Rebuild Progressing Successfully

[Laurie_Jayyy84]

Hello everybody,

I've been lurking on the forums for some time now, really because I didn't know how to post until today. Anyways, I've been following the advice of some people on here and it's been really paying off. 

I started my rebuilding journey when I moved to California in January 2021 and needed to get a place but couldn't because my credit was in the toilet. Just luckily the owner of the Airbnb I was in was gracious enough to allow us to rent his place out and it gave me the opportunity to build up my credit. My starting scores were in the 400s-low 500s. At that time, I got rid of the one collection account on my credit report, but still had a CU CC that was still coming up as charged off and reporting, but did not go into collections. I then was able to open secured cards with Cap1 for $1K and Citi for $500. Neither of those have graduated as of yet, but that's another story. A little over a year later, I was able to get a QS1 for $500 and then a few months after that a SavorOne Student card for $300. I also acquired a CreditOne card for $300 and CareCredit for $600. I also got the DestinyCard for $300 but I didn't like that as soon as you got the card, they immediately reported the $75 annual fee causing my usage to be higher than it should so I closed it. My latest feat after trying for so long, was a Discover It Student approval for $1K which was done yesterday. 

All in all, after 2 years of rebuilding my scores have gone up significantly to EQ-679, TU-687, and EX-681, all of which are considered good scores and are not done updating for the month yet, but I'm looking to get up past 700-720 range sometime in the next year. From what I've been reading, I think my best bet would be to go ahead and see if the CU will accept an offer to delete the negative trade line to get there quicker. 

I'm also wondering, once I get my scores up to an acceptable range, should I get rid of my Capital1 cards and apply for their better cards? I already have in my mind I'm getting rid of the Citi card if they don't upgrade me by the end of the year. I'm also due for another CLI on my QS1 card next month. I'm thinking if they give me another $100 increase (I've gotten 2 already), I should close it. 

My last question is with the Discover student card, would that be considered a bucketed card that may never grow as well? I don't want to be stuck at $1K forever just because it's a student card. Same with the SavorOne card for students. 

[Laurie_Jayyy84]

Update on the QS1...they're giving me another $100 CLI. I haven't accepted it and am going to wait until my scores update for the month with lower UTL and when the Discover and NFCU secured card is added bumping up my overall CL. 

With my cap1 secured, I'm going to move my subscriptions to the Discover card to start collecting the rewards and for future CLIs and close it out after the new cards age a year. I don't want to continue holding onto a card that may never graduate and not earning rewards on. 

[Zoostation1]

I'm rebuilding as well (I had a BK7 5yrs 5 months ago) and would recommend you slow down on adding new accounts and garden with what you have for a while.  Comments/questions:

• Unless you can get them to accept a PFD it's going to remain on your report and have a signficant effect on scores for 7 years from DOFD.  That being said, it won't hurt to pay it off even without deletion.  When was the DOFD with the CU?
• You've had 8 accounts opened (7 currently open) in a relatively short amount of time and that's likely depressing your scores a bit further yet
• Opening too many accounts too fast when rebuilding can hurt approval odds,  lead to lower limits if you do get approved, smaller/fewer CLIs and is may also be contributing to Citi not unsecuring (as it is Citi normally won't unsecure till at least 12mo).
• What's the AF on your Credit One card? Capital One QS1 is $39, but Credit One varies wildly from product to product. If it's one of the higher AF Credit One cards it's likely a good candidate for one to close (I'm aware they do have no AF products but they're not offered to many ppl).
• Capital One likes to see heavy usage, however cards that start with $300 and $500 limits are often bucketed based on your credit profile at the time of application.  
• Discover can grow nicely (probably more likely than your Capital One cards) but they like to see a lot of usage.
• Closing an account in good standing won't hurt your age of accounts for FICO scores anytime soon.  They'll remain on your report for  ~10yrs
  • It would impact utilization, but how much would depend on which card and it's CL relative to your total CL and reported balances.
  • Are you paying in full each month or are you carrying an interest accruing balance?
  • What accounts are providing value to you based on your spend?  For me, my biggest spend category on cards is dining and I spend regularly on uber rides and uber eats (I eat out or get delivery too often for my own good!) so SavorOne gets the most spend.
  • Quality over quantity is often better when it comes to rebuilding.  I'm sure others more knowledgable than me can chime in but I wouldn't open anything else up for another year if it were me.

[Laurie_Jayyy84]

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@Zoostation1 wrote:

I'm rebuilding as well (I had a BK7 5yrs 5 months ago) and would recommend you slow down on adding new accounts and garden with what you have for a while.  Comments/questions:

• Unless you can get them to accept a PFD it's going to remain on your report and have a signficant effect on scores for 7 years from DOFD.  That being said, it won't hurt to pay it off even without deletion.  When was the DOFD with the CU?
• You've had 8 accounts opened (7 currently open) in a relatively short amount of time and that's likely depressing your scores a bit further yet
• Opening too many accounts too fast when rebuilding can hurt approval odds,  lead to lower limits if you do get approved, smaller/fewer CLIs and is may also be contributing to Citi not unsecuring (as it is Citi normally won't unsecure till at least 12mo).
• What's the AF on your Credit One card? Capital One QS1 is $39, but Credit One varies wildly from product to product. If it's one of the higher AF Credit One cards it's likely a good candidate for one to close (I'm aware they do have no AF products but they're not offered to many ppl).
• Capital One likes to see heavy usage, however cards that start with $300 and $500 limits are often bucketed based on your credit profile at the time of application.  
• Discover can grow nicely (probably more likely than your Capital One cards) but they like to see a lot of usage.
• Closing an account in good standing won't hurt your age of accounts for FICO scores anytime soon.  They'll remain on your report for  ~10yrs
  • It would impact utilization, but how much would depend on which card and it's CL relative to your total CL and reported balances.
  • Are you paying in full each month or are you carrying an interest accruing balance?
  • What accounts are providing value to you based on your spend?  For me, my biggest spend category on cards is dining and I spend regularly on uber rides and uber eats (I eat out or get delivery too often for my own good!) so SavorOne gets the most spend.
  • Quality over quantity is often better when it comes to rebuilding.  I'm sure others more knowledgable than me can chime in but I wouldn't open anything else up for another year if it were me.

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I appreciate you responding and to answer in order:

The charged off account was closed October 2020, but it's reporting as still open and late. It was reporting as CO, but they went back to regular reporting.

And you're right, I'll garden for a year or two to allow some of my newer accounts to age. I guess I got a little too excited when I saw my scores improving that I decided to go for a few more cards to add to my profile. I'm currently in PATH for Apple, but I think I'll leave that alone until next year as well. This also might be why I'm only getting $100 CLI increases as well.

The AF for Credit One is $75 I believe. I wanted to close that one as well because I don't really use it much so that has been sitting at 0 usage, except for the AF that comes out. It seems as if those cards reports as soon as you use it and not when the statement gets cut. If I use the card tomorrow, it'll be reported so I don't use it. 

I figured when I got the opportunity to get another CLI and it was $100, that I was doomed on that card forever. It's gonna take another year just to get to 1K on the card at this rate. 

I was carrying a balance, but so far all of my cards are paid off at the moment to bring my usage down and waiting for my reports to update for the month. Right now, I've been using my secured Cap1 card since it was the highest CL for UTL purposes but now that I have the Discover, I'll be moving my subscriptions over to them for the cash back. And use my QS1 for other purchases. And put the secured cap1 in the drawer since it may not get any better than where it's at. But all in all, I'm definitely going to garden for a while so my accounts can age and Inqs fall off. I have 8 with 3 or 4 falling off this year. 

I think I got everything