How to get credit score from 600 to 700?

Anonymous · ‎01-26-2015

My three credit scores are 590, 604, 607. Here is some of the highlights:

1. 6 credit cards with low limits (all $300-$500). All have a high balance right now. Plan is to pay these all off down to $0 next month. Have a couple 30 day lates all from about 2012 or 2013.

2. Paid-Close bofa cc with 90 day late from May 2008. Hope this will come off this year.

3. Auto loan on a lease from 2010-2013. Always paid on time and nothing negative here. This just stopped reporting since I'm no longer leasing a car.

4. Two installment type loans from a credit union that I always pay on time (about 2-3 years of history). Balance on these is $8k on one and $3k on the other. Would like to pay down this year.

5. Student loans (ahh!!!) have multiple student loans. One perkins loans that defaulted and was then paid in full that is from 2009/10. Have private loans through Citi and Discover that I have no negative history on and always pay on time.

6. On my federal student loans I was 90 day late in 2014. It is now current and being reported as on time for the past 5-6 months. However, I feel this recent 90 day late is the real killer and it isn't coming off anytime soon.

7. The Perkins loan mentioned above briefly defaulted in 2009 and was then paid and closed. It appears on two of my credit reports and not a third. I'm wondering if I could ask the school to stop reporting the default through a goodwill letter. But given that it is about 5-6 years old it may not be having a big impact on my score?

8. Also have a collection on a utility from 2009 for $230. I'm not even sure if it is accurate. worth paying and removing?

My debt on the cc is low about $2k total which I'd like to pay asap.

Debt on the installment loans is about $11k.

Debt on all the student loans is approx $190k. $100k in federal. $90k in private.

household income is about $190k/year.

Would like to apply for a mortgage sometime late in 2015.

Like I said my score is about 600 now. Is it possible to get up to 700 given my history?

Revelate · ‎01-26-2015

That 90 day on the SL from last year is indeed the back-breaker for a while.

You may be able to get north of 700 on a FICO 8 score in call it a year, maybe less if you manage your balances well for an instant-in-time pull (leave a little bit on one of your tradelines).

FICO 4 or similar on a mortgage app, I'm resigning myself with a major derogatory from 2010 that I might never reach 700 until it falls off.

In your case I'd bury myself in the Rebuilding forum for a while and see about Goodwilling or otherwise some of those derogatories: post there for some strategies and advice. Beyond that there's not a whole lot additional postitive payment history is going to help you as you have plenty of legit accounts, but short of the balance cleanup and maintaining payment discipline the only path to a 700 in the shorter term is getting those derogs cleaned up. Otherwise, get cozy while time heals as it's a long walk.

takeshi74 · ‎01-27-2015

We can't tell you that you'll get X points for doing Y. However, you can refer to this:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

Derogs -- especially recent derogs -- tend to have a significant impact and can kill your Payment History, the biggest slice, so hit the Rebuilding subforum and see what you can do about them.

Revolving utilization falls under "Amounts Owed", the second biggest slice. If your utilization is high then get it in check, With low card limits it's very easy to have high utilization reporting. You may want to look into paying before your accounts report to ensure that you don't exceed 30%. When applying you may want to optimize by only allowing one balance to report at 10% or less.

Most other factors basically take time and responsbile usage to build.

Anonymous · ‎01-27-2015

Thank you for the response. I agree there isn't much I can do about removing some of the more recent derogatory marks. I suppose my question is if I pay everything on time for the next year or so, get my utilization down to like 1-5% could my score begin approaching the high 600 range?

Does anyone with a 90 day late from 1 year ago have a score anywhere near 700? I just would like my score to go up by the end of the year I do not need it to happen right away.

Anonymous · ‎01-27-2015

you are correct in assuming the recent 2014 missed payments is probably the culprit; short term missed payment have huge impacts. Also the collection.

otherwise, your credit history does not seem all that bad. you have an few old negatives that most likely have little impact on your score.

I would work to either dispute or have the collection removed- especially if its not yours. You might want to pay it out of good will and see if they will the delete out of good will, though they're not obligated. I would pay down your revolvers (maybe leaving one with a small balance). I don't think you can have your student loans updated once closed.

Revelate · ‎01-27-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you for the response. I agree there isn't much I can do about removing some of the more recent derogatory marks. I suppose my question is if I pay everything on time for the next year or so, get my utilization down to like 1-5% could my score begin approaching the high 600 range?

Does anyone with a 90 day late from 1 year ago have a score anywhere near 700? I just would like my score to go up by the end of the year I do not need it to happen right away.

Wasn't a 90 day late but was a tax lien and my FICO 8 scores recovered back to 700 within six months; however, it only dropped me to 660ish from 720. and a lot will depend how strong your file is otherwise in terms of AAOA and other payment history.