To be honest, you dont have much of a rebuild going on. If you're lucky, you could have everything cleaned up in a few months. A clean report will get you around 80 points.
You technically only need 3 revolvers to maximize scoring bonuses, but I recently learned 4 would be better for EQ. An installment loan will give you another boost. Never pay all your cards down to 0 as you get a penalty for that. It looks like you're not using your credit. Keep a balance on 1 card less than 8.9% of the limit for maximum scoring.
Try to get that collection removed. If it was paid, write goodwill letters to have it removed from your reports. If it hasn't been paid, try to negotiate a Pay For Delete.
For the lates, start a goodwill campaign through phone calls, emails, and letters.
Also, for EQ verification, it will occasionally give you a list of options that dont apply to you. You need to select the option where it doesnt apply to you. If you can't get through after answering everything correctly, you need to contact EQ.
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:To be honest, you dont have much of a rebuild going on. If you're lucky, you could have everything cleaned up in a few months. A clean report will get you around 80 points.
You technically only need 3 revolvers to maximize scoring bonuses, but I recently learned 4 would be better for EQ. An installment loan will give you another boost. Never pay all your cards down to 0 as you get a penalty for that. It looks like you're not using your credit. Keep a balance on 1 card less than 8.9% of the limit for maximum scoring.
Try to get that collection removed. If it was paid, write goodwill letters to have it removed from your reports. If it hasn't been paid, try to negotiate a Pay For Delete.
For the lates, start a goodwill campaign through phone calls, emails, and letters.
+1
Since applying for a mortgage I would try the AZEO (All cards reporting ZERO except 1 with 1 reporting 8.9% or less util) method as well for the most optimized temp score possible instead of reporting 0%UTIL. Good luck with your house hunting!
@Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the input.
Where's the research that shows paying down your credit cards hurts your score? In my research it looked like paying it off in one big chunk (it was around $4,000) would help it, not hurt it. If I would've know, I would not have done that. -_-
At this point, I have no need for an installment loan. I guess part of that is I've never had car payments (my cars have always been paid for up-front) and I didn't have to take out student loans (my parents paid for college in full).
The collection hasn't been paid yet, the debt has been sold to Capio--which are apparently a pain the deal with to have things removed.
The FICO scoring board has everything. Search AZEO to jump straight to what you're looking for.
To maximize scoring, you need an open installment loan. A balance of 8.9% or less would be best. Search Aliant SSL technique for more info on why and how.
You can try to go back to the hospital or doctor the collection came from and try to get them to recall the debt from the collection agency.