Mission Lane Visa

[BrutalBodyShots]

Hey @FicoMike0! I hear what you're saying, but I think it's important to differentiate between a build and a rebuild. The approaches to both should be very different, IMO. If you're talking about building credit, opening a card or cards is the best move one can make. No doubt about it. When it comes to rebuilding though, it's very different. The biggest mistake I think people make when rebuilding is focusing on opening new accounts. I think many do this because they have been manipulated by sites like Credit Karma that make up fake stats like "on-time payment percentage" to believe that adding new accounts will dilute the negative items already present on their dirty credit file.

When one is rebuilding, the best thing they can possibly do is address the negative information on their credit reports. For collections, it would be negotiating "pay for deletes." For late payments, it would be targeting their forgiveness using goodwill letters. Cleaning up the dirty credit file is paramount to improving profile strength in the most meaningful way. The problem is a "broken" file that needs to be fixed. I liken it to a broken down car with no transmission that you want to sell. Getting a new credit card is the equivalent of putting a new set of tires and wiper blades on that car. Sure, it looks a little better and is an improvement you'd say... but it's still the same broken down car that can't go anywhere. 

[FicoMike0]

@BrutalBodyShots 

I see your point. My experience is rebuilding from credit retirement, which, I guess, is a lot like initial building. About three years ago, I was unscorable. All the car loans and mortgages had vanished over the event horizon. My report only listed two accounts closed 6-7 years. My local bank, huntington, based on long relationship, coughed up a card with a $500 cl.

I found that I soon had a score, and it grew quickly. With no baddies, I found new history was the best path. I realized my age metrics were being propped by closed accounts likely to soon drop off. This promoted me to go with a ssl. Seems to have worked, my fico8s are over 800, fico9s a little higher, vs3s a little lower. With higher limits I don't worry about utilization, it's always low.

Today, I have 11 cards with 9 banks and $100,000+ cl. 

[BrutalBodyShots]

Yeah, so in your case it was "building" and not "rebuilding" as you didn't have any negative information present on your file. The fact that you had a few old, closed accounts definitely allowed you to build at a rate far quicker than would have been the case with a brand new file.