New to FICO Forums, Have been trying to rebuild my FICO since 05/2013

[Anonymous]

Hi all, I am new to this forum. I have been trying to rebuild my fico scores for approx 14 months now.  I went through a bad divorce that resulted in a foreclosure etc, which the foreclosure has already fallen off since it has been 7 years.  I started out with my fico being only 503 last year. I have student loans, a few new credit cards: (Dillairds, Capital One x2 cards, JCPenny, CreditOne, Macys, Walmart, Sams) GMF Auto loan 54K, All of which is in a positive status. I do have about 9 more collections set to fall off in the next 3 years.  My score is currently 620 average from all three credit bureaus.  Not to bad of a increase for only 14 months.  Most of my accounts with the exception of the student loans are new within the last 3 months.  When do I see an increase in my score from the new accounts? All of my credit cards carry around a 9% balance. My AAaO is around 14 yrs. My goal is to eventually get a home loan with a good interest rate.  I am planning on doing some credit gardening for about 18 months to see if my score increases enough to put me at least into the low 700's.  Is there anything I could be doing besides gardening?

[Anonymous]

I would work on the collections. Yes, they are due to fall of in 3 years- but that is quite a while. See if they will agree to delete the collection if you pay them off.  If you can PFD your score will improve drastically with them off. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would work on the collections. Yes, they are due to fall of in 3 years- but that is quite a while. See if they will agree to delete the collection if you pay them off.  If you can PFD your score will improve drastically with them off. 

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+1, What collections do you have? Is OC reporting also? Sounds like you are on a great past with your new trade lines and utilization.

[Anonymous]

I have 2 collections set to fall off in November this year, 4 collections all medical from collection agencies (I've disputed them twice and they came back as verified) sent my letters for PFD with no responses) 2 coming off in 2015 that are paid already and 1 in 2019 that I'm sending a PFD letter out soon on.

[Whitneyy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would work on the collections. Yes, they are due to fall of in 3 years- but that is quite a while. See if they will agree to delete the collection if you pay them off.  If you can PFD your score will improve drastically with them off. 

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+1, What collections do you have? Is OC reporting also? Sounds like you are on a great past with your new trade lines and utilization.

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+2. Also, only ONE CC should carry a balance monthly, the others should report at 0.

For any debts falling off within the next 3-6 months, I think you should simply request an early exclusion rather than disputing the debts. 

[Whitneyy]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have 2 collections set to fall off in November this year, 4 collections all medical from collection agencies (I've disputed them twice and they came back as verified) sent my letters for PFD with no responses) 2 coming off in 2015 that are paid already and 1 in 2019 that I'm sending a PFD letter out soon on.

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The ones paid, try sending in GW letters. 

[SunriseEarth]

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@Whitneyy wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have 2 collections set to fall off in November this year, 4 collections all medical from collection agencies (I've disputed them twice and they came back as verified) sent my letters for PFD with no responses) 2 coming off in 2015 that are paid already and 1 in 2019 that I'm sending a PFD letter out soon on.

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The ones paid, try sending in GW letters. 

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+1.   Disputing valid information isn't recommended, especially as an update on those recently "verified" TLs now makes them appear more current.  However, the collections that have been paid are a great candidate for GW letters.  As for the other collection, OP might also consider paying and then GW if PFD isn't successful.  

The accounts need to age, so the "new credit ding" wears off.   Same with all of the INQ on TU from the SyncB accounts.   Scores should definitely look better in 6 months' time.