Hi everyone. I’ve been lurking around the boards for about two weeks. After getting frustrated with FAKO scores at CK, I decided to pull my reports and scores with MyFICO and was (somewhat) pleasantly surprised that my credit situation was not as dire as I thought. However, I’m stuck in a bit of a rut was hoping some experienced posters could point me in the right direction to give things a kick start. I’ll apologize now for the length of my post, but I’ve learned that you guys love “data points”. LOL!
My FAKO scores were listed as 533 TU and 547 EQ. However, they are 582 TU 579 EQ and 630 EX. Not great, but better than I thought. My FICO 8 says I have an excellent credit mix, good amount of debt (DTI is about 16%) and fair payment history, credit history length (4yr 3mo AAoA) and amount of new credit. I have one HP on TU, 3 on EQ, 3 on EX. My credit utilization is showing as 49% however all balances have been paid down to <9% except one CC at 25% and should reflect by the end of July. None of these have had any late payments.
Current Accounts and SL:
Cap 1 Secured-$550
Cap 1 Buy Power- $500
Credit 1 Visa- $950
Credit 1 MC- $500
Merrick Bank- $1500
Boscov’s-$250
JD Williams-$600
Victoria’s Secret- $250
According to the score simulator, taking these CC balances down will (in theory) take my scores to 607 TU, 619 EQ, and 645 EX.
I currently have car loans. One shows a perfect payment history since 03/2016. The other has 2 30-day lates (since 02/2015) which are inaccurate and I am disputing. I also show 2 fully paid off auto loans.
I do have student loans (federal) and I do have lates on those as well (3 payments) but they have paid as agreed for the last 12 months. I have 3 other personal loans from 2016 that were paid as agreed.
Now the baddies: (None of these have any CAs showing)
Loan (furniture)- $1900 (First delinquency 01/2017)
Loan (personal)- $959 (First delinquency 12/2016)
Celtic Bank (CC)-$0 CO (First delinquency 09/2016)
First Premier (CC)- $694 CO (First delinquency 10/2016)
One United Bank (CC)- $67 (First delinquency 09/2016)
Swiss Colony- $157 (Not mine, disputing)
Finally, I have one medical collection that I had no clue about for $125. It is showing on all 3 reports.
I recently opened accounts with Navy Federal but have resisted the urge to apply for any credit products because I know I’m not there yet. I’d like to know how to approach some of this bad stuff so I can get there.
My plan was to pay the One United Bank and the First Premier, hopefully with a PFD. However, I can’t settle the larger COs right now and I don’t want to drag CAs out of the woodwork and onto my reports if I can avoid it.
Any advice on how to approach those? I'd like to deal with them before CAs get involved/show up on CRs. Also, for any NFCU gurus out there, should I just go ahead and apply for a secured card just to get my foot in the door credit wise? My ultimate plan is to get to a place where I can ditch these starter cards but I know I’m a long way off from that.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks!
I am confused as to why you have no CAs showing for any of your bad accounts. Are those just lates and you brought your accounts current again before they charged off? They would need to actually charge off before a collection agency would get them.
Do you feel that the medical collection is a valid item? If you are not sure if it's really yours you can request validation. If you're pretty sure it is in fact yours you can go for a pay for delete. If the creditor says no to a pay for delete then you can use the HIPAA process to get it removed from your credit reports. Google "HIPAA process credit confusion" for the website with instructions on how to do that. It works.
In my opinion, I think you should go ahead and get that secured card from NFCU. I had a great experience with mine. I started with a $500 limit and my card unsecured at one year and they gave me back my $500 deposit. I have heard they may be unsecuring these sooner these days like at 7 months or so. Since my card unsecured, they have given me auto CLIs so that my limit is now $3000. It has a low interest rate for a rebuilder card and it is a rewards card. There is nothing to hesitate on with this one. It can only help you build a good history. Once your credit is a little better you can also apply for one of the other cards that they offer.
Thanks for your response!
I'm not sure how any of the COs aren't in collections either. I've checked all 3 reports multiple times and there are none except the medical. I've never brought them current before the CO and they are all 18-24 months side CO. That's almost why I'm afraid to contact the OCs because I don't want to trigger that.
I'm going to wait for my utilization to update them look at the NFCU secured card.
Thanks again.
I'm not sure how any of the COs aren't in collections either. I've checked all 3 reports multiple times and there are none except the medical. I've never brought them current before the CO and they are all 18-24 months side CO. That's almost why I'm afraid to contact the OCs because I don't want to trigger that.
I'm going to wait for my utilization to update them look at the NFCU secured card.
Thanks again.
For the accounts that have not gone to collection, if the OC was willing to accept payment, do you have the means to pay off all of the balances? The CC balances that are closed but not yet reporting CO are what's keeping your utilization above 40%.
I have 3 CCs that are charged off. One is $0 and the other two are $67 and about $650. The smaller one will be paid this week and the other one by the end of July. They are not being included in my utilization. That is high because I made a large purchase too close to the statement date. I paid the balance down asap though.
I would work on your CR issues, try to negotiate payoffs and interest rates, and create a strict budget before applying for anything new.
I would also quit applying for store cards even after your credit is better.
GL!
