Advice needed

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys,

I am new to the forum and would greatly appreciate any advice/suggestions.

I am in the middle of rebuilding my credit. My current scores are: TU 664, EQ 653, EX 654. My credit utilization is 2% and payment history is 97%. I have over 100k in student loan debt and I have frozen all my credit scores form all three CB. I have two secured card from Cap one totaling 750, Secured card from discover 200, Chase amazon 3000, USAA 3000 and US bank 500. Any advise on what to do next as my scores are stagnant at this point.

[SarahJo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi Guys,

I am new to the forum and would greatly appreciate any advice/suggestions.

I am in the middle of rebuilding my credit. My current scores are: TU 664, EQ 653, EX 654. My credit utilization is 2% and payment history is 97%. I have over 100k in student loan debt and I have frozen all my credit scores form all three CB. I have two secured card from Cap one totaling 750, Secured card from discover 200, Chase amazon 3000, USAA 3000 and US bank 500. Any advise on what to do next as my scores are stagnant at this point.

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Hello!  Looks like you've made some smart choices already, when did you start making moves to better credit?  Also, are you making any payments at all on the student loans?  Finally, what is your credit history prior to your rebuild or is your file just quite thin at this point?

EDIT: When did you open the cards that you have currently? Sooooo many questions haha...

[Anonymous]

I started last year. Credit was in the low 500's due to lots of medical debt. I am still in my doctoral program so my student loans are in defferment. I was on a app spree last month so my scores dropped a bit. I have two baddies(medical debt) that I am working to get a paid for delete. 

The credit cards are all new except one (Cap one secured 350, open in 2013). This was from my app spree last month, which is why I froze my CR.

[SarahJo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I started last year. Credit was in the low 500's due to lots of medical debt. I am still in my doctoral program so my student loans are in defferment. I was on a app spree last month so my scores dropped a bit. I have two baddies(medical debt) that I am working to get a paid for delete. 

The credit cards are all new except one (Cap one secured 350, open in 2013). This was from my app spree last month, which is why I froze my CR.

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Alrighty.  Have you contacted Cap1 about possibly graduating that card to an unsecured being that it is in good standing and open since 2013?  It may be a long shot, but you don't ask you don't get! :-). Secondly, have all your new cards reported?  My best reccomendation would be to garden (come see us at the Garden Club!) and let the dust settle from the spree...it takes a bit for the CA's to shake off the dust and accurately let you know where you stand.  Godd luck to you!

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much Sarah. Yes, I am currently gardening, which is why I froze the CR (dont trust my self lol ). I have contacted Cap one numerous time to get the card upgraded or graduate but no luck. 

[SarahJo]

Looks like you're on the right path!  Maybe someone else can chime in with more advice ;-)

[Kree]

I don't have any concrete evidence. But I believe student loans are not factored in to utilization. So while there are financial reasons to consider paying them down faster, for the purpose of credit score rebuilding I don't believe it will matter.

However if the end goal is something like getting a mortgage, the DTI factor of student loans would effect a mortgage application. Because extra student loan payments generally take time off the back-end, unless you can reasonably pay them off completely before an application, extra payments would not help with DTI, and the money could be better used to increase down payments instead.

You mentioned 97% on time payments. A good will campaign to remove late payments could be the best option for increasing scores at this time, but more information about your credit report would be needed to give better estimates.

[RobertEG]

What are the derogs that are reporting under your payment history, when did they first occur, and what was the highest level of severity?

Do you have any currently delinquent accounts?

[Anonymous]

Thanks Kree. You are correct, the DTI with the student loans have been a huge stumbling block in my efforts to secure a mortage. I have sinced given up on that for now . 

[Anonymous]

The two derogs are medical bills from 2012 and 2013. They are due to fall off in a year or two I believe, however I have been working to get a settlement or pay for delete and they are giving me a hard time. I have 9+ hard inquiries so I suspect they are the culprit in dragging down my scores.