Why am i still getting denied?

[Anonymous]

I have paid almost all of my credit down to zero, except one which is $1500, I have one car payment of $275 and an RV for $300, I make about $5500 gross monthly. According the credit karma and credit sesame my credit score is almkst 700 now.

So why am i still getting denied? I tried to apply to refinance my car, denied. I heard that adding another credit card would improve my score, denied. I have 2 late payments in like 5 years thats all.

[Jnbmom]

First off disregard CK and credit sesame,  those scores are not true fico score and should never be relied on. Those sites are for monitoring purposes only no more

 Secondly what cards do you currently have? How old  limits and balances and any other   negatives beside the lates from 5 years ago?

And most importantly what were the reasons given in denial letters?

[thornback]

Hi Camaro --- welcome to the forums!

First things first - As stated by @Jnbmom, Credit Karma scores are not FICO scores, they are of the Vantage 3 model and respond differently to changes to your overall credit than FICO; it is common to see a drastic difference (higher / lower) between your FICO and Vantage scores.   FICO is what lenders use to evaluate your credit, not Vantage.  CK is good for monitoring changes to your reports only, but the scores provided may be ignored as they do not factor into credit decisions.    Also ignore Experian® Plus / National Equivalency Score, Equifax® Score, and Transunion® TransRisk and the Vantage®-3 scores provided by sites like NerdWallet, Wallet Hub, Credit Sesame, and through TransUnion's credit monitoring service.

You should be monitoring your FICO scores.

You can obtain all 3 FICO 8 scores by signing up for a $1 / 7-day trial at CreditCheckTotal.com  (CCT).   CCT is owed and operated by Experian, so when you sign up you will be directed to the Experian site / mobile app but the scores you will receive for all 3 bureaus will be FICO 8.    Just be sure to cancel the service before your trial ends, otherwise, you'll be charged a monthly fee of, I believe, $24.99 (might be $29.99 now...).   You can only cancel by phone and the best time to call seems to be morning hours, PST  (or, of course, keep the service if you like it). 

Alternatively,  you can sign up with Discover Scorecard (it's FREE) and get just your Experian FICO 8 score - you do not have to be a Discover cardholder.  Once you sign up, the Scorecard will update your EX FICO 8 score on a monthly basis   (please note, there may be some glitchiness with the number of accounts the scorecard claims you have -- it's a known issue affecting some users, so ignore that -- the score provided, however, is accurate).   It's best to know all 3 FICO scores, but having at least one is a start.

Get your FICO score(s) so you know where you truly stand and report back to us.   Also thoroughly review your credit reports and list the following for us: 

1.  All open credit cards along with their current balances / limits 

2.  All derogatory / negative accounts and / or late payments along with their status'  (ie. paid, unpaid) and name of creditor / colleciton agency.

*include the Date of First Delinqency (DOFD) for any collection or charge-off accounts (the DOFD is the month / year the account first became delinquent and was never brought current).

3. Average Age of Accounts (AA0A)

4. Age of Oldest Account (AoOA)

5.  Age of Youngest Account (AoYA)

6. Installment loans, if any. 

If you can provide all of the above info,  we will be able to better determine why you are getting declined for new credit and offer solid advice.

[MakingProgress]

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@thornback wrote:

You should be monitoring your FICO scores.

You can obtain all 3 FICO 8 scores by signing up for a $1 / 7-day trial at CreditCheckTotal.com  (CCT).   CCT is owed and operated by Experian, so when you sign up you will be directed to the Experian site / mobile app but the scores you will receive for all 3 bureaus will be FICO 8.    Just be sure to cancel the service before your trial ends, otherwise, you'll be charged a monthly fee of, I believe, $24.99 (might be $29.99 now...).   You can only cancel by phone and the best time to call seems to be morning hours, PST  (or, of course, keep the service if you like it). 

Now that CCT is through the EX site all you need to do to cancel is go into your membership info on your profile and change your subscription back to the  basic free plan.  then you won't be charged. 

[thornback]

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@MakingProgress wrote:

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Now that CCT is through the EX site all you need to do to cancel is go into your membership info on your profile and change your subscription back to the  basic free plan.  then you won't be charged. 

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Goodness --  I never even made that connection... lol.   Thank you so much for pointing this out

[Queen_Etherea]

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@MakingProgress wrote:

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@thornback wrote:

You should be monitoring your FICO scores.

You can obtain all 3 FICO 8 scores by signing up for a $1 / 7-day trial at CreditCheckTotal.com  (CCT).   CCT is owed and operated by Experian, so when you sign up you will be directed to the Experian site / mobile app but the scores you will receive for all 3 bureaus will be FICO 8.    Just be sure to cancel the service before your trial ends, otherwise, you'll be charged a monthly fee of, I believe, $24.99 (might be $29.99 now...).   You can only cancel by phone and the best time to call seems to be morning hours, PST  (or, of course, keep the service if you like it). 

Now that CCT is through the EX site all you need to do to cancel is go into your membership info on your profile and change your subscription back to the  basic free plan.  then you won't be charged. 

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You've always been able to cancel online, even with CCT. I did it a few times and never had to call in. The cancel button is a bit hidden, but it was for sure there!

[thornback]

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@Queen_Etherea wrote:

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You've always been able to cancel online, even with CCT. I did it a few times and never had to call in. The cancel button is a bit hidden, but it was for sure there!

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Ahh... I only actually used CCT once.  I have an Experian paid membership so I'm kinda clueless...  I always saw posts about folks having to email or call to cancel CCT so assumed there was no online method...  

[Anonymous]

Two quick thoughts:

*  Our OP does not say that the lates are both five years old.  He says that in the last five years he's had two lates.  That could mean one late two months ago and another 4.7 years ago (for example). 

*  Our OP implies with the word still (why am I still getting denied) that he's applied multiple times, perhaps many times.  Many recent attempts to open revolving credit can viewed in itself as risky behavior -- some CC issuers weight that more heavily than FICO might.

[Anonymous]

The OP also doesn't mention his credit balances and limits, just that he's paid most of his revolving debt off with the exception of $1500.  If that $1500 is on a $1500 credit line, that would equate to a maxed out account, something that's obviously not a great look.  Perhaps he has 2 other revolvers with $500 limits that he paid down, which would make his aggregate utilization $1500/$2500, or 60%.  I'm just throwing numbers out here for the sake of discussion, but my point is we really have no idea where his aggregate/individual utilization stands, only that he's been heading in the right direction.