Cannot raise the score

[Anonymous]

Help,

 I am tired of trying to figure out why I cannot get out of the 670 & 680 range for over a year. A nice person on here told me that due to me only having 1 low limit credit card that is hurting me and I cannot move up higher.

Perfect payment history for 4 years + (2003 was not a good year and 2- 60 days late and 2 hospital charge offs, did not know about PFD)

Chase Circuit City 630.00 limit 120.00 charged (changing auto. to Chase Best Buy in May ) perfect since Nov 2003.

Mortage 260,000 perfect paid on time

Car payment 26,000 borrowed Nov 2006, 18,000 owed, perfect payment.

RV 15,800 taken out Sept 2008 perfect record with just signature, no proof of anything) perfect payment.

Home improvement by signature alone (no proof of anything) 4,000.00 taken out Sept 2008 3,200 owed.Perfect payment.

I was waiting to get 700 with somebody but that does not seem like it is going to happen any time soon.

And last week some HSBC taxmasters from 1986 trashes my Transunion score to 563 from 689 which I am disputting now.

I think the credit card companies see 30 and 60 days late (even over 5 years ago) and they hate you for life.

wHAT AM i DOING WRONG ???

Thanks nice people.

[Anonymous]

To my rookie eyes, I would say that person was correct. Your utility stays to high with the low limit card and my understanding, FICO likes to see a couple major c.c.'s.  The other thing hurting you is the age of accounts.

looks like most of them are 4 to 6 years old.

Message Edited by ezover on 04-13-2009 03:42 PM

[Anonymous]

It could also have something to do with what bucket you are in as well.

You have 19% util...getting that down below 9% could help you as well.

[Anonymous]

If you could pay down the Chase card from your current 19% utilization to a util of 1% I bet you'd see a jump in score of 10-15 points. But yes, you definitely need higher revolving credit limits. If Chase won't give you a CLI, you should probably start researching new cards. You'll take a small ding at first for inquiry/new account, but positive payment on that for 6 months should get you closer to breaking through the 700 mark.

Your installment accounts all seem great, but you should definitely try sending GW letters for the lates from 2003, and check out the medical collections board to try to get the hospital charge offs deleted. The age of your accounts doesn't seem bad (you won't be breaking through 800 with average ages like that) but you should certainly be able to reach 700 if you get rid of some of those baddies and get some higher CLs on revolving accounts.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replys all,

Is there anywhere on here to go to get a address or a template letter to use for the Medical Collections Board ? 

Also Equifax keeps telling me as a bad thing hurting me is my credit there is no activity on my credit card but there is a 129.00 balance reporting on the Equifax site. but when you mail them or call them they give you stupid cut and paste answers.

I HATE EQUIFAX.

My oldest account is 11 years but my average they say is 5. OUCH.

Maybe I am just a 680 kinda person.   

[Anonymous]

Zman,

            I can relate to the frustration you're feeling right now. Especially since you've been doing so well these last few years in servicing the substantial debt you're carrying. My take is that the 60 day lates and the 2 charge offs are definitely not helping you, although, to be fair, a 680 with that kind of baggage in this credit climate isn't too shabby. I mean, I've heard of much worse.

Look at it from a credit bureaus' perspective: they don't see the bills you're responsibly paying on time as being anything more than potential shoes to drop on them in the future. The 60 day lates are bad enough---but the two chargeoffs would be red flags to any potential lender.

I would counsel patience and continued due diligence in paying all of your bills. And if you can challange any erroneous info or write a convincing good will letter to get some of those baddies removed--so much the better. Time is definitely your friend in this game. All past mistakes will eventually be forgotten and are fading in significance as time goes by.

I do think it's helpful to bear in mind that winning the credit game is a long term proposition: 7 to 10 years, But by continuing to demonstrate responsible use of credit even while the clock runs down on your red flags you will

be very well prepared to reap substantially higher scores in the years to come.

Just don't fall back on bad habits or get discouraged to the point you do something rash which resets the clock on you. That would be truly discouraging. Otherwise, I think you're doing great and recommend you stay the course. Time should take care of the rest. Just keep your eyes on the prize over the long haul.

Best of luck.

Cato.

[Anonymous]

MyFico just created a new board regarding medical collections and the HIPAA process. It's under Bouncing Back from Credit Problems in these forums. Here's a link to the HIPAA process. It's lengthy, but has achieved great results for a lot of people....

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=medicaldebt&thread.id=544

[Anonymous]

Thanks CATO, Great advice.

I did not think I had that much debt, I bring in 80,000 a year easy.

But I think you are talking Fico could care less about that. I was shocked to get the 4,000 personal loan with just a signature, so that does say I am going the right way but just wearing thin. Most of those 60 days were due to Circuit City's stupid pay website and me not watching it.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Mank,

  I think I like this one.

 So I think I get the jest of it. If it is paid, I can send this to the agency and they have to remove due to there not being any purpose of it >??

Still kind of confused.

Will look at Bouncing back

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Yes, the idea is that once a medical collection is paid the OC no longer has a business purpose to be revealing your private medical information to the CA. Post your situation in detail on that board, and people can guide you through any of the parts you find confusing.