Hey all,
Thanks to these boards, I got a ton of credit cleanup done over the summer. I always had high 700s credit until I hit the skids with no job for a few months in late 2008/early 2009. I got everything paid off, managed to get PFDs and even some GWs to take, and got my scores into the mid-to-high 600s.
Here's what's still on there: all lates, no charge-offs, judgments, etc. All lates are from 1.5 years ago or further out.
Sallie Mae - aka, the ones that will never get GW'd no matter how much I beg. This is what's REALLY holding my score back back, b/c my account with them is 7 loans, so all of them show up with lates on a 4 month stretch in 2008. (I paid but couldn't pay the full amount, so I got dinged until I got caught back up.)
Nissan Finance - two random lates from early 2008. Loan paid off and closed.
Citibank - on TU only, there's one 60 day from 3 years ago. I GW'd and they removed it from EX and EQ, claiming they submitted to all three. I wrote them twice about it still being on TU, but got no response.
Chase - 3 lates in 2008. Account paid off, closed.
Right now, my EQ hovers around 720, and TU varies WILDLY every month, depending on my wee little CapOne balance - right now TU is at 641, two months ago it was in the 690s - it just depends on that CapOne card. The scores are stuck where they are, and I think I've gotten about all I'll get from GW'ing. I've had no lates for 1.5yrs now, a way bigger income than I used to, and I'm starting to see credit card offers come my way again.
I got a CapOne back in May to start rebuilding, but at the $750 limit, it's really starting to annoy me. I travel a lot for work, so anytime I put my plane ticket on there, it makes my utilization insane if I don't get my reimbursement check before the cutoff date so I can take the balance back to $0. I'm thinking it might be time to go for a second card to keep my credit moving in the right direction. I have 3 inqs from the past year - 1 is falling off this month, 2 fall off in May.
What do you guys think? Time for a second card, hopefully with a better limit? Should I wait to see if my TU goes back up again next month before app'ing?
Starting Score: TU: 550 EQ: 556 (pulled 6/2010)