Glass ceiling?

[atlastontheroad]

With many thanks and much gratitude as 2008 comes to an end:

In February, 2008 I started with low 500's across the board.  Four collections (three medical), 60+ lates, just 11k in credit limits and 90%+ utilization.  Oh, and I was driving a six year old car with 110k miles on it that was nickel and diming me to death.

At this date, all collections are paid and gone from all CRs.  Lates are down to 29 (still horrible, I know).  The last ever late will age to a year in January/February.  Thanks to judicious requests for CLIs based on advice garnered here, credit is now at 23k with less than 1% utilization.

In May, I bought a 2 year old car with 28k miles and thanks to my local CU have a 4.99% note that is currently 50% paid down (paid through next May). 

I no longer cringe at the thought of opening mail.  I shred offers for credit daily.  I'm paying my exhorbitant mortgage the day it is due (this month, before 12/31 to net a little more interest expense deduction in April) and am socking away 5% of my gross with hopes for saving twice that after the car is paid out.

Current scores are 692 (TU - argh), 700 (EQ) and 716 (EX). 

A year ago I was neck deep in debt and could barely make ends meet, or so I thought.  Thanks to the patient input, experience and virtual hand-holding of valued members of these fora, 2008 has been an active, sometimes painful rebuilding year for me.

All this blathering for a simple question.  Given the old and gracefully aging lates, have I hit a glass ceiling?  Considering refinancing at lower rate on a fifteen year note in the upcoming year, I am currently paying 5.75%and refinanced down from 8.5% in 2005.  Does it make sense?

atlast....seeing the light and not fearing an oncoming train

Message Edited by atlastontheroad on 12-24-2008 09:48 AM

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your acheivements!!  Surely you derserve most of the credit yourself - no pun intended...  May 2009 bring you continued success...

[Anonymous]

This is truly inspirational...sorry I can't answer your question. But none the less congratulations, and thanks for the motivation.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

[marty56]

Great work and it feels great not to be afraid of the mail and the phone, 

If you are in the major score bucket like I am, you will reach a ceiling in your score until the major derog(s) fall off your CR. My score probably wont change much for about 3+ more years.

[Anonymous]

As far as refinancing your mortgage, I think the general rule of thumb is if you can get a 1% or better reduction in rate then the refi will most likely be worthwhile.  5.75% is in no way a bad interest rate for a mortgage, but there is talk that mortgage rates will be in the 4's in the near future.  If you can get a rate in the 4's refinancing may very well be worth it.  I assume you're in a 30 year fixed rate mortgage now, in which case you could always run an amortization and see what your payment would be using 15 years instead of 30.  You could just keep your existing mortgage and begin making payments like it's a 15 year mortgage.

[haulingthescoreup]

atlast, are any of your lates 60 days (within the last two years) or 90 days or worse (at any point in the last seven years)? If so, join us in the major derog bucket, as marty said. Oddly, you're scored by your most recent and your most severe late, so although I'm sure there's a pucker factor with 29 lates, it might not be any worse than my 11 (on three accounts.)

I don't think that you're anywhere near a glass ceiling yet. marty is 20-40 points ahead of me, mainly because his serious late is older than my serious late. I figure if he can be in the 760's and 770's, then so can you and I. btw, the EQ sim projects me at 773 after two more years with no lates.

If you have a decent selection of cards now, I'd say that you're best bet is to hold off on getting any more new accounts and keep going as you are. After 10 months, I'm still not back where I was before my app spree (EQ 728 - TU 734 - EX 752 as of early Feb 2008), although it's a lot better than it was.

[marty56]

I would be honored to have more members of the forum join me in the cheap seats section of the high FICO achievers.

The best advice I can give people in my shoes is to reduce CC debt to 1 card at 9% or less, watch their apps and CLI requests and then just wait for the derog information to go away.  I was suprised after I exited DMP that was able to get a good car loan and credit card.  I can wait.

In a few years my glass ceiling will shatter into a million pieces and, as a classic rock song once said, get a hit of 800+ FICO score air.

[atlastontheroad]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
atlast, are any of your lates 60 days (within the last two years) or 90 days or worse (at any point in the last seven years)? If so, join us in the major derog bucket, as marty said. Oddly, you're scored by your most recent and your most severe late, so although I'm sure there's a pucker factor with 29 lates, it might not be any worse than my 11 (on three accounts.)

