need more accounts

[Anonymous]

well right now im struggling to get my credit up. my score is 596 and 545. My issue i belive is I need more account mix. i have one credit card (authorized user on my wifes card) and 2 student loans. also one account which is closed but still shows up. I am thinking about getting a small secured loan and pay it off in a few months jus to have it show up as an account. Possibly 2 small secured loans even. I also am thinking about getting a secured credit card of my own. Is there a benefit of getting a store card over an extra credit card? right now i would judt like to get my scores all over 620 before spring which i believe should be fairly reasonable. just looking for the best route to take. 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to MyFico. Being a co-signer on an account is great.  But you also need 3 of your own cards in your name to maximize your scores.  Getting a store card is a start but do not go overboard with them.

[Anonymous]

Great response by Yes-Its-Me.

Just to let you know, you already have a few installment loans (the two open SLs) so getting more I-loans (the share secure loans) is not likely to help much.  Three credit cards in your name is what you need.

There is no scoring advantage to a store card.  Although FICO treats store and major cards the same, the companies who sell insurance might charge you a higher premium if they see store cards on your profile (it's only one small thing that they look at, but they do treat it as a mark against you).  On the other hand, if a store card would be really easy to get and you know of one you'd use (like Target, whatever) then sure add one.  I really like your idea of a secured VISA or MC.

Your scores are unusually low for somebody who has both a credit card and two student loans on his profile.  Is it possible that the AU account (the credit card) is reporting with a somewhat high utilization?  If you and your wife could get that card to report at < 9% that would help you out both a lot.

Is it possible that you have some "negatives" on your reports?  (Lates, collections, chargeoffs, etc?)

Do you know what the age of your oldest account is?

[Anonymous]

our credit utilization is at 21%. after Christmas it will be under 10%. my oldest account is 7 years and 6 months. but my age of credit history is 4 years on transunion and 5 years on equifax.i have a few negatives i believe 4. all are paid off and show paid in full with a balance of $0.

[Anonymous]

You mention EQ and TU.  Are you getting your reports from Credit Karma?  I like Karma but there are a few tweaks you need to know about it to use that service to your best advantage.

If you are using Karma, is that where you are getting your scores from too?

You mention that your oldest account is 7.5 years old.  Does that account appear on your reports?  Is it closed?  (If it is closed, then Karma  may not regard it as your oldest account, though FICO will.)

Your negatives are by far the things that are keeping your score low, though you will get a good deal of help from getting your utilization down to 1-8% and adding a couple cards in your own name too. 

Were the negatives lates?  Chargeoffs?  Collections?  Do you know when the last negative happened?

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

well right now im struggling to get my credit up. my score is 596 and 545. My issue i belive is I need more account mix.

Why do you think this?  As stated above you already have installments.  You're also under the generally suggested "at least 2-3 cards".

If you want feedback, give us a better idea of your credit profile or consider the typical weights of the standard factors.  Credit Mix is typically only about 10%.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

Your issues are likely factors with bigger impacts.

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@Anonymous wrote:

i have a few negatives i believe 4. all are paid off and show paid in full with a balance of $0.

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That's your problem.  Derogs are always where we suggest starting off as they tend to have the biggest impact and hold one down as long as they are reporting.  A statud of paid doesn't really help much.  You really want them removed if possible.

Carefully research in the Rebuilding subforum and see what you can do to address them.  Unfortuantely, you generally have more leverage when they're unpaid to negotiate a PFD.  At this point you can probably only rely on GW letters and creditors are under no obligation to comply if the information on your reports is correct.

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@Anonymous wrote:

my score is 596 and 545. 

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Asked above but are these from CK?  If so, keep in mind that CK provides TU and EQ VantageScores.  They are only relevant for creditors that acutally use TU or EQ VantageScores.  Most creditors use one of the FICO models.  Always consider the model and CRA when referencing scores.  Also consider the relevance of a model/CRA combo to a given creditor.

[Anonymous]

My oldest account is paid off and closed. Yes the negatives are lates. Two of them we tried to fight and got no where. But everything is marked as paid in full. I was able to get 2 negatives removed completely but the others i had no such luck. i honestly have no clue when the last one. I've been using CK just to keep an eye on utilization and other things with my credit history. Once my scores get to about a 630 im going to get my fico score and compare it. Does it matter if i get 2 secured cards from the same bank or should i get one from one bank and one from another bank? When i was looking on there it told me my account mix was very poor. It said to have atleast 6-10 accounts and it would be fair? That's kind of why i thought with two small loans i could pay them off in a few months and that would add 2 more accounts. But thats why im asking on here. Alot of things sound good in theory.

[Anonymous]

Hey SouthernChevy!  My comments are in blue below.

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@Anonymous wrote:
My oldest account is paid off and closed. Yes the negatives are lates. Two of them we tried to fight and got no where. But everything is marked as paid in full. I was able to get 2 negatives removed completely but the others i had no such luck. i honestly have no clue when the last one. I've been using CK just to keep an eye on utilization and other things with my credit history.

