Does adding credit lines lessen the impact of a charge off?

[Anonymous]

Can I lessen the impact of a charge off on my account? I was a co-signer about 8 years ago for a car. The primary was missing payments and decided on a voluntary repossession, (lesson learned so let's not talk about that) although I strongly disagreed and wanted to just pay and get the note caught up. Fast forward to 4 years from voluntary repossession  - I have been able to rescue my score from a 536 to 620 to 641. Now this charge off is just lingering there and I'm trying to get my score into the high 600's- any ideas how I can get it there? 

[simplynoir]

Even using the other items in your credit report that determine your scores such as utilization, age of accounts, payment history and so, the charge off is going to be the main driving force for holding your scores down til it finally gets removed from your reports. Imagine once it falls off you can see a huge jump in your scores

If you already have enough cards that serve your spending purposes adding more credit will not be much help for you. Best you can do is keep making timely payments, practice AZEO where you only let one card a report a balance at least than 8.9% I believe to maximizing your scores, let your current cards continue to age and play the waiting game

[Anonymous]

Thank you! I actually have only one CC with a low balance but also a low credit limit. I was thinking I could increase my score by increasing my credit availability and "hiding" the negative charge off. Thanks for replying simplynoir!

[EAJuggalo]

Your score will go up with a couple more revolving accounts and at least one installment account.  Nothing is going to "hide" a charge off though.  It's going to be there and pulling your scores down until it falls off.  Is the Charge Off paid or unpaid?  That would be the other thing that could help you.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I lessen the impact of a charge off on my account? I was a co-signer about 8 years ago for a car. The primary was missing payments and decided on a voluntary repossession, (lesson learned so let's not talk about that) although I strongly disagreed and wanted to just pay and get the note caught up. Fast forward to 4 years from voluntary repossession  - I have been able to rescue my score from a 536 to 620 to 641. Now this charge off is just lingering there and I'm trying to get my score into the high 600's- any ideas how I can get it there? 

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1.  Adding credit lines will not help.

2.  We would need to know more about your profile to make suggestions as to how to improve your scores.

3. As far as the chargeoff is concernced,  you can send verification letters to the bureaus, and sometimes it will get taken off.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you! I actually have only one CC with a low balance but also a low credit limit. I was thinking I could increase my score by increasing my credit availability and "hiding" the negative charge off. Thanks for replying simplynoir!

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1. If you can join NFCU, you could take out a share secured loan, and then pay it down to 9% of the loan amount.  That would give you a boost.

2. It might help to add a credit card or two, and report zero balances on all but one of the cards.

[Anonymous]

The charge off is unpaid, I'm working with a credit repair company to work on getting it removed, lessened or whatever they do. So far they have been able to get Capital One to remove two late payments- one happened accidentally as the automatic payment was linked to a bank account I just closed, and the other was just a forgetful thing. They have also removed two paid items out of my collections. I have a car note that is current with a few late payments from when I was unemployed, I also have students loans that are current. I have a good mix but just not a lot of credit which makes it impossible to use the card each month, even if I pay it in the same month without it immediately affecting my score because of the credit utilization. Good news I just got a Wayfair Credit card- $1800 credit limit!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for replying- since I'm new here I'm still learning acronyms- is NFCU Navy Federal Credit Union? I have noticed a lot of mention of them on this site- what is the deal with them?

[EAJuggalo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for replying- since I'm new here I'm still learning acronyms- is NFCU Navy Federal Credit Union? I have noticed a lot of mention of them on this site- what is the deal with them?

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Yes, NFCU is Navy Federal Credit Union.  They are one of the few credit unions that offer what's called a Shared Secured Loan that helps many people get the "Credit Mix" portion of their scores.  You don't need to worry abou that since you have student loans.  They are also very good about rebuilding credit with a secured card that graduates to an unsecured and can then get some very high limits.

[FireMedic1]

Unfortunately nothing helps a CO lose any sting until its either settled or paid in full (PIF). Once it ages off or removed since its 8 yrs old, then you'll see a nice rise in your scores. No more applying for store cards. You have 1 card. You need a MC or Visa card to rebuild. Store cards dont cut it really. Check Cap1's pre-qual site to begin the journey. Get the 3 cards and only let one report or AZEO as we say. All Zero Except One. It takes time. Please let us know before you make any more moves whats up and we'll lead you in the right direction. Every card below was from reading and asking questions before I apped in the beginning.