Need some personalized advice please

[Anonymous]

Hi there, hoping I can get some advice on how to continue elevating my score based on my specific situation. Long story short, a few years back I had credit trouble. Some cap 1 credit cards went to collections, had a few credit union cards with quite a few 30 day lates and a few 60 day. on top of that I had some medical collections. Fast forward to February 2019;

I kicked ass and took names and paid off $30k in collections and debt. Wiped the slate just about clean. At the same time I put myself on 3 of my wife’s cards as authorized user (she has decent credit). After paying everything off I went to work on disputing the paids and while I was successful in a lot, unfortunately the credit cards (even though they say closed and paid off) are still there. I was at a low 505 FICO credit score and was able to bring my scores to around 615 now. After doing all this work I wanted to apply for a card and was denied. I called to ask why and they said we can see you have paid things off but you are only an authorized user and we want to see you having your own credit with on time payments. So 4 months ago I gave discover $1,000 and got a secured discover card. Last month my wife and I got a joint auto loan. So currently my account seems to have topped off and it’s a grind getting my account higher. With 1 open credit card of my own and 1 auto loan. Not sure of the authorized user accounts are helping me much. But I am busy each month playing the game of putting a little bit on each card and paying them off. Sometimes leaving small balances. Currently FICO is showing my “accounts always paid as agrees” as 43%, 43%, and 47%. Its reading all of those old closed accounts now paid off and even though some went a year in charge off status the CO reported monthly marking it as a hit.

I have 1 collection on 1 or my credit reports which is paid off and a credit card, so it’s technically on my report 2 times. As the account and collection even though paid off. I tried to dispute it multiple times with no success. There’s 1 other $97 medical collection that is paid off and I’m still hoping I can dispute to remove that one, it’s on the other 2 credit bureaus. My revolving debt typically stays around 25-30% by design. It’s tough sometimes with only 1 credit card with a $1,000 limit. My avg age of accounts is almost 7 years with the oldest being almost 11, it’s counting the negative closed ones. My credit mix is good and my hard inquiries is low. 3-4 per account with some being the same one across the board.

My question is would you recommend I get another credit card to help build up my score faster or just keep at it in the garden? My goal was to get to the point where I could get a good reward card but I’m not there yet. I applied for the Apple Card because it’s only a soft pull and was not qualified. I don’t want to go capital one but ultimately I will if it will help. What do you all think I should do at this point?

[Anonymous]

First off, pay down your debt on the cards. Having multiple cards with a balance and holding at 25-30% is hurting you. Allow one card to report a small balance around $10 and all the others to report zero. This will maximize your scores with respect to utilization.

As for the account reported twice, that is actually legal and proper. You have a report from the original lender which should read as a chargeoff/sold debt, and an entry from the collection agency showing a zero balance since it’s paid. This is the proper way it should report. Don’t dispute it - each time you do and it comes back validated, it refreshes the reporting and further suppresses your scores.

I would stay on as an AU only if her accounts have significant age and very low or zero utilization. You have some decent age to the accounts on your report, so unless her cards reach far beyond that age and carry very low to no balance, remove yourself as they’re either hurting or doing little for you.

Handle the balances first, see where your scores land after they update, and retry Discover. If it’s still a No, look back at CapOne or possibly OpenSky. Ultimately a loan and three revolvers is all you need to build your profile.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the reply. When I say 25% utilization I’ts very low debt as I only have 1 card with a $1,000 limit. It’s a discover with 2% gas so I’ve been using it as my gas card. My wife’s cards all have really Low balances 10-15%. In fact I’m an authorized on her target card and we just got a letter from them saying they would close it if we didn’t use it so we put $50 on it. I will work to get my discover only at around $10-$20 at statement cut off. Also, the 3 cards of hers I am on are all 4-5 years old.

[Anonymous]

And I pay it off each statement fully

[AllZero]

Agreed with ImTheDevil.

How old are the derogatories and delinquencies? If they are nearing the 7 year mark, ask for EE Early Exclusion:
TU 6 months
EX 3 months
EQ 1 month. I would not recommend requesting EE.

[Anonymous]

Ok good, as long as you only allow one to report, that’ll max your scoring for utilization when the one reporting card is in that $10 range. We call this AZEO, All Zero Except One.

At this point I’d apply and get yourself to a total of three cards of your own, and maintain AZEO. Let time help heal your scores, make every payment faithfully, and at least $5 over the min so it doesn’t flag your payment history as making only minimum payments, and work on the derogs. What collection agency/agencies are on your reports? What original creditors are on there with derogatory remarks? Some may be willing to make adjustments based on a Goodwill letter campaign. Read this thread for a vast amount of info on this topic - it takes time and effort but they lay-off can be fantastic.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/The-Saturation-Technique-Best-GW-adjustment-...

[Anonymous]

I just removed myself from my wife’s Best Buy Card as an authorized user. I thought it would help because it has a high $5,700 limit and only a couple hundred on it. But one 30 day late from April 2018. So I just removed it. The other 2 authorized are target which we just put $50 on it and it has a $2,500 cli. Never late, and a chase freedom card with a $1,500 limit and $0 balance and never late. Should I remove myself from those?

In terms of my own 3 cards, If I have 1 discover card secured with a $1,000 limit, what do you recommend I use for the other 2?

For my old derogs the 2 paid off collections are trans world systems originally owing was $96 and the other is from verity credit union from a credit card that is now paid off as of Feb of this year.

The other derogs are 3 capital one cards (one was a business card with me as personal guarantor) Macy’s, Kay jewelers, verity credit union, a paid off car loan with some 30 day lates from 2014-2015, and the verity credit union card that went to charge off but I paid it off.

[Anonymous]

And the dates of derogs range from 2024 to 1.5 years ago.  What is EE?

[Anonymous]

Oh I see, early exclusion.

[Anonymous]

Hold on!!!!!

You've taken on the world when it comes to debt and accomplished what many haven't.

I give you an A++ for ambition but, the speed of credit is molasses.  Slow down and get your bearings again before you start jumping into another issue that will prevent recovering from the lates and charge offs.

1 card/loan in your name is enough to build your profile back up... it just takes time.  Lots of time with those kind of dings on your report.

Focus on the dings and dirt for the time being.  Try hitting up the OC's and seeing if they'll send an update to the CRA's for removal or recode the payments as PIF at this point since you remedied the issues in full.  If that doesn't work then hit up the CA's for the same removal of the collection since it's now PIF.  Some will, some won't. 

Make sure you have autopay setup and put a small monthly bill on the Disco to keep it active monthly thus unsecuring on time as your score comes up with the activity.

Once you gain some traction again with your profile and get your scores up things will happen more naturally.  Don't mess around with the AU's too much or it might mess up your reports as well.  Leave the 2 AU accounts and keep the balances low if possible. 

Let time heal the issues now that they have been taken care of. It might take a little while but, be patient and don't get twitchy with ramping things up in a short period of time or it will backfire.