@Anonymous wrote:
I'll give you a brief description of my situation and credit scores. I'm trying to build my lending history up to buy a house. My credit score at this point is 621. and I can't get a mortgauge.
I have been self employed for 4 years now in the residential construction field. Every year after massive deductions I've only payed taxes on around 12-17k. This is in part due to buying a ton of new equipment and driving 30k plus a year. I drive nice vehicles that were bought outright and have never had a loan.
I have credit cards as follows:
orchard bank-secured- account open 11 months $200.00 limit
credit one-unsecured-account open 2 months $300.00 limit
capital one-unsecured-account open <month $300.00
citicard- secured- cards currently on the way $500.00
I pay these cards off every month. My credit report shows only the top two at this point and shows a 118.00 balance on one
I have 2 accounts that were in collections, one fron 2005 and one from last year.Once I saw they were there I paid them off and they are closed.
I'm hoping that when the other cards report it helps my credit score. My experian is the highest with 637 and the other two are sub 600.00
I manage money pretty well and I'm not in danger of maxing out the cards, I just really want to move forward and own a home. What else can I do to increase my credit score?
Welcome to the forums.
I have a few observations and questions.
First, where did you get those scores? No one has been able to pull their own Experian score since mid-February. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only. You can only buy true FICO scores at a few places. One place is here at myfico. I suggest you do an internet search for "myfico discount codes" to save a little money. You can also purchase your Equifax score at www.equifax.com and your Transunion score at www.transunioncs.com.
You have four CC accounts now. I would not apply for anymore credit for about a year. Let those age. Do not let more than half your your cards report a balance each month. I personally would only let one report with less than 9% utilization each month. Then pay the balance in full before the due date to avoid any interest charges.
You mentioned a $118 balance. If that is on the card with a $200 limit then the utilization is 59%. On the $300 limit card the utilization is 39% Either amount is pretty high and is hurting your scores.
Use the other three cards every few months to keep them active but pay any balance in full before the statements post so that a zero balance always reports on these. All I do is have each of my cards pay a different monthly recurring bill with automatic billpay. That way I don't have to keep up with which card needs to be used this month, quarter, etc. It works very well for me but I don't have all that many accounts to track.
You still need to take care of those collections. I've learned here that paid and unpaid collections have the same negative effect on your credit. Others can give better advice on what to do about any collection accounts.
My best advice? NEVER BE LATE ON A PAYMENT!!! Your payment history (good or bad) has the biggest influence on your scores.
Good luck to you.
(myfico)
7/09 TU-742 EQ- 779
8/09 TU-765 EQ- 783
9/09 EX pulled by lender 802
CC interest free as of 8/09
Time can heal all wounds and a low FICO.
"Hello my name is Sandy and I'm a recovering crediholic".
