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Hi Gang,
I have been helped here before, so I return again. I applied for a moprtgage loan. I am approved, but have to pay an extra point for my mid-score being below 700 (TU=705, EQF=694, and EXP=688). This is a special loan program for teachers in california and beats the snot out of FHA. The loan is for $400k, so this point costs me an extra $4k.
I only have one cc with a balance (5100/11500) and have a total revolving util of 18%. I have stud loans, and no other debt. My credit scores are low due to three baddies:
Amex greeen card went pd. collections in 2004
HFC - 30 day in 5/07
ACS - 2 60 days in 6/07 and 7/07 (Not sure why they are both 60 and not one 30 and one 60)
I have tried to GW all three...no go.
I have a 6 inquiries within one year (one UA that I am currently disputing).
I need the money I have saved for a down payment and closing costs. BUT, what if I use $2k to pay down my sole cc below 30% util. Do you think this would be enough to get a 6 point jump??? I might be able to spare it, but it would be cutting it close.
Thanks to all for your help.
I sent you a pm with a contact at ACS
Also the UTL on that one card is at 44%, if you can get it below 30% you may see the jump you need (they say about 10 points for every 10% reduction)
I realize that means taking nearly $3000 but it's still cheaper than paying for the point
Thanks for the email addy.
On the mortgage app credit report (from credco) it says:
EFX BEACON 5.0 694
Factor 00039, 00013, 00014, 00016
00039 Serious Delinq
00013 Time Since Serious too Recent or Unknown
00014 Lenght of Time Accts Have been Established
00016 Too Many Consumer Finance Company Accts
on myFICO it says for hurting my score:
1. Serious Delinq
2. Recent Missed Pmt.
3. Short Acct History
I am not sure why the recent missed pmt is hurting me as it has been almost two years???
economan wrote:
Thanks for the email addy.
On the mortgage app credit report (from credco) it says:
EFX BEACON 5.0 694
Factor 00039, 00013, 00014, 00016
00039 Serious Delinq
00013 Time Since Serious too Recent or Unknown
00014 Lenght of Time Accts Have been Established
00016 Too Many Consumer Finance Company Accts
on myFICO it says for hurting my score:
1. Serious Delinq
2. Recent Missed Pmt.
3. Short Acct History
I am not sure why the recent missed pmt is hurting me as it has been almost two years???
These are actually the same negatives. Because of your current score range, myFICO only gives you 3 negatives. So:
00039 Serious Delinq = Serious delinq (duh)
00013 Time Since Serious too Recent or Unknown = Recent Missed Payment
00014 Lenght of Time Accts Have been Established = Short Account History
00016 Too Many Consumer Finance Company Accts (this would be on your myFICO report if your score was lower)
Even though the recent isn't particularly recent, it just means that that late is affecting your scores more than your short account history.
Looking at this, I would say that your real problems are the serious derogs (the collections and the 60's) and the semi-recent late (the second 60.) If a nearly-two-year-old late has more impact than short history, then this tells me the short history isn't a very big factor.
One possibility is that you will get a score improvement in August from the 7/2007 60 going over two years. Supposedly, 60's start counting like 30's after 2 years. So maaaaaaybe you'll see something from that in August.
Since util isn't listed, I don't know if reducing that would help your score, but it's always worth a try.
In the meantime, if you have one or more CC's with relatively small balances that you can pay off before the statements drop, you might eke something out there as well, as there is usually some score benefit from having fewer accounts with balances.
Economan,
You mentioned only one credit card with a balance. I assume you have other cards. If you use them during the month make sure you pay them off in full before your statement date. This will ensure than only the card with a balance actually reports a balance (check your reports to see if any of your other cards reported a balance). If other cards are reporting you could probably get the 6pts you need by having only one report. However, to be safe I would also pay down that one card as much as you can.
Economan,
One additional idea. Which ccc is the balance with? You might be able to have them raise your credit limit. I know this is difficult in these times, but it is possible.
Good luck
Thanks again for the responses. I don't use the other 5 cc's (except every few months to buy a tank of gas or groceries just to keep them active). They reported 0 balances on the last CR.The only CC with the balance is Citi and they just gave me the CLI last month (probably hard to talk them into another one???) Don't really want to rock the boat and have them reduce the CL. I could pay off $1k and get the balance under 40% (but CC util was my first positive on myFICO).
I guess I will have to wait until August to see if EFX treats the 60Day from 7/07 as a 30Day.How long do you think it will take for a result to show?
Also, do you think closing some of the minor recent consumer accts would help (as per the fourth issue). Hauling says that this probably is not a big issue since myFICO didn't report it as a neg.
Finally, I could probably get on one cc as an AU, but I am not sure this will increase my AAoA by very much (since I have so many -- 19 revolving).