When I started rebuilding my credit (June 2014-ish) I had 560's-590's. I got my first MyFico scores in December of 2014 and they were as follows:
Equifax: 618
Transunion: 616
Experian: 622
Now 2 years later, I am on the verge of decent credit.
Equifax: 680
Transunion: 689
Experian: 681
Here is what I have learned so far:
- Building credit is easy, rebuilding is a bear. Protect it if you can, if not, life gets a little more challenging. I remember getting job offers when my credit was poor and not knowing how I could accept them. I didn't have any means to borrow money to move. Now, if I had to, I could move easily and finance it through several different ways.
- Capital One is a great company if you can start a card with them. I know many people have problems with them (their interest rate is high, and they can be unforgiving) but if you can get a Capital One card, you use it responsibly, they will give you a second card and CLI's. The CLI's don't require additional credit checks. These are probably the biggest builder of my credit. I went from high utilization with a $1000 limit to decent utilization (I still need to improve this area) with 2 cards with a $6000 credit limit each in just over 3 years with them. I also applied for and received a Chase Card. Since then, my credit has improved by 40 points, I haven't received a CLI, and realistically there is no way I can get one without a credit pull. I definitely prefer Cap 1 as a company in this regards.
- Some things aren't under your control. In June, of 2015 my identity was stolen. They apped for a dozen credit cards. I was devastated, filed a police report, contacted the credit card companies, and contested the applications. I stopped posting here because my score dropped. I had to stop one company from issuing a card. I swear by credit monitoring now, and there are several companies that offer free credit monitoring (CK, Quizzle, etc) sign up for all of them. These inquiries STILL show up on my credit report despite me contesting them. I also purchased a car in December. The dealer assured me that it would be one pull, it was 6. I am now showing 18 credit pulls in one year when there was 1 that was legitimate. I don't even know how to go about getting any of this changed. I have done everything I can on the credit fraud, nobody removed the inquiries. Unfortunately, because I am in the middle of building a house I can't really contest it with the credit bureaus themselves. This has knocked my credit down by about 25 points total.
- Time heals all wounds. Chances are, you didn't get yourself in this overnight, and you aren't going to fix it overnight. Be patient, it will happen.
- There is a wealth of advice in this community, utilize it. They are also a tremendous support group to bounce ideas off of and most have been there before.
Thank you everyone who has given me advice along the way, or simply who have posted here. Often times just reading of people in the same situation of you is all the support one needs.
