I do not have any open installment accounts, the most recent being a mortgage that has been paid and closed for about 5 years now.
I understand that having an open installment *and* that installment account having an oustanding balance < 8.9% of the original loan amount is the best scenario for an additional boost and score improvement.
From my reading, once upon a time there was a secured savings installment product from Alliant that one could take out against funds on deposit and then pay down to < 8.9 and push out the payment due date as a result, thereby not reducing the loan term and gaining the benefit. I understand this product (which also did not do a hard pull given that it as secured by savings on deposit) was discontinued in 2018.
I have also read about loan product from selflender but it does not seem possible that with this product one could pay down to < 8.9 early without reducing the loan term as the original monthly payment is still required which would bring the balance to 0 within few short months.
I am a 20+ year member of a local credit union which has various loan products (secured and unsecured) which I plan to explore to see if they will allow an early pay down while maintaining the original loan term (and a lesser minimum payment or no payment till near term end) but probably unlikely.
Long winded intro....
Any suggestions for an installment product (secured with money on deposit to avoid hard pull) that will achieve the objective?
One that can be taken out, paid down to < 8.9 percent of original loan amount and then allowed to be maintained for the original or at least the majority of the original loan term.
If this is covered elsewhere that I have not found from my searching, pointers welcomed.
Hi @satio and welcome to the myFICO forums:
I have moved your thread to the Personal Finance board for additional exposure to your question.
Thank you.
@satio wrote:I do not have any open installment accounts, the most recent being a mortgage that has been paid and closed for about 5 years now.
I understand that having an open installment *and* that installment account having an oustanding balance < 8.9% of the original loan amount is the best scenario for an additional boost and score improvement.
From my reading, once upon a time there was a secured savings installment product from Alliant that one could take out against funds on deposit and then pay down to < 8.9 and push out the payment due date as a result, thereby not reducing the loan term and gaining the benefit. I understand this product (which also did not do a hard pull given that it as secured by savings on deposit) was discontinued in 2018.
I have also read about loan product from selflender but it does not seem possible that with this product one could pay down to < 8.9 early without reducing the loan term as the original monthly payment is still required which would bring the balance to 0 within few short months.
I am a 20+ year member of a local credit union which has various loan products (secured and unsecured) which I plan to explore to see if they will allow an early pay down while maintaining the original loan term (and a lesser minimum payment or no payment till near term end) but probably unlikely.
Long winded intro....
Any suggestions for an installment product (secured with money on deposit to avoid hard pull) that will achieve the objective?
One that can be taken out, paid down to < 8.9 percent of original loan amount and then allowed to be maintained for the original or at least the majority of the original loan term.
If this is covered elsewhere that I have not found from my searching, pointers welcomed.
The only one I know of with which it definitely works is Navy Federal Credit Union.
@SouthJamaica wrote:The only one I know of with which it definitely works is Navy Federal Credit Union.
Since the moderator moved my question into this forum, I then found the thread on the topic and have gone through 17 of the 32 pages thus far but some of that was confusing as to a "conclusion" on an SSL for anything other than NFCU.
Regarding NFCU eligibility, if my father (who is now deceased as of 2018) has a service record in the Air Force that would seem to qualify me?
I have been a member of USAA all of my adult life as a result of this. My father never had any active accounts with NFCU but I have a copy of his discharge from his service record.
@Anonymous how much real testing is going on?
Seems like a self-selecting and self-defeating proposition.
DCU/First Tech conclusively fail in my experience; that said:
USAA, Alliant, Wells Fargo DS, USBank all have worked in the past or do right now for paying it forward also in my direct experience. It just doesn't match up, either I'm the luckiest SOB when actually trying this, or we just aren't really testing.
Vis a vis we have reports of Penfed's actually working but there was some verbiage from people talking to CSR's that it fails, which is a total fail in and of itself and at least at one point IIRC it was marked as non-functional.
@Revelate wrote:
Seems like a self-selecting and self-defeating proposition.
DCU/First Tech conclusively fail in my experience; that said:
USAA, Alliant, Wells Fargo DS, USBank all have worked in the past or do right now for paying it forward also in my direct experience. It just doesn't match up, either I'm the luckiest SOB when actually trying this, or we just aren't really testing.
Vis a vis we have reports of Penfed's actually working but there was some verbiage from people talking to CSR's that it fails, which is a total fail in and of itself and at least at one point IIRC it was marked as non-functional.
Revelate,
You mentioned USAA as having worked in the past or you have a current installment with them?
I have a long standing relationship there, they were the one company that has never abandoned me through all my personal and financial struggles, never raised the interest on my CC account, and never reported me late.
I will certainly check that as an option as well along with NFCU.