Quarterly updates when buying the 30.00 myFico package?

[Anonymous]

I'd like to know how to maximize my mortage scores. I am familiar with what is needed for typical Fico 8 but like you mentioned it's different. Tell me what you know please.

[Anonymous]

The mortgage models are very old.  The factors are the same but some have a greater or lesser emphasis in these old models.

(1)  DEROGS.  The mortgage models are much less forgiving of a person who had a few lates a while back, but for the last 24 or 36 months has had a perfect payment history.  FICO 8 is much more likely to give you a break.  The mortgage models much less so.  Bottom line: consider working with he people in the rebuilding forum to get all derogs removed, if you have any, even if it is one Day 30 late 50 months ago.

(2)  CC BALANCES.  The mortgage models like it especially when they see that you have exactly one credit card showing a small balance, and all your other open revolving accounts showing $0.   A classic ideal situation would be something like five cards, with four at $0 and the other at $20.  Let us know if you only have two or three revolving accounts. 

(3)  INSTALLMENT BALANCES.  FICO 8 gives you some extra scoring points for having loans that are mostly but not not entirely paid off.  The mortgage models will likely not give you any, so don't focus on trying to pay down installment debt.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the info!

What's hurting me is collections and late payments. I had 6 collections when I was married from 4 years ago but since my divorce they are paid off and it shows as such on my credit report. My late payments, the bulk are from when I got laid off about 3 1/2 years ago. Mostly on my Cap One card. That card is current and I haven't missed a payment in over a year. My AAoA is 3 years with my oldest account being 8 years old.

I have 8 credit card and a car loan that are open. I have a car loan from the past that was paid off, never late. Joint account with my ex.

My car will be paid off in a couple months and my credit cards are...

5/3 bank- 6100 limit. 0 balance. Never late. Never used yet.

Cap One Quicksilver. 1000 limit. 0 balance. Just upgraded from Platinum. This is the card that I was late on during my layoff but haven't missed a payment in over a year.

Pier One Imports. 1000 limit. 0 balance. Never late.

HSN. 1000 limit. 0 balance. Never late.

Target Redcard. 800 limit. 0 balance. Never late.

AMEX BCE. 500 limit. 0 balance. Never used yet.

Kohls. 300 limit. 30.00 balance. Never late.

Indigo Visa. 300 limit. 60.00 balance. Never late.

[A1Credit]

You should have and can make the change for future months, opted for the Fico Premier 3B which will provide monthly report updates for the same price.  It also provides all of the scores as well as reports any score changes in between updates.  Just cancel your current subscription and ask to suscribe to the Premier version.  They don't advertise it like the others but it is available.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you for the info!

What's hurting me is collections and late payments. I had 6 collections when I was married from 4 years ago but since my divorce they are paid off and it shows as such on my credit report. My late payments, the bulk are from when I got laid off about 3 1/2 years ago. Mostly on my Cap One card. That card is current and I haven't missed a payment in over a year. My AAoA is 3 years with my oldest account being 8 years old.

I have 8 credit card and a car loan that are open. I have a car loan from the past that was paid off, never late. Joint account with my ex.

My car will be paid off in a couple months and my credit cards are...

5/3 bank- 6100 limit. 0 balance. Never late. Never used yet.

Cap One Quicksilver. 1000 limit. 0 balance. Just upgraded from Platinum. This is the card that I was late on during my layoff but haven't missed a payment in over a year.

Pier One Imports. 1000 limit. 0 balance. Never late.

HSN. 1000 limit. 0 balance. Never late.

Target Redcard. 800 limit. 0 balance. Never late.

AMEX BCE. 500 limit. 0 balance. Never used yet.

Kohls. 300 limit. 30.00 balance. Never late.

Indigo Visa. 300 limit. 60.00 balance. Never late.

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[Anonymous]

I called myFICO and they said that they do not offer the Premier anymore. That was just a pilot but thanks for the info though.

[A1Credit]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I called myFICO and they said that they do not offer the Premier anymore. That was just a pilot but thanks for the info though.

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Sorry to hear that.  I like you originally had the Ultimate and then made a post about wanting monthly updates and someone posted the link because I couldn't find the offer on their product listing.  They must have shut the link down.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
 

I have 8 credit card and a car loan that are open. I have a car loan from the past that was paid off, never late. Joint account with my ex.

My car will be paid off in a couple months....

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Can you remind us when you would ideally like to buy a house?

A few questions about your current car loan:

(1)  Is it your only open installment account?

(2)  When it gets paid off in a few months, will that be because you are paying it off early?

