Hello, MyFutureHome, Welcome to the forums.
Fastest / easiest way to boost your score is to pay down your debt; your current utilization is not terribly high but considering the derogatory items still reporting, you need to optimize wherever you can, and for you - that means always keeping your util ultra low.
Your aggregate util (total balances / total credit limit) is ~17% ($2880 / $16,800) -- you should keep aggregate below 8.9% of your total credit limit, which would be below $1495 for optimal scoring.
LINES:
CAP1 QS: $5800/$1500 usage / 25.8% util
CAP1 QS1: $2800/$1000 usage / 35.7% util
Discover IT: $1100/$300 usage / 27% util
WAYFAIR Store Card: $6800/$0 usage
ULTA Store Card: $150/$0 usage
Forever 21 Store Card: $150/$80 usage / 53% util
Individual card util should be kept below 28.9%. The utilization thresholds, , both individual and aggregate, are as follows (red is too high):
- 8.9%, 28.9%, 48.9%, 68.9%, 88.9%
Also, you have 4/6 (66%) cards reporting a balance and FICO scores -- especially FICO mortgage scores - can be quite sensitive to this. You should have no more than 1/3 (33%) of your cards reporting a (<28.9%) balance - so, for you, 2 cards. Whenever you get ready to app for something, reduce the number of cards reporting a balance from 2 to 1 to potentially squeeze out a few extra points.
If you are able to lower your reported util you should see an immediate boost in score. From there, work on getting that Sprint collection removed - search the forums for Sprint (or the name of the collection agency handling the account) PFD to find out if / how others have had success. Those Cap One late payments will also continue to hurt your scores so you should start a goodwill campaign to have them removed -- success in that area with Cap One is hit or miss, but it's certainly worth a shot.
Good Luck!
Yes - your current util could be costing you 15-20+ points.
Yes - continue a Goodwill campaign for Cap One. Patience & Persistance... Read this post for a step-by-step Goodwill campaign (aka "Saturation Technique): https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/The-Saturation-Technique-Best-GW-adjustment-....
Some folks have Goodwill luck after the 1st try, others receive a massive amount of rejections prior to receiving that one "yes".
Sprint probably still owns that debt and only assigned collection activity to DCI (that's how they usually work)... below is a link to a thread you should read - DCI appears to be difficult to work with directly so it seems your best bet is to contact Sprint, ask them to terminate DCI's collection authority so you can then the debt directly to Sprint. Collection authority must be terminated prior to your paying Sprint directly -- without collection authority, DCI will have to delete the account from the bureaus:
It's time to stop procrastinating. If you're serious about rebuilding, you're going to have to put in the work.. I know it's tedious and frustrating, and sometimes disappointing -- but I promise, it is so worth it all when you're successful.