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[DCGAL28]

Hi! I had a near perfect credit of 758 but then this past year went through a divorce and was in a difficult situation and very embarrassingly didn't pay off my Amex blue card. I forgot to set up auto pay and I couldn't face it. I settled the balance and got approved for the Optima card. My current score is 637. I only have two credit cards that always get paid off and no other loans since I own my car outright and just sold my house. I have no debt and over 200k in savings with a good yearly salary. Will using the optima card for a year help improve my score? I'm hoping to buy another house in 2 years. 

[SeanA]

Using any credit card responsibly (on-time payments/low utilization) will definitely help improve your credit score over the course of a year. You might not get back to where you were in that time, but you should make good progress. You could also try reporting rent/utility payments to the bureaus to get extra positive info on your credit report. 

You may also want to try a credit score simulator for an estimate of how long it will take to rebuild your score. 

[GZG]

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@DCGAL28 wrote:

Hi! I had a near perfect credit of 758 but then this past year went through a divorce and was in a difficult situation and very embarrassingly didn't pay off my Amex blue card. I forgot to set up auto pay and I couldn't face it. I settled the balance and got approved for the Optima card. My current score is 637. I only have two credit cards that always get paid off and no other loans since I own my car outright and just sold my house. I have no debt and over 200k in savings with a good yearly salary. Will using the optima card for a year help improve my score? I'm hoping to buy another house in 2 years. 

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will the optima card mean you'll know have three cards in total? 

if you didn't want to get anything further, that would be more than enough

all you need now is time and consistent on-time payments. and to ideally have no new accounts within the last 12 months when you go for a mortgage.

you can also consider adding some (good) credit accounts to help provide card earnings on your spend (Cap1 Savor, US Bank Secured Cash+, Navy Federal Secured) 

[FicoMike0]

First thing, don't be late on anything.

To build good history you want at least 3 bank cards reporting. Doesn't make any difference which cards. No bonus or penalty for optima, just another card. 

An installment loan helps. Your closed mortgage counts, but not as much as an open loan. You could benefit from a ssl.

You should plan to have no new cards, loans or apps one year before a mortgage.

[DCGAL28]

Thanks so much! What does it mean to acquire "good" credit with navy federal, etc like you suggested? 

and to answer your question, yes I would have three cards total now (Wells Fargo, Citi card, and my optima card). I'm hoping in one year to upgrade my optima card back to my previous Amex blue cash card. 

ideally I'd like to buy a house in two years. I have plenty of cash saved up and I make 150k a year. 

I can't tell you how mad I am at myself that I let this Amex thing occur since it was so preventable. 

do you think in two years I could get back up to at least a 700 score?

[FicoMike0]

If you want the wizards to make numerical score guesses, it would be better to give details. What are the baddies, 30, 60, 90  day lates, any charge offs, etc 

to max your scores, you want to manage utilization, also, look up azeo.

[DCGAL28]

yes, unfortunately 90+ day late and a charge off on american express. How long to improve my score within 2 years of on time payemnts? Will using my optima card for a year and then getting upgraded back to my amex help?