The Futility of Trying to Improve FICO

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So, you've shown that for two years you aren't willing to pay your bills, and for four months you've been willing to pay a couple of them -- and you think that should give you a pass for a high score?

The fact is, the failure to pay bills is what caused the score drop, and FICO scores don't care about the reason you failed to pay your bills, only that you did. Most people would have more than $1000 in savings to cover those bills before they charged off. (Believe me, I learned my own lesson on that, so I'm not trying to give you a hard time. I've been there.)

Even without report changes, FICO scores do fluctuate a bit. Not much, granted, but a few points here and there. People move about in pools.

It sounds to me like you're still fundamentally not taking responsibility for your financial situation and instead blaming it on FICO.

It's getting to the point in our global economy where credit does follow you from the US to other countries, as people have discovered to their dismay. Experian, after all, is based in the UK these days. So don't be surprised if your existing chargeoffs mean you can't establish credit in a new country. Their credit reporting laws may be different, and you may suddenly find that chargeoff sticks around for fifteen years -- or twenty.

I do hope you don't intend to stiff the creditors who gave you a second chance when you move.

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No, I'm not saying I should instantly have a 750. I'm just saying I'm seeing no evidence my FICO is or ever will improve. Even if it had gone up, say ten to fifteen points in the past three months, that would satisfy me. Wouldn't get me where I want to be, no, but at least it would be a sign that things could move in the right direction. But no...it's actually down a point, so extrapolating that into the future, I don't see where I can do squat about my credit score. And I'm not moving to the UK. I'm moving to Africa. They don't care about credit scores there. My fiance has all the connections I need anyway. And no, I'm not going to stiff my current creditors. I've got around $300 in total CC balances (down from $499 three months ago, not that FICO cares). As I've said before, I actually went into this trying to improve things. I was all set for a credit line increase on my BofA card that would probably have raised my FICO ten to fifteen points. But no, one of the creditors I had a charge-off back in 2003 or so re-re-RE-reported the SAME old account to knock it back down again.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well, your so-called "facts" are nothing but conspiracy theory and bitter complaining in an attempt to bring other people down to make yourself feel better. You can't expect years worth of poor money management to disappear because you've made payments on a $300 secured credit card for less than a year.

I've spent a lot of time on the creditboards forum. I watch people's scores rise. It can be done. If you can't post anything helpful, or take rebuilding your credit seriously, I don't know why you're even posting here.

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I started posting here because up until my FICO score dropped and BofA turned me down for a credit line increase, I honestly thought I could improve my credit. Now I know it's useless. No, I wasn't expecting an instant 750. I was just looking for some sort of indication that the situation here was salvageable. Obviously it's not.

[Anonymous]

Well, have fun in Africa.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Well, have fun in Africa.

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Thanks. I intend to. For starters, I'll have a beautiful wife and a lovely home I would NEVER in a thousand years be allowed to buy here in the overpriced US where my name is on a corporate blacklist.

[Anonymous]

Africa has lots of neat places to go. A friend of mine lives between Ghana and the U.S. (half the year in each).

I think you'd be surprised what will happen to your FICO over the next year -- it will start recovering, it's just slow going at first. It took me nine months before my Equifax score budged an inch.

[Anonymous]

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Skiffy wrote:
Africa has lots of neat places to go. A friend of mine lives between Ghana and the U.S. (half the year in each).

I think you'd be surprised what will happen to your FICO over the next year -- it will start recovering, it's just slow going at first. It took me nine months before my Equifax score budged an inch.

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I'm looking forward to it...my fiance is already house-hunting for us.  Maybe after I re-establish myself there, I'll come back to America around 2020 or so, when my credit report is empty, and try to buy property here, too.  Or, more likely, I won't bother... 

[Anonymous]

Running from problems that YOU created, now that sounds like a plan. Do not do the same thing in Africa.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Running from problems that YOU created, now that sounds like a plan. Do not do the same thing in Africa.

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Most of my credit problems were created by circumstances beyond my control. Now if I had it to do over again, I'd have likely tried to negotiate with the creditors and set up payments plans to prevent the accounts from going into default (a 60 or 90-day past due wouldn't be hitting my credit nearly as hard), but that's water over the dam.

I don't blame the system for CREATING the problem, but I do blame the system for perpetuating it and giving it a lifespan way beyond what it ought to be. I should be able to just pay my debts off and be back in good graces in a year or two (we're not talking about that much money here; not like I walked out on a $12,000 CC balance or something), but NO, FICO won't give you a single bit of credit for paying past charge-offs.

THAT is what I feel is unfair about the system. You get slammed hard and quick when you mess up, but if you try and lift yourself back up, FICO tells you to get bent, sorry schmuck, ain't gonna happen until you've been on Social Security for a few years. Well, sorry, I'm not going to wait that long. If you view that as "running away," then fine, call me Sir Robin. I see it as acting in my own self-interest.

[Anonymous]

I had the understanding from your posts here that you have NOT paid off those old charge-offs, and that's why they keep re-reporting.  Seems like a no-brainer to me...pay them.

[Anonymous]

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twnkltoz wrote:

I had the understanding from your posts here that you have NOT paid off those old charge-offs, and that's why they keep re-reporting.  Seems like a no-brainer to me...pay them.

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Then I'm out almost a thousand dollars...it will take me months if not years of riding herd on the credit bureaus and collection agencies to get the accounts updated...not to mention playing Whack-A-Mole when the debts pop back up again anyway...and for what?  So I can wait ANOTHER seven to ten years for them to FINALLY drop off my credit rating?  And then probably ANOTHER five years or so for my FICO to actually start to respond to the change in my credit report?  And ANOTHER three to five years for my FICO to get high enough to not get reamed on interest rates for a home loan?

Life is too short for that...so sorry, but no thanks.  In three years I intend to be sitting on a beach somewhere, not waiting and waiting for my FICO to inch up another point or two this year.