improving credit scores

[Anonymous]

I started out last fall slowly trying to improve my credit scores and I kicked it into a higher gear febuary 2015. There were(are) derogatory items on my credit report (cause: marriage went south). GOAL: buy a house this summer!! So I paid all collections (except medical) to a zero balance. $1800 in student loans, $1600 to L J Ross(ex's energy bill he jumped state on), $212 from college class. I actually disputed L J Ross with all 3 credit bureaus and 2 out of 3 deleted it all though it was already paid. Myfico scores in Febuary were Equifax-581, Experian-566, and Trans-579. I recieved a victorias secret credit card in august 2014 (it now has a 650 credit limit), an auto loan in oct 2014 which is a 67.00 payment a month(yeaaa!). i just got a secured credit card in march. My total monthly debt currently is 107.00. I keep card balances around a 7% ratio. My current scores around EQ-612, EX-591, and Trans-605. So a 31pt increase, 25pt increase and 26pt increase. Is this decent progress? Could i achieve a minimum 640 score this summer and qualify for a rd loan? All i have left is 1800 in medical collections and those are set up on a monthly payment already. Is there something i could do for a bigger increase or should i just stay on the path I have been traveling?

[Scupra]

Am I reading this right that you have two credit cards? Also, when you say you have 7% util, is that on ONE card or across all cards? You seem to be making good progress. Great job paying off all your negatives  

[Anonymous]

yes. two cards. One is a vs card that started at a 250 limit and went up to a 650.00 limit. That one is at 4% utilization rate right now. The other card is a visa secured with a 200.00 limit and that is also about a 4% utilization rate right now. The secured i never charge more than 25.00  during the month. The vs card I keep it at 50.00 or less every month. I really don't have a need for credit cards but they are one easy way to improve credit. I need to reach a minimum of 640 credit score for the mortgage and would prefer it to be between 650-660 for clearance.Funny thing is when the secured visa updates with the credit bureaus I gain about 12 pts each time. When the vs updates I only gain about 4 pts each time. The one time i let them both update with a zero balance my score dropped 4 points.

[jamie123]

You need to visit another forum here at MyFICO called "Rebuilding Your Credit" and learn how to do GW (Good Will) letters. It is not good enough to pay off your collections. You must have the collections removed from your reports or they will keep your scores down. You do this by writing GW letters. It very rarely works with the first letter, you just keep sending them until they remove your baddies.

[Scupra]

Like Jamie said, heading over to "Rebuilding Your Credit" will help you a lot. Look into getting PFD's (pay for delete) for the baddies that you are going to pay. Removing the negatives will help a lot with your score. To optimize your FICO score you need three revolving TL's. Look into opening a third card, maybe Capital One? Get your utilization in check by having one card report 1-9% util and all others at 0%