Improving my credit and scores

[FICOFreedom]

I too am working on raising my score. Paying off debts over time to raise my FICO in working towards larger goals. When I first started my FICO was in the 500s, stagnated at 626 for mos and I just pulled my EX@ 637 yesterday. I have one CC with a $1000 limit that was at $800-$900s balance that I paid down into the $100s. I'm not sure if this was the culprit for the 11pt jump? I also have another CC that I paid off months ago and stopped using (kept open) with a $700 limit. I have a walmart card with a $75 limit that has a $0 bal and I don't use. I recently switched cellphone carriers ( from sharing an account in my brothers name) to an account in my name in July (?) of this year.

Questions:

I have approx $2000 left on my auto loan. Will it be better to pay this off in 1-3 lump sum payments or continue paying it out at my normal $250 installments?

I have 3 weeks of class left before graduating, at which point my first student loan payment will be in March of 2010 @ $150 a month. As it stands I have approx. $35,000 in student loans that show up as 10 different accounts on my credit report.  (Is that lowering my score?) What is the best way of handling that mess?

Also, I noticed some accounts that I have no idea what they are but have no balance. Do I contact them and tell them to remove them?

I do have 2 or 3 negative accounts from 05 and 06 I believe totally $750 debt. I recently received a school refund on a "HigherOne" card which has the Visa logo on it. I was considering paying those off with that card. What "process" can I expect after doing so?

Message Edited by llecs on 09-05-2009 08:11 PM

[llecs]

FICOFreedom, I split your post away to form a new thread. I had to change the subject line but changed nothing else. If you'd like to change the subject line to something else, feel free to do so by clicking "Options" and then "Edit Message".

To answer your questions....

Congrats on the debt paydown. It is the fastest way to improve a FICO score. First, make sure you have your two FICO scores. Other than from a lender, you can get both here (TU and EQ). You can also get your TU FICO from TransUnioncs.com (note the -cs) and you can get your EQ FICO directly from Equifax.com. Unfortunately, it is impossible to pull your EX FICO from anywhere (well, a CU in PA called PSECU offers it on their bank statements). I noticed you mentioned EX and wanted to bring this up.

Paying a CC down to 10% can certainly improve your score. Ideally, you want 1/2 to all but one CC report $0, with the remaining reporting less than 9%, for max points anyway. Also, CCCs have been closing CCs for non-use. You'd want to use every card at least once per every 3 months or so. Just use it for a cup of coffee, PIF, and shelve it until you use it again.

Cell phones don't report (unless they turn bad).

Per your FICO, paying the loan in full or gradually won't make any difference. However, you'd save $$$ if you can PIF now. It won't hurt. Installment loans are such a tiny part of scoring.

If you have 10 installment accounts per the SLs, then there's not much you can do. Closing them or consolidating won't get rid of them. Look on the bright-side. Several years from now, when they are still reporting with a balance or otherwise, your score and credit history will be much better off.

Post back here for account info on the accounts you know nothing about. Someone will tell you if they reporting as a bad account.

Like with the unknowns, post back here on the negative accounts. The action you'd take would depend on what is reporting and how it is reporting.

Welcome to the forums!

I'd suggest reading the following:

Common Abbreviations

Credit Scoring 101 - great for knowing what is in your credit score and to see how your score is impacted.

and What Steps Do I Take - great for learning the repair process.

[FICOFreedom]

 I wanted to say thanks for replying in such a timely fashion!

And I wanted to let you know I've been monitoring my Experian score for over a year. I use freecreditreport.com as well as MyFico. I logged into my freecreditreport.com account yesterday evening as it has been awhile since doing so. I have yet to check the others- TU and Eq... I know all 3 always vary from eachother. But it seems my state focuses on EX, which is why I'm monitoring that one. Once I check the others I will indeed check/post back here for updates! Each time I do so I get an email such as this- just to share with you and the others...

"Thank you for ordering your Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score(SM) from FreeCreditReport.com. Your Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score(SM) will be available online for thirty days.


Get unlimited access to your Experian® Credit Report and Score!

Sign up for Triple AdvantageSM and you can view your Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score® whenever you want!

Triple Advantage comes with:

• Daily monitoring of three credit reports: Experian, Equifax®, and TransUnion®
• Email alerts of key changes found in any of your three national credit reports
• Unlimited access to your Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score after the free trial period
• Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score(SM) Guarantee*

*Due to New York state law restrictions, the Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score(SM) Guarantee cannot be offered to residents of New York.

We’re glad you made the right decision by choosing Experian – the trusted leader in online credit monitoring, reports and scores. Should you have any questions concerning your Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score(SM), please contact FreeCreditReport.com Customer Care at 1-877-481-6826. For your convenience, our customer care center is open Monday-Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. (Pacific Time). You can also contact us by email at Support@FreeCreditReport.com."

 As with the unknown and negative accounts I mentioned. I will take care of those this coming week. I would expect to see no result of this for at least 30 days right? (in terms of my report or score)

How do you set up the "signature" at the bottom of each of your posts where everyone has their score updates?

