I need help rebuilding

Anonymous · ‎08-05-2008

Hi to all,

I am a new person here at MyFICO, and I have never really had credit, I have always paid cash and used my Visa check card everywhere. I went to apply for a car loan at my bank and was told my FICO was 545. I thought having no debts was a good thing. They gave me the loan at 25.9% (yes you read that correctly).

Based on advice from the car dealership of all places (he told me I need a few more open credit accounts to improve my score), I recently (within the past three months) applied for and received two credit cards, and was rejected by Capital (No Soup for Me) One. They told me I had too many recent inquiries. (I had three for the car loan, and two for the CC's)

How soon can I see an increase in my scores? I would actually like to buy a house next year, and my bank would like me to have at least a 650 or higher for a mortgage. I have paid all of the payments on time and in full the past two months, and have kept utilization below 25 percent. (In fact last month I kept it below 5 percent)

For the record my scores were listed this way on my reports, the auto finance guy let me look at them: EX 540, EQ --- and TU 499. Why was there no score from Equifax? Will FICO always be higher?

Anonymous · ‎08-05-2008

If you truly had 0 credit before applying for the loan, then your scores were based completely on negative info...?

You need to get thee over to annualcreditreport.com and get all 3 CRs for free. Get them corrected. With the new credit you have now, keeping it 100% clean, and correcting whatever negative managed to get on your report, your scores will soar.

llecs · ‎08-05-2008

One of my first posts was just like yours last August. However, I had no CCs, a redeemed repo, a pristine 2nd car note, and some old COs and several old CAs. I always thought that having no credit wasn't a bad thing at all. I figured we all start with nothing and therefore I could always restart my credit journey again from 0. How wrong I was.

First stop apping for credit so you can focus on repair. You'll have more inquiries otherwise and nothing to show for it.

As gordon mentioned, pull all 3 of your CRs and you can get them for free as cited. I also recommend pulling all 3 of your FICO reports from this site. Why? You have to figure out where you have been before you can figure out where you are going to, if you know what I mean. The scores you saw from the dealer could have been auto-enhanced scores. What you see from this site could be higher.

Next I'd recommend subscribing to a monitoring service where you can pull your reports (to see the changes). Many of us like TC. Chase has a good one. I also use creditchecktotal (little pricey). Use these services to see changes and then you can pull more FICO reports (saves $$$ vs pulling FICO reports blindly).

Finally, ID your baddies and begin with targeted repair. Ask questions here and folks here will get it fixed correctly.

Anonymous · ‎08-05-2008

Yes, I looked at the reports at the auto dealer. I had two CA accounts both marked as "Paid In Full - Closed Collection". (One for Excel Energy and the Other for Cox Cable) I paid these off over two years ago way before I knew about FICO scores and PFD letters and all that stuff. I moved to a different state and the last bills got misplaced as can happen. Other than that I have never had a credit card or a car loan or a home loan, etc.etc. So my score was based on these two accounts, which were both paid, and both well under 100 bucks? Thats a bummer.

Still, I am getting very different information from different people on how my scores will improve.

If I pay my CC's in full does that hurt my score? (I have been told that it does.)

Some say keep the CC utilization balance to less than 10 percent some say 25 percent and yet some say 30 percent... who is correct?

The auto dealer said it will take 24 months before I can get my score from the mid 500's to the mid 600's. My bank said it should take only 6 months... do I actually trust an auto dealer?

Anonymous · ‎08-05-2008

Hi,

I actually took your advice and tried, I say again, TRIED to get my free reports. Experian and Trans Union gave me my reports very easily, except TU has me listed as John Q Public Jr. and I am the only one in my family with my name so that is odd they have me listed as a junior... they both had the two baddies on there, and are actually reporting my two new cards already but not the new car loan. They did not give the score though. Apparently you have to pay for them.

Equifax would not give me a free report... they asked who my "mortgage" was through, and when I said I don't have a mortgage, they said I was not who I am, so I called their "customer service" number and now I have to send them my request in writing with a copy of a current phone bill showing my name and address, a copy of my social security card and drivers licence... WTF!

Anonymous · ‎08-05-2008

Pappy214 wrote:
Hi,

I actually took your advice and tried, I say again, TRIED to get my free reports. Experian and Trans Union gave me my reports very easily, except TU has me listed as John Q Public Jr. and I am the only one in my family with my name so that is odd they have me listed as a junior... they both had the two baddies on there, and are actually reporting my two new cards already but not the new car loan. They did not give the score though. Apparently you have to pay for them.

Equifax would not give me a free report... they asked who my "mortgage" was through, and when I said I don't have a mortgage, they said I was not who I am, so I called their "customer service" number and now I have to send them my request in writing with a copy of a current phone bill showing my name and address, a copy of my social security card and drivers licence... WTF!

Getting your reports from EX and TU is a good thing. Now you have contact info for the 'bad' accounts to send GW letters to. You can also dispute the incorrect name on the reports. Don't pay anyone else for scores. Your FICO scores are only available from here, and a handful of places for TU and EQ. Just pay here, when needed, after googling for discount codes.

Sounds like either EQ may... have incorrect info on their report. Depending on what the report ends up showing you 'may' have to file a police report and get the fraudulent account(s) deleted. The fact the car dealer couldn't pull a score from EQ and EQ is implying they have account info you don't recognize isn't good. It can be corrected, but... any chance you've been subjected to ID theft?

Anonymous · ‎08-06-2008

Its always possible, but as low as my score is who would be able to get a mortgage with a FICO of 545? Also, wouldn't the mortgage show up on TU and/or EX as well? There is no mention of a mortgage on those two reports. I have read that a lot of people trying to get a free EQ report have run into the same problem. They ask about an account that doesn't exist to force you to "buy" the report and when you get the report that account isn't on there... seems fishy to me. In fact when I looked at the EQ report the car dealer showed me I had no positives and only the two baddies.

Anonymous · ‎08-06-2008

Pappy214 wrote:
Its always possible, but as low as my score is who would be able to get a mortgage with a FICO of 545? Also, wouldn't the mortgage show up on TU and/or EX as well? There is no mention of a mortgage on those two reports. I have read that a lot of people trying to get a free EQ report have run into the same problem. They ask about an account that doesn't exist to force you to "buy" the report and when you get the report that account isn't on there... seems fishy to me. In fact when I looked at the EQ report the car dealer showed me I had no positives and only the two baddies.

You'd be better off asking mortgage specific questions in the mortgage forum. I 'think' you need around 580 and 12 months clean good history for FHA, with no judgements/liens unpaid.

Mortgages generally show on all 3 CRs IME.

EQ commonly asks me about a mortgage that doesn't exists. They have an option to select does not apply. That has worked for me when they ask about an account I've never had. YMMV.

Sounds like you definitely need to get some good credit reporting. Look into CJ, BoA secured, or a local CU. CU are good about starter cards IME.