Would love a BT, low to mid 600s

[travisp33]

I have the following:

Fakos (Experian Plus scores): EQ:690 EX:667 TU:649

Fico from a few days back: EQ: 623

Discover 10,500 bal on 11k limit @ 25%

Student loans, boat loan, 2nd morgage all from 2007-2007.

Have a collection on all 3 bureaus which I am trying to PFD, waiting for inside contacts to reply.

Have a second collection for the same matter one each on TU and EQ. Both claim these should have been deleted and I am disputing. They should be off in 30 days hopefully.

Have a charge-off from March 2012. Matter was settled with CA, trying to dispute/goodwill/anything I can this one.

So I am presently sitting at a 623, but I expect my scores to jump quite a bit once I get these bogus collections off. Lets guess that will put me in the 650-670 range?

What card should i be looking for in that range? 2010-early 2012 was really tough for us, but we took our medicne and things are looking up. I want to get this 10k off of that 25% rate. The last time I asked for a better interest rate Discover politely told me where to stick it. When I am ready should I apply for a single card or go on an app spree?

Also, I tried the shopping cart trick at Buckle, and got the popup saying I was pre-approved for a 500$ limit, pending approval -i didnt accept yet. Should I go for a store card spree or would that be detrimental due to the limited number of accounts I am carrying right now? I believe these are soft pulls only, right?

Also last note, my mortgage just transferred from BofA to someone else. BofA is reporting it as closed already, but the new company isn't reporting it. not sure what that will do to my score, but its a pretty hefty mortgage, so I look much richer right at the moment!

[09Lexie]

What is your total util? Is Discover your only cc?

[Anonymous]

What is the shopping cart trick at buckle?

[travisp33]

Lexie - I just added on as AU on lowes card, 1k balance on 2400 limit, but it hasnt hit the reports yet. So utiz is 85% or 95%.

[09Lexie]

Sadly, with a util that high you'd be wasting HP's. Are you a member of a CU?

[myjourney]

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@travisp33 wrote:

Lexie - I just added on as AU on lowes card, 1k balance on 2400 limit, but it hasnt hit the reports yet. So utiz is 85% or 95%.

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OUCH not good unless this card is being paid off soon you may want to be removed as AU

[travisp33]

You can google "shopping cart trick", but the gist of it is some retailers will do a soft pull on you as you move through the check out process, and you will get a popup message saying you were pre-approved for x amount (if you meet the preaproval!). Most say these offers convert to cards/accounts without a hard pull on your report. Stores are Buckle, Express, JCrew, etc.

[travisp33]

MyJourney - I was thinking the same thing. Only issue is this account is from 2000. The rest (all installment) are from 2006-2007. Dont know if the utilization or AAoA is better/worse.

If I did remove as AU, I could add back on if the score drops, right?

Also, last question. Lets say I drop Disc as AU, it would just be in my wifes name. If I then got approved for a good BT offer, could I transfer her balance? Frankly I don't need the credit, we do ok on cash only, just looking for a way to reduce that rate while we focus on paying it off.

[myjourney]

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@travisp33 wrote:

MyJourney - I was thinking the same thing. Only issue is this account is from 2000. The rest (all installment) are from 2006-2007. Dont know if the utilization or AAoA is better/worse.

If I did remove as AU, I could add back on if the score drops, right?

Also, last question. Lets say I drop Disc as AU, it would just be in my wifes name. If I then got approved for a good BT offer, could I transfer her balance? Frankly I don't need the credit, we do ok on cash only, just looking for a way to reduce that rate while we focus on paying it off.

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Any card with high UTL that you are on will hurt your scores and I understand you don't wish to give up the AAoA from 2000-2006-2007

Yes if you remove yourself you would in most cases see a scoring jump

Yes, if you were approved for a BT card you could transfer her balances to that card 

Question who has the best credit?

[09Lexie]

Normally you can pay balances off that are not yours. Removing yourself will be in your best interest now cause util is 35% of your score. The other issue however is what then? I'd get a secured card now in your name have it for 6/9 mos then apply for a BT. BoA is pretty good with unsecuring your card.