Regarding your derogs...

(a)  Have you visited the Rebuilding forum and seen whether the folks there can help you get your derogs completely removed? 

(b)  Can you confirm that these derogs are all < 4.5 years old? 

You mentioned that you have a few cards that you have never used yet.  If that's because you only got them in the last couple weeks, that's ok.  Otherwise you should activate and use any new credit card within the first few weeks of getting it.  You should use it for something you need anyway: a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, a tank of gas, whatever.  Cards that have never been used can be cancelled due to inactivity far quicker than a card that has been used at least once. 

As far as your several other cards, be sure to use each one once every six months (to protect the card from cancellation) -- including the Target card.  The other store cards don't have to be used that often (every 11 months is fine) and regardless should only be used to buy things you really need (that's harder to do with store cards unless it's a store like Target).

Finally, just as an FYI, you have plenty of credit cards.  You should not be applying for any more.

[Anonymous]

I am hoping to get a pre approval no later than August of next year. I'd like to be moved into my home before winter comes.

My car is my only installment account that is open and it will be paid off about 6 months early. I would be debt free at that point besides what I put on my credit cards which is minimal.

I have not visted the rebuilding forum to ask about my derogs. I've read about some things on there about goodwill letters. I chatted with Cap One to see about removing my derogs and two different people said they could not do that. Should I dispute just to see what would happen? Just to make sure all of the info is correct?

My derogs span a timeframe of about 3 years ago and the most recent ones were from a year ago. But the bulk are from roughly 3 years ago.

The cards I haven't used yet is because I haven't gotten one in the mail yet and the other I just got like a week or so ago. But I will use them. I cycle them. Typically put around 20-30.00 and pay in full when I get a due date. I never have more than two cards at once with a balance. And I don't plan on getting anymore or getting any inquiries.

[Anonymous]

I will say also, I know I won't be at the top and get the best rates unless I stay at my parents for another 3 years or so and I don't wanna do that but also I don't wanna just get by and be approved but for the worst bottom rates either. Middle of the pack would be ok.

And about my car I'd rather pay it off and do a SSL instead of keeping my car payments going longer to have that open installment account. I wanna get rid of the car payment so I can put my money into savings. Can you get a SSL for 200.00 or is there a minimum like 500?

My goal is of course to have good scores but to come to the table with at least 10% down on a home and zero debt. So my DTI will be really low. That part I can do, it's just getting the scores up in time is the possible issue.

[Anonymous]

My comments below in blue.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am hoping to get a pre approval no later than August of next year. I'd like to be moved into my home before winter comes.

Great news.  What are the dates of your last few inquiries?  In a perfect world, you'd wait for the pre-approval until all inquiries were at least 366 days old.  (FICO ignores inquiries that are older than 365 days.)   But the world's not perfect, so you may have a few inquries on one or two bureaus when you go through your pre-approval.  Not a problem.

The awesome thing is you have 15 months to be working with the Rebuilding forum on your derogs.  You need that long stretch of time because the first several attempts you make requesting removal may get you a No.  It takes time and persistence (and a bit of luck) to get a derog removed.

My car is my only installment account that is open and it will be paid off about 6 months early. I would be debt free at that point besides what I put on my credit cards which is minimal.

Bear in mind that the loan payoff will cause your FICO 8 score to go down.  It's possible that it could even cause one of your mortgage scores to go down.  If it does, we know a way to fix that.  Would you be willing to help the broader community test the effect of installment loans on the mortgage scores?

I have not visted the rebuilding forum to ask about my derogs. I've read about some things on there about goodwill letters. I chatted with Cap One to see about removing my derogs and two different people said they could not do that. Should I dispute just to see what would happen? Just to make sure all of the info is correct?

No.  A dispute is for when the report says something that is untrue.  If I understand you right, the reports truthfully describe derogs that really happened.  Disputing things you know to be true is unethical and it can make it harder to get help from the credit bureaus when you need it.  There are other strategies for derogs that are fully accurate (Goodwill letters being one). 

The best to "be sure if all of the info is correct" is to pull the report and read it.  You'll probably have a fair sense of whether the report is being accurate.

My derogs span a timeframe of about 3 years ago and the most recent ones were from a year ago. But the bulk are from roughly 3 years ago.

The cards I haven't used yet is because I haven't gotten one in the mail yet and the other I just got like a week or so ago. But I will use them. I cycle them. Typically put around 20-30.00 and pay in full when I get a due date. I never have more than two cards at once with a balance. And I don't plan on getting anymore or getting any inquiries.

Great!

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