Serious lates (Very much like a FICO 12-step STEP 4 

EX reports 6- 90's -  ( 6/2003 and 3/2004) others with no dates Plus ONE 180 - no date - 
EQ reports 6 - 90's - (2/2004, 4,5 and 6/2003) others with no dates plus ONE 120 
TU reports 1 90 as worst wtihout a date

EX reports 4 - 60's - two with no dates, one in 6/2003. 

EQ reports 3 - 60's - 12/2002 and two with no dates

TU reports 1 60 as worst without a date

EX reports 22 - 30's - (2/2008, 9/2007, 4/2007, 10/2002, 11/2002) the rest with no dates
EQ reports 11 - 30's - (5/2003, 11/2002, 2/2008,9/2007,5/2007, 9/2006, 12/2006, 11/2002,12,2002) other no date

TU reports 11 - 30's (9/2002, 10/2002, 1/2005, 4/2005, 6/2006, 9/2006, 11/2006, 5/2007, 9/2007, 2/2008) and two without dates 

Now, what hurts most is the most serious late and darned if there are any dates on most of those old ones from the "really bad time" in 2002 -late 2005.  Explaining the circumstances, unnecessary.  However, the grouping and timing does remind me of how horrible life was during that time.

The rest of the 30's are stupid adult ADHD stuff: I didn't want to pay online, yadda yadda.  Never (and I don't use absolutes lightly) again.

 
I don't think that you're anywhere near a glass ceiling yet. marty is 20-40 points ahead of me, mainly because his serious late is older than my serious late. I figure if he can be in the 760's and 770's, then so can you and I. btw, the EQ sim projects me at 773 after two more years with no lates.

I think I am looking at at least another three years before clear and free of derogs.  Please correct me if I've just been blinded by too much reality.

If you have a decent selection of cards now, I'd say that you're best bet is to hold off on getting any more new accounts and keep going as you are. After 10 months, I'm still not back where I was before my app spree (EQ 728 - TU 734 - EX 752 as of early Feb 2008), although it's a lot better than it was.

I haven't gone on any apping sprees though I have four new accounts (two from 2/2008 and two from 5/2008) that are all my CU: two visas (one closed after three months, but the origination date was transferred to the new one), one overdraft account and one car note (paid down 50% to date - 36 month terms). 

Currently, UTI is somewhere around 4% - even after holiday shopping where I purchased and went right to pay it off. 

So as I think I see it: The last late should age to over a year in Feb/Mar upcoming.  In 2009, a bunch of lates will fall off gradually.  The new accounts age in Feb/Mar and May/June.

Maybe I'm just thinking too much but I can't imagine that any of this will net any serious pointage.

Please feel free to disabuse me of any illogic here.  My brain hurts.

atlast......

[haulingthescoreup]

Ah, well, from one high-functioning adult ADHD'er to another, welcome to the club.

I still find this hard to believe, but I've been told repeatedly that other than the ding for "multiple accounts with lates," any late beyond the most recent and most serious late results only in a massive shrug by the scoring formula. So your 90 from Feb or March 2004 are what have you in the serious derog bucket. That being said, though, I have no idea how the system treats the lates without date. How does it figure how old they are? Baffling. But if they're not treated as being somehow more recent than the dated ones, then I agree, it looks like 2011 will get you out of the serious derog bucket. (60 days only count as serious for the first year (first two years?), and then they're regarded as the equivalent of 30's.

You're right; don't expect much point action as the older ones fall off. Your scores will still be driven by the most recent and most severe.

[atlastontheroad]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:
Ah, well, from one high-functioning adult ADHD'er to another, welcome to the club.

I still find this hard to believe, but I've been told repeatedly that other than the ding for "multiple accounts with lates," any late beyond the most recent and most serious late results only in a massive shrug by the scoring formula. So your 90 from Feb or March 2004 are what have you in the serious derog bucket. That being said, though, I have no idea how the system treats the lates without date. How does it figure how old they are? Baffling. But if they're not treated as being somehow more recent than the dated ones, then I agree, it looks like 2011 will get you out of the serious derog bucket. (60 days only count as serious for the first year (first two years?), and then they're regarded as the equivalent of 30's.

You're right; don't expect much point action as the older ones fall off. Your scores will still be driven by the most recent and most severe.

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There's that ceiling.  I'll just look at it and apply copious amounts of #45 for the next couple of years.  Thanks.

atlast....going off in search of "Killer Bunnies" expansion packs