Having a Hard Time Improving Scores and Credit Limits

[nwa479]

There are a couple other places you can get a free Fico score.  

Last month I saw an ad for a 30 day trial to extracredit.com which provides 28 different Fico scores from all three bureaus.  I used this because my Fico membership was on pause last month and I wanted to see my mortgage scores. 
I don't have the link but you can probably find this by googling Extracredit.com.  

I also get a free Experian score from Experian.com.  They will also give you a free seven day trial to their 3 bureau service.  

[OmarGB9]

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@FiscalMindedOB wrote:

Thank you for that info, I was able to pull them and I do so notes for excessive delinquency, but I don’t see very many other derogatory items (that I know of to look for). Definitely open to understanding what language I should be looking for to identify deorg marks.

Yeah, I worked with a woman who had me contact my debtors and be explicit in asking them to remove their accounts for things like health and insurance payments. Albeit, wouldn’t hurt me to review again and see what may be there.

Thank you! It’s been a long road but worthwhile in the end.

I do have a relationship with a couple CU. If I could find a decent CC to extend my limit, I would be open to it.

Will keep the thread updated, thanks

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You should be looking for anything that says "charge off," "delinquent" or includes any late payments in the payment history. That'll tell you which accounts are being considered derogatory.

[FiscalMindedOB]

Hello @OmarGB9,

I wanted to follow up after reviewing my credit reports. What I found based on searching for the items you recommended:

• Experian
• A: (1) Collection: Personal Property Tax payment
• B: (10) Fed Loan accounts with a missed or derogatory payment 
• Equifax
• Clean
• Transunion
• C: (10) Fed Loan accounts with a missed or derogatory payment

Some other notes:

(A) was updated and paid off 03/28/16

(B) + (C) I am awaiting an "in good standing" letter from FedLoan Servicing and will request one from Navient

I have been reading about goodwill letters (BetterCreditBlog ) to get familiar with the process but please let me know what the best course of action would be next.

[tnhomestead]

Good will letters unfortunately can not be used with student loans due to federal law I do believe. 

[Horseshoez]

While I'm not qualified to comment on the rest of this thread, I can refine the reference to ExtraCredit.  That is a paid for service from credit.com.

[OmarGB9]

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@FiscalMindedOB wrote:

Hello @OmarGB9,

I wanted to follow up after reviewing my credit reports. What I found based on searching for the items you recommended:

• Experian
• A: (1) Collection: Personal Property Tax payment
• B: (10) Fed Loan accounts with a missed or derogatory payment 
• Equifax
• Clean
• Transunion
• C: (10) Fed Loan accounts with a missed or derogatory payment

Some other notes:

(A) was updated and paid off 03/28/16

(B) + (C) I am awaiting an "in good standing" letter from FedLoan Servicing and will request one from Navient

I have been reading about goodwill letters (BetterCreditBlog ) to get familiar with the process but please let me know what the best course of action would be next.

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So for A), what do you mean it was updated? Was 3/28/16 when it was paid off and last updated? Or was it paid off that day, but recently (as in this year or within the last year) updated?

For B), as @tnhomestead mentioned, GW is impossible on outstanding student loans as per the Higher Education Act. The loans must be fully paid off before they can can consider a GW request, which of course isn't guaranteed to be granted.

[FiscalMindedOB]

Well, that's a bummer. Thank you for sharing that, I was hoping it was worth a shot to get them to remove the late payments. I think removal of the collections is my best bet.

[FiscalMindedOB]

So for A), what do you mean it was updated? Was 3/28/16 when it was paid off and last updated? Or was it paid off that day, but recently (as in this year or within the last year) updated?

It was paid off on 3/28/16 updated in August of 2016 (had a meeting with my credit repair consultant with the confirmation correspondence). I went back to look through those documents and I, sure enough, do not have a correspondence of removal from Experian for that collections (I have them for EQ and TU).

[OmarGB9]

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@FiscalMindedOB wrote:

So for A), what do you mean it was updated? Was 3/28/16 when it was paid off and last updated? Or was it paid off that day, but recently (as in this year or within the last year) updated?

It was paid off on 3/28/16 updated in August of 2016 (had a meeting with my credit repair consultant with the confirmation correspondence). I went back to look through those documents and I, sure enough, do not have a correspondence of removal from Experian for that collections (I have them for EQ and TU).

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So you got a confirmation letter that they would delete their collection, but only for EQ and TU? In that case, you'd have to go back to the CA and ask what happened with EX. Though technically, CAs aren't supposed to delete ANY collections after they're reported, even upon payment in full or settlement, as per their agreement with the CRAs.

[Anonymous]

One thing you will need is patience.  I had a bad time back in 09, where I had multiple accounts in collections, with credit scores in the 500's and 600's.  I paid everything off, but it hurt my scores for years afterwards.  Of course, my scores jumped by over 100 overnight once the magic 7 year window passed; judging by your collections dates, that will be sometime next year for yourself.  Now, one red flag I saw in your description of your situation is being eager to try to get a large amount more of credit than you currently have.  The only reason you should be doing this is to be able to use a little more credit without going above a certain amount of your available credit limit (say, 7% to 30%).  and not to just have more to max out.  I got one of my FICO scores to 800 even when I wasn't making that much ($35,000) because I became a responsible user of credit.  Currently, my FICO 8 scores across the three bureaus are 825, 828, and 850.  I have 3 open credit accounts, which consist of two credit cards (Chase: 10k limit, and Discover: 4k limit) and one auto loan.  I have aggressively paid the auto loan principle where I will have a 5.5 year loan done in about 25 months.  If you are able, use a credit simulator tool.  I have one built in to my Chase Sapphire preferred account, which immensely helped me understand how credit works.  Your salary increases aren't nearly as meaningful as how you plan your credit usage, and about all that's good for is getting higher credit limits, which is good only for being able to spend more on credit without going above the sweet spot that starts hurting your credit.  People don't realize that missed payments give you a huge hit on your credit, so it is important not to miss payments AT ALL.  Automate what you can, and put several reminders on PC and/or digital assistants (google, alexa, etc) for the rest.  Do not think you can improve all of this overnight.  One misstep like a late payment will set you back quite a bit.