# of Secured Cards and CLs to Rebuild?

[Anonymous]

Few questions on Secured Cards. Looking for guidance on the best method to use when obtaining the Secured Card(s).

1. Is the amount of the credit limit on the card used as criteria on your credit score? Ex. Does a secured card with a credit limit of $500 hold as much credit score value as one with say a $2,500 or more credit limit. Assuming they are both paid off every month within the statement period.
2. Is there an ideal minimum # of secured credit cards or ideal maximum # of secured credit cards to have during the credit rebuild phase?
3. Is it better to have the secured card in your own name (individual account) versus a joint account with your name as primary and say a spouse or child as the joint account holder? Bascially, wondering if theire is a positive benefit to the credit score value if the account is in your own name vs joint account.
4. If a collection agency is showing up as a number and not a name, how does one go about finding out who the collection agency is?
5. Please confirm: the reports that I pulled off of my new myFICO account don't show the date of the debt, they only show the date assigned. I would need to pull a "printed report" off of another website (can't recall the name) to see the date of the debt so that I can get an idea of the "fall off" date. Is that correct? If not, how do you do it?
6. What does AAOA stand for on the forums?

Many thanks!

[gdale6]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Few questions on Secured Cards. Looking for guidance on the best method to use when obtaining the Secured Card(s).

1. Is the amount of the credit limit on the card used as criteria on your credit score? Ex. Does a secured card with a credit limit of $500 hold as much credit score value as one with say a $2,500 or more credit limit. Assuming they are both paid off every month within the statement period. The limit isnt scored but how much of the limit you are using is and its 30% of your Fico.
2. Is there an ideal minimum # of secured credit cards or ideal maximum # of secured credit cards to have during the credit rebuild phase? You need at least 3 open revolving accounts in a rebuild whether or not they are all secured is up to you there is no minimum or maximum.
3. Is it better to have the secured card in your own name (individual account) versus a joint account with your name as primary and say a spouse or child as the joint account holder? Individual accounts are preferrable but joint will do as you are also legally responsible for the payments. Bascially, wondering if theire is a positive benefit to the credit score value if the account is in your own name vs joint account. No difference in scoring.
4. If a collection agency is showing up as a number and not a name, how does one go about finding out who the collection agency is? Call the CRA
5. Please confirm: the reports that I pulled off of my new myFICO account don't show the date of the debt, they only show the date assigned. I would need to pull a "printed report" off of another website (can't recall the name) to see the date of the debt so that I can get an idea of the "fall off" date. Is that correct? If not, how do you do it? EQ reports the scheduled fall off date if you get hard copy reports, the other 2 may or may not report the DoFD but it does have to be on file. If for some reason you cant get either date then a call to the OC can be helpful.
6. What does AAOA stand for on the forums?  Avg age of accounts.     http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Guide-To-Common-Abbreviations/m-p/224988?jump=true

Many thanks!

---

[Anonymous]

---

@gdale6 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Few questions on Secured Cards. Looking for guidance on the best method to use when obtaining the Secured Card(s).

1. Is the amount of the credit limit on the card used as criteria on your credit score? Ex. Does a secured card with a credit limit of $500 hold as much credit score value as one with say a $2,500 or more credit limit. Assuming they are both paid off every month within the statement period. The limit isnt scored but how much of the limit you are using is and its 30% of your Fico.
2. Is there an ideal minimum # of secured credit cards or ideal maximum # of secured credit cards to have during the credit rebuild phase? You need at least 3 open revolving accounts in a rebuild whether or not they are all secured is up to you there is no minimum or maximum.
3. Is it better to have the secured card in your own name (individual account) versus a joint account with your name as primary and say a spouse or child as the joint account holder? Individual accounts are preferrable but joint will do as you are also legally responsible for the payments. Bascially, wondering if theire is a positive benefit to the credit score value if the account is in your own name vs joint account. No difference in scoring.
4. If a collection agency is showing up as a number and not a name, how does one go about finding out who the collection agency is? Call the CRA
5. Please confirm: the reports that I pulled off of my new myFICO account don't show the date of the debt, they only show the date assigned. I would need to pull a "printed report" off of another website (can't recall the name) to see the date of the debt so that I can get an idea of the "fall off" date. Is that correct? If not, how do you do it? EQ reports the scheduled fall off date if you get hard copy reports, the other 2 may or may not report the DoFD but it does have to be on file. If for some reason you cant get either date then a call to the OC can be helpful.
6. What does AAOA stand for on the forums?  Avg age of accounts.     http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/Guide-To-Common-Abbreviations/m-p/224988?jump=true

Many thanks!

---

 You can pull your full, free reports from annualcreditreport.com once every twelve months. Your EQ report will show the collectors reported DoFD, which the fall-off date is based on. TU will typically show the "Estimated month and year this item will be removed", and EX will show "This item is scheduled to continue on record
until" in the Status Details block of each item.

For collectors that just show up as a number (like 867YA10D RECOVERY COMPANY), there should still be a contact address and phone number. You can google the phone number to find out who it is.

---

[Anonymous]

@NoramFH and @gdale6 Thank you for your help!