@kilroy8 wrote:

Why did Student loan disappear?

Honestly I'm not sure. It was over 7 years since I defaulted on it when it dissapeared. It's been gone for 14-15 months now. 

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Well, they run different reports that go back further for mortgages. If you want one of those, taking care of that would be a good thing to do.

[Anonymous]

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@Remedios wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Remedios wrote:

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Hi and welcome to the forums 

You dont need to thicken your profile, you need to stop applying.  

Lower utilization by paying it down. If you cant, that means you're getting in financial trouble after only 14 months of using credit cards 

---

I definitely agree with what you're saying and realize this is genuinely good advice. However, I have no idea if the defaulted student loan is going to reappear on my credit report so I am trying to establish as much credit and establish relationships with as many creditors as possible before that might happen. I could pay down the balances if needed but they are 24-month deferred interest purchases so I'd like to hold off if it's not going to make a big difference to my approval odds. 

---

Any delinquency showing up on your CR after excessive credit seeking with such a young profile as yours can lead to AA

Th excessive apps are the reason you cannot get pre approvals. I know it's been 7 months since last app, but most lenders look at the past two years. 

If your plan is to improve odds at future approvals for cards you can actually use, and buy a home, garden. 

If that sounds like a bad plan, feel free to share more about your spending habits and i am sure you'll get some suggestions 

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Well, I should have stated it but my ultimate goal besides building as much credit as possible is to establish business credit that is separate from my personal credit so if the student loan delinquency reappears on my personal credit I will be able to continue building credit. The student loan debt is a result of fraudulent activities many years ago by the University of Phoenix charging me for 2 years worth of classes that I never took that I would have to pay a lawyer to fight which I also can't afford.