Journey to 700 club!

Anonymous · ‎01-11-2016

I am trying to rebuild my credit and wondering if i am on the right track. I have had several mishaps in the past and trying to do better for the future. So here goes.

My Current Scores as of 1/11/2016

EQ 660

TU 653

Ex 647

Credit Cards - my main thing is that my utiliization is way too high so my 1st goal is to get them down to <10%.

Chase Freedom - $3500 CL. Last reported utilization was 99%. Just paid down last night to 45% utilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by May, never late.

Citi - $1900 CL. Last reported utilization was at 87%, just paid down to 61% ultilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by March, never late.

Capital One - $1750 CL. Last reported was 81%, just paid down to 35%. Plan to have down to 10% by Feb. Will have at least $500 increase in CL in March. First and only late payment was 3/2013. Sent GW letter to remove. Waiting to hear back.

Credit One - $2025 CL. Last reported utilization was 93%. Plan to have down to 10% by Aug. Just received CLI Jan 2016. One time late June 2014. If anyone has info for GW letter please send my PM!!

Credit One - $500 CL. Last reported ultilization was 72%. Just paid down to 2% utilization. Will keep here. Never late.

1st National Bank - $700 CL. Last reported utilization was 75%, will be down to 10% by March. I have a few Late payments here. 6 total, last being March 2014. Plan to cancel this one. It is one of the oldest cards I was trying to rebuild my credit with when i couldn't get anything. Opened in 2009. If anyone has GW information please PM me.. What should i do here?

Old Navy $1660 CL. Last reported utilization was 64%. Just paid down to 45% utilization. Will be <10% by March. Never late.

JCP - $1888 CL. Last reported utilization was 73%. WIll be <10% by Aug. Paying last as there is no interest for 2 years on the large purchase i made. Late 3 times, last May 2014. Sent GW letter. Awaiting response.

Car Loan $16,000. Never late

Student Loans $19,000. Just consolidated them after finding out one of them I didn't know about went into collection. All the other loans where paid with no problems. All cleared up now and hit my credit report so damage is done and calculated into score on Eq and TU. If anyone has contact information Mohela GW please PM me.

Do have a collection for a cc that is dropping in 12/2016, YAY! Only on Ex.

Paying all cards multiple times a month. Gardening until CS 720 or higher and everything is <10% utilization. Considering requesting CLI for card who don't do HP.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping for a little bump is score as I just paid about $3500 of this debt last night. Should help my utilization drop a little although is will take a few months for me to pay it all down.

Will check in with new scores once the decrease in utilization takes effect.

Anonymous · ‎01-11-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I am trying to rebuild my credit and wondering if i am on the right track. I have had several mishaps in the past and trying to do better for the future. So here goes.

Current Scores 1/11/2015
EQ 660
TU 653
Ex 647

Credit Cards - my main thing is that my utiliization is way too high so my 1st goal is to get them down to <10%.

Chase Freedom - $3500 CL. Last reported utilization was 99%. Just paid down last night to 45% utilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by May, never late.
Citi - $1900 CL. Last reported utilization was at 87%, just paid down to 61% ultilization - Plan is to have down to 10% by March, never late.
Capital One - $1750 CL. Last reported was 81%, just paid down to 35%. Plan to have down to 10% by Feb. Will have at least $500 increase in CL in March. First and only late payment was 3/2013. Sent GW letter to remove. Waiting to hear back.

Credit One - $2025 CL. Last reported utilization was 93%. Plan to have down to 10% by Aug. Just received CLI Jan 2016. One time late June 2014. If anyone has info for GW letter please send my PM!!
Credit One - $500 CL. Last reported ultilization was 72%. Just paid down to 2% utilization. Will keep here. Never late.
1st National Bank - $700 CL. Last reported utilization was 75%, will be down to 10% by March. I have a few Late payments here. 6 total, last being March 2014. Plan to cancel this one. It is one of the oldest cards I was trying to rebuild my credit with when i couldn't get anything. Opened in 2009. If anyone has GW information please PM me.. What should i do here?

Old Navy $1660 CL. Last reported utilization was 64%. Just paid down to 45% utilization. Will be <10% by March. Never late.
JCP - $1888 CL. Last reported utilization was 73%. WIll be <10% by Aug. Paying last as there is no interest for 2 years on the large purchase i made. Late 3 times, last May 2014. Sent GW letter. Awaiting response.

Car Loan $16,000. Never late
Student Loans $19,000. Just consolidated them after finding out one of them I didn't know about went into collection. All the other loans where paid with no problems. All cleared up now and hit my credit report so damage is done and calculated into score on Eq and TU. If anyone has contact information Mohela GW please PM me.

Do have a collection for a cc that is dropping in 12/2016, YAY! Only on Ex.

Paying all cards multiple times a month. Gardening until CS 720 or higher and everything is <10% utilization. Considering requesting CLI for card who don't do HP.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I am hoping for a little bump is score as I just paid about $3500 of this debt last night. Should help my utilization drop a little although is will take a few months for me to pay it all down.

Goal score is 700 with all 3.

Once you get your UTI down, pay off and get rid of those Credit One cards, and app for another Cap One card. Depending on how much your scores rise from getting out of the red zone, you may qualify for QS or Venture.

Credit One is wholly owned by Sherman Capital, a very large junk debt buyer. They are essentially, the enemy. Time to kick the vultures to the curb.

Anonymous · ‎01-11-2016

You're definitely on the right track. Paying down the util will give you some gains, and like the previous responder said, get rid of that Credit One garbage. My cap one just got upgraded to a QS without me asking for it, and I got approved for Discover IT for 2K, and your scores are better than mine. So you're doing things right.

Anonymous · ‎01-12-2016

Thanks for the advice. I will def get rid of Credit One as soon as I can. I will report back after seeing how paying down a good portion of my debt will change my scores and proceed from there.

Anonymous · ‎01-12-2016

If you can get less than half of your cards reporting a balance that will give you a point boost too

Anonymous · ‎01-14-2016

While I am waiting on my previous payments to show in my scores, I did take the liberty of hitting the luv button to help decrease my utilization. Got a $600 increase with JCpa nd a $800 increase with Old Navy. Yay!

Does anyone know how easy/hard it is to get CLI wth Citi and Chase?

Anonymous · ‎01-19-2016

Synchrony bank success GW letter! I sent a GW letter for my JCP late payments and thankfully it the late payments came off of my Ex and Eq. Still waiting on TU to update. Hopefully it does...crossing fingers and trying to be patient.

On another note, Capital One said NO! I have one late payment for them, I will keep trying. Still waiting for Credit one to respond.

Anonymous · ‎01-19-2016

I started on the rebuilding path 2 months ago. I lowered my utilization from 98% down to 45% which and my scores have gone up. My scores are similar to yours. I am currently 656/661/658. I am also on the journey to the 700 club. Good luck.

Anonymous · ‎01-19-2016

Thank you tenzin! I am trying to wait patiently for the scores to update with the drop in utilization. Good luck to you as well!

Anonymous · ‎01-22-2016

Just got upgraded to Cap 1 QS. Went through the chat option and asked to be upgraged to reward status and just like that 1.5% cash back. Yay! Waiting on my new card in the mail.