The Futility of Trying to Improve FICO

[Anonymous]

Folks, all I can say is if you're trying to improve your FICO, good luck. Ain't gonna happen. At least not in your lifetimes. It's a rigged system. Do anything wrong, and they'll drop your score like a radioactive chunk of lead. And once your score drops--especially due to charge-off or bankruptcy--the corporations will commit seppuku with dental tools before they ever let it rise. Here's what I suggest you do as a cure for your credit woes. Get a good lawn chair, and relax. Wait for the Sun to age, move off the main sequence, and swell into a red giant. Solar radiation will then ionize the upper atmosphere, and about ten kilowatts of hard ultraviolet and X-rays per square meter will fry FICO and all three credit bureaus along with the rest of the Earth. This will happen FAR more quickly than your FICO score going up, and it will be much more fun to watch too. And it's FREE. : gathering a barbecue grill, some burgers, steaks and fries and A1, putting on SPF 5000 sunblock and welding goggles, and watching the sky with anticipation :

[Anonymous]

Wow New World.  The rig must have broken because even with a BK on my record my scores are now 676-702.  I understand your frustration but please don't discourage people who are honestly looking for ways to improve their scores by scaring them into thinking they will forever be in debtors h*ll.  That's the very thing that kept my score in the 5s for years.  Settling for one subprome card and never knowing what I COULD do to improve my scores.

[antredd67]

 As Americans, we have become so spoiled that I think we sometimes forget how bless we truely are.  I will say that if you are looking to make a major purchase like buy a home, then your FICO score matters big time. 

 We have become so obsessed with having credit and getting things now and paying for it later that we have a record number of people (about 900,000) who are about to default on their home loans because banks and home builders were so greedy into getting these people to believe that they could afford a 200,000-400,000 house on a 40,000 a year salary. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS.

I listen to a financial talk show host Dave Ramsey and he makes a lot of sense in regards to managing our money.  He believes that besides purchasing a house, we should not be buying anything on credit.  We should not be purchasing cars brand new when they depreciate as fast as we drive off the lot, and if we don't need it don't buy anything on credit.  In fact all of us should have at least 6 months emergency fund of living expenses before we even think about slurging.

But what ends up happening is that we see our neighbors and family members purchasing new houses, new cars, and we become pressured to do the same thing.

[credit_safe]

That was said perfect. You could almost sell that. Funny thing is it's so true and honest it's priceless no pun intended.

[Anonymous]

In my case, it was a few unpaid bills caused primarily by a long-term illness. I don't like buying things on credit either...the only reason I even have a credit card is to improve FICO, not actually buy anything on credit. And for a time, it actually worked...got my score up eight points.

But the collection agencies are conspiring to keep my credit score down...every time it starts to go up, they take another of my OLD collection accounts (2001 to 2004) and report it again as if it is NEW. They just did that last week and knocked my score back DOWN nine points. That is what gets me angry enough to wish a meteor strike would obliterate them all and let God sort them out. If they would just report the debt once and leave it at that, it wouldn't be a big deal. I'd probably be at around 620 or so and climbing. But no, they have to keep RE-reporting it over and over again, making it look like it just charged off yesterday. Aren't there supposed to be laws against industries conspiring against consumers?

And then my own bank refuses to approve me for a credit-line increase even though I have ALWAYS paid their card on time.

So I'm just telling it like it is. My advice to anyone blacklisted with a low credit score and unable to buy a home is to LEAVE the U.S. and buy property elsewhere. That's what I intend to do. I'll settle in my fiance's homeland where my name isn't on some quasi-government/corporate list.

[Anonymous]

NewWorld, you have a Bank Of America card.  Even though it is secured that is a prime issuer so they are likely to be sticklers when it comes to unsecuring or raising you limits sth the baddies.  Try applying for a Household bank card.  Its great for rebuilding and gives regular increases.  However as soon as you have recovered enough to apply for better cards, move up.  You'll know when that happens when BOFA unsecures you or increases your limit.

Just remember:  Either PIF everymonth or keep your utilization down below 30%.  Here's a tip;  Household reports your balance as it stands at the EOM not on your statement date.

[dlm0820]

My Household card reports the balance as of my cutoff date on the 2nd.  They report to the bureaus on the 5th.  So I know whatever the balance is on the card, not my statement is what gets reported to the bureaus.

[Anonymous]

My bad.  Maybe they changed it since I closed mine last year.  They used to report my account balance EOM as of the balance of that date.  Do you have the credit rebuilding card with the annual fee?  Plain old Household Bank MasterCard or one of their near prime cards?  The one I was talking about was the rebuilding  card with the 59.00 annual fee.

Message Edited by Brammy on 03-25-2007 02:13 PM

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but won't Household charge like $100 in annual fees? That's what all the credit card companies want unless your credit score is up there with that of Satan Himself.

[Anonymous]

Depends on which card you apply for.  The one I started with was their highest at the time I believe a 59.00 annual fee.  Some have fees as low as 39.00, some no fees at all.  Remember, at the time I applied I had a fresh bankruptcy on my report and you don't seem to be in nearly as bad a shape as all that. They also offer Orchard.  Go out to the website and see what you come up with.  You can always decline the offer and one inquiry won't kill you.  They have some sort of thing that does a pull and tells you which card they will offer yo.