HELP! PLEASE :)

[x1West]

My wife and I have been working diligently trying to repair our credit to get a mortgage at the end of this summer. I was told by a credit counselor that opening a new card would actually help my score because I had no revolving activity. SO I did this. BUT it didn't help my score, and it ended up dropping it 30 points.

My question now is... I have only had the card a month. It hasn't reported any payment info. Just showed up as being somewhat in existance. If I were to cancel the card, and dispute it, would it be removed? or once it shows up its there forever?? I really need to recover from this. If I had known I never would have gotten the card.

[llecs]

Where did you pull your credit score from?

[x1West]

Here. MyFico.

[llecs]

Was the source of the before score and the after score the same via myFICO? Or was it a comparison of the lender's score to myFICO's score?

Did both EQ and TU drop?

You mentioned "revolving activity". To be clear, you have 0 open CCs, right?

When that CC reported, did it report with a balance?

Sorry for the questions, but there's an answer. BTW, closing it and disputing it may not lead to it's removal. In fact, some lenders frown on a dispute remark during the loan process.

[x1West]

yes, both were through myfico and it dropped on both equifax and transunion.

when I mentioned "revolving activity", yes I had no open credit cards. now I have the one.

and it reported with a $2 balance.

just trying to figure out how to handle damage control.

[llecs]

Something doesn't add up. Look through both reports side-by-side. Aside from the 1 new account, look for any new accounts including baddies, if any. Look for changes in dates, account stati, new lates, etc. Something else happened to your CR. On avg. adding a new account may drop you 20-25 pts. But adding a new revolving account, if you had none, could have raised your score 30 or more points in the other direction.

[x1West]

I have no "baddies" - no collections or charge-offs or anything, and while I don't have any other revolving credit I do have 2 closed cards that still have a balance but no new or recent (past year) lates or anything. I was told that having an active credit card would help, even the "Understanding your score" thing on my report said that I had "no revolving activity" and to get or use a card. Since I couldnt use the closed cards I got a new card. There isn't anything other than that new on the reports I've been over them a bunch of times

[llecs]

Are you open to posting the positive and negative items listed on pages 2 & 3 of your FICO reports? The changes to those items and any any change to the order of those items pretty much make up your score.

[haulingthescoreup]

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x1West wrote:
I have no "baddies" - no collections or charge-offs or anything, and while I don't have any other revolving credit I do have 2 closed cards that still have a balance but no new or recent (past year) lates or anything. I was told that having an active credit card would help, even the "Understanding your score" thing on my report said that I had "no revolving activity" and to get or use a card. Since I couldnt use the closed cards I got a new card. There isn't anything other than that new on the reports I've been over them a bunch of times

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How big are the balances on the closed CC's, and what were (are) the credit limits on them?

I agree with llecs: if you can list your +'s and -'s from both reports (the before and after), that should shed some light.

These are the comments on screen two of your myFICO reports.

[x1West]

The cards I have are: Citizens Bank *closed* - $4,000 limit with $400 on the card, Chase *closed* $2,000 limit with now $0 on the card (paid it off in full last month) and Capital One *open* $500 limit with $5 on the card.

And here is the info from the report:

BEFORE:

What’s hurting your FICO® score

You have not established a long revolving credit history.
Your first revolving account was opened
2 Years, 11 Months ago

There is no recent activity on your revolving accounts.
Your credit report shows no open revolving accounts [?] or it does not report recent information (such as balance or credit limit) about any of your revolving accounts. Your FICO score evaluates your mix of credit cards, installment loans and mortgages. People who demonstrate responsible use of different types of credit are generally less risky to lenders.

What to do about this: You might want to show new activity on any credit card. If you already have a credit card, you can do this by using it and paying it back on time. If you don't have a credit card, consider opening one. However, be aware that the credit inquiry associated with applying for a new card may lower your FICO score in the short term.

What’s helping your FICO® score

You have no missed payments on your credit accounts.
Number of your accounts with a missed payment
0 accounts

You've limited the use of your available credit.
Ratio of your revolving balances to your credit limits
Unknown

You have an established credit history.
Your oldest account was opened
4 Years, 8 Months ago

AFTER:

What’s hurting your FICO® score
 

You have not established a long revolving credit history.
Your first revolving account was opened
3 Years ago

You have a short credit history.
Your oldest account was opened
4 Years, 9 Months ago

What’s helping your FICO® score
 

You have no missed payments on your credit accounts.
Number of your accounts with a missed payment
0 accounts

You've been responsibly limiting the number of your credit accounts that carry balances.
Number of your accounts carrying a balance
3 accounts

Message Edited by x1West on 06-25-2009 04:19 AM