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

you are not seeing a true FICO score using triple advantage. What you are seeing is a FAKO score.

Another words that isnt what your real score is and it wont be the score that lenders see and use if they were to pull a EX report. What you see on a FAKO score will be very different than a true FICO

The only true lender seen FICOS come from here at myfico and you only get 2 of them and EX has since discontinued that service.

[FICOFreedom]

Thank you jp for the concern.. I don't use the triple advantage, though. If you notice they were asking me to sign up for triple advantage. And ironically I just signed up for the free trial for the Score Watch here with MyFico, so...

Ex 637 9/4/2009

Eq 660 9/6/2009- WooHoo! (This one seems more accurate/current as far is the info in the report too)

TU ???

Message Edited by FICOFreedom on 09-06-2009 12:57 AM

[Anonymous]

 Experian score is a FAKO.  They only way to get a true EX FICO score is through a lender.

[llecs]

Ditto. Ignore that score from freecreditreport.com. If you rely on that, you'd experience grief at app time with a lender. The score from FCR is a FAKO score. Specifically, it is called a PLUS score. It was developed by EX to compete with FICO. Unfortunately for them, this score is so off-base to risk prediction that lenders don't even touch it.

My score from FCR has been as much as 120 points off from my FICO (when at the time we could pulled EX FICO). DW now has creditchecktotal (just like FCR but offers all 3 reports and FAKO scores) and her EQ PLUS FAKO score is about 90 points lower from her FICO score when pulled the same day. Her TU PLUS FAKO is about 10 points higher than her TU FICO when pulled the same day. There's no comparison to the real deal.

IMO, don't sign up to Triple Advantage. If you really like the format, try using creditchecktotal.com and you can get all 3 reports and you can pull a new report for all 3 daily for about $10 or $20/mo.

Per the question on the siggy, myFICO puts newbie restrictions on the siggy to keep spammers at bay. After about 10 posts or so w/ frequent visits, you should be able to post a siggy or see that option to post a siggy.

[FICOFreedom]

Thanks llecs. I actually received a letter from Experian in the mail offering a free credit file. So what I think I'll do is wait until I work on those old/unknown accounts and pay off those negs. and possibly pay off my car loan and wait at least 30 days after to send in for that info from Experian. Since I can just log in and check Eq and Tu easily I'll keep those that way.

BTW, I logged into truecredit.com for my TU score and report last night also, turns out I already had an account. They seem to show more accounts (no delingquents tho) and a bit higher debt but a higher FICO. It seems backwards!... in checking these reports and scores it seems with each company the more accounts and higher debt reported the higher score they have for me!

I will just work on the previously mentioned goals and report back here through the process and update the FICOs in 30+ days.

Thanks for the info.

Ex PLUS - 637 9/4/09

Eq Fico - 660 9/6/09

TU Fico- 682 9/609

[llecs]

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FICOFreedom wrote:

Thanks llecs. I actually received a letter from Experian in the mail offering a free credit file. So what I think I'll do is wait until I work on those old/unknown accounts and pay off those negs. and possibly pay off my car loan and wait at least 30 days after to send in for that info from Experian. Since I can just log in and check Eq and Tu easily I'll keep those that way.

BTW, I logged into truecredit.com for my TU score and report last night also, turns out I already had an account. They seem to show more accounts (no delingquents tho) and a bit higher debt but a higher FICO. It seems backwards!... in checking these reports and scores it seems with each company the more accounts and higher debt reported the higher score they have for me!

I will just work on the previously mentioned goals and report back here through the process and update the FICOs in 30+ days.

Thanks for the info.

Ex PLUS - 637 9/4/09

Eq Fico - 660 9/6/09

TU Fico- 682 9/609

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If you subscribed to FCR, you can click on the "dispute" link at your home page within FCR. That will take you to Experian's website and click OK where prompted. Now don't dispute, but once you verify your info they will give you a free EX report pulled directly from EX. This will show TONS more info than from the FCR report including the full 7-yr history, soft inquiries, better contact info, more demographic info, and drop off dates for most of your baddies. This will save you time and you won't have to wait for snail mail. BTW, you can do the same for truecredit if subscribed to them.

FAKO scores are very much backwards. I removed a last remaining CA once. When we all had the ability to pull EX, my EX FICO increased 58 points. My EX FAKO via TC, if I recall, dropped 8 points. This CA was my oldest TL and I guess a CA's history factored into the FAKO score. Never made sense to me.

[FICOFreedom]

So I've been readin other posts and advice on the forms. I wanted a little clarification on something. It seems like some of these old accounts (debts) I have that do not have current active dates may be "re dated" if I paid them? So would paying them lower my score by bringing those accounts current? To pay them or not to pay them, that is the question...

Also, I found out what the unkown account was. It is an old "charge" account I had with Dell when I financed my old lap top which has since been paid off and the account closed. Do I leave this be or should I contact them to remove it from the report? It shows no balance.