I encourage you to print out both of your credit reports (TU and EQ).  This is one of the best things you can use Karma for -- the reports.  Once you have the reports, go through them slowly and get to know them really well.  It may be a little painful but look carefully at your remaining derogs and it will tell you on the reports when the lates last happened.

The good news is that (if I understand you right) the only negatives you have are lates.  Good!  Collections and chargeoffs and liens and so on are a lot worse.  Once you really understand those reports well, I would head on over to the Rebuilding forum here at myFICO just as Takeshi suggested.  Expain to the folks there exactly what your negatives are and when they happened and what you have managed to get removed so far.  They may very well be able to help you further.  The good news is that lates begin to have less and less impact as time goes on. 

Once my scores get to about a 630 im going to get my fico score and compare it. Does it matter if i get 2 secured cards from the same bank or should i get one from one bank and one from another bank?

Unless someone corrects me here, no it doesn't matter.  The important thing is to find two cards you can be happy with and keep for at least a little while.  If you can, avoid cards that charge you monthly or annual fees.

I really like your idea of sticking with Karma until you have made a lot more progress on getting a couple cards of your own, seeing your Karma scores go up some, etc.  Your idea is great: once you have done that (maybe in June?) you can all get your FICO scores here. 

When i was looking on there it told me my account mix was very poor. It said to have atleast 6-10 accounts and it would be fair? That's kind of why i thought with two small loans i could pay them off in a few months and that would add 2 more accounts. But thats why im asking on here. A lot of things sound good in theory.

Ignore the advice you get from Credit Karma.  CK gets a kickback from lenders and credit card issuers by acting as a portal to various credit products. That's why they will tell you that you need a lot of accounts.  They used to tell people they needed at least 16!  What you need is a couple cards of your own.  Eventually three of your own but two would be a nice start.  Don't get worried if your score takes a small dive at first when you do.  That happpens often anytime anybody opens a new account.  After a short while, having the two cards in your name will begin helping you a lot.  Just use the cards a little, let them report, and then pay the amount owed in full shortly after the statement prints..  Eventually you can (if you want) adopt other payment stategies but for the first few months at least I think allowing balances to appear on your reports would be great for you.

When you get to a place where you want to see how high you can make your scores go (maybe in June?) pay all your cards except one down to $0 and let the remaining card report a small amount, maybe $10-20 or so.  Ideally the AU card would also be $0 then too and just exactly one of your own cards would report that small positive balance.  In the meantime, however, it would be great if you used your cards a little and them report each month.

BTW, your wife has a card on which you are an AU.  Glad you are planning to pay that down in January.  Is that her only card?  If it is her only card, she will benefit from adding a couple more cards of her own too.

[Anonymous]

Well i figure getting my free score this early is just a waste of time. So once i start seeing some progress on my credit scores then i will get them. Right now i will be happy with a 620-640. Im planning on spring to summer will be about when i pull it depending on the progress I make. Right now we have USAA. Well she has a USAA credit card. I am thinking about getting one through them. We also have an account with a credit union here in town, which i am going to check into the details on their cards and possibly get my 2nd one through them. Right now my wife is happy with her credit. We've always kind of played it safe and payed cash for everything now its coming back to bite us because we dont really have anything on our credit.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Well i figure getting my free score this early is just a waste of time. So once i start seeing some progress on my credit scores then i will get them. Right now i will be happy with a 620-640. Im planning on spring to summer will be about when i pull it depending on the progress I make.

Awesome plan, buddy.

Right now we have USAA. Well she has a USAA credit card. I am thinking about getting one through them. We also have an account with a credit union here in town, which i am going to check into the details on their cards and possibly get my 2nd one through them.

Also great ideas there too.  Credit unions are often great places to start and if you and she have a relationship with USAA then that's real smart.

Right now my wife is happy with her credit. We've always kind of played it safe and payed cash for everything now its coming back to bite us because we dont really have anything on our credit.

Lots of people here have had that experience.  Nobody here will try to tell you guys what to do.  Maybe the right plan is to take it real slow.  Add a card of your own after Christmas and see how that goes.  If it works ok, maybe she can add one more to her profile (two total) and you can add one more (two total).  If you guys just use them a little (could be buying a burger once a month) -- letting them report balances and then paying them off after the statement prints -- you will be in much better shape by June.  Once you establish a card with a little payment history of your own, you could even "shoebox" if you like, or set up a little recurring charge on it like Netflix if you guys like that.  You can leave them at $0 a lot of the time, it's just having the extra card on your profile that helps.  Maybe it's crazy, but it's the way credit works.

A goal for you down the road would be to have three cards each.  If your wife has no installment loans, she'll benefit from adding a 4 or 5 year Share Secure loan down the road.  If you or she want to hear more about that, lots of people here can tell you about it.