Boost in scores

[Iamthe1]

 Hello,

Hubby and I are trying to get a mortgage.  However I have a past foreclosure in 2012, fall off in 2019.  The only debt I carry is student loans ~38K and two CC (~3k).  My Scores are ok (I guess) but I'd like to get them around 700.  i've not had much movement in the past two months.  My fico 8 scores are:

EQ:661
TU:645
EX:680

What can I do to at least get a 20 pt boost if possible on each report.

Credit utilization hovers around 5-12% per month.

[Anonymous]

You mention that you are carrying debt on two credit cards.  Are those your only two credit cards?  What are the credit limits on all of your cards?

Do you have any others derogs besides the foreclosure?  E.g. lates, collections, chargeoffs, liens, judgments?

[Iamthe1]

Yes only two CC with total of both:$3250  Yes I have derogs such as a lien (paid, but GA will no remove until next year).  other derogs are old 90 day missed payments which was in 2013 when I was laid off, which Capt 1 and Macys sate they will not remove.  I also had one 30 day late on student loan in 2014.  I've been able to pay down alot of my student debt (~4K over the past year and a half)

[Anonymous]

It's hard for me to be certain, but it sounds like the combined credit limit on your two credit cards is $3250.  Of that $3250 maximum limit, you owe about $3,000.  Is that right?

(Your first post stated that your CC debt was 3k --, and when I asked what your credit limits were, you said that the total was $3250.)

If that is correct, it means your credit cards are almost maxxed out, and you will get a huge benefit by paying both of them down to $0.  Then immediately use one card for something small, like a tank of gas or $20 worth of groceries.  Moving forward you will want to keep one card at $0 and the other card at a small balance, like $10-20.

If I am misunderstanding your CC situation, then it will help if you tell us what the two cards are, what the credit limit is for each card, and what the balance is on each card.

You also mention making an effort to pay down your student loans.  Can you tell us what the original amount of the loan was and how much you currently owe -- for each loan?  Tell us the same thing for any other installment loans you have: e.g. auto loans, personal loans, etc.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Iamthe1 wrote:

 Hello,

Hubby and I are trying to get a mortgage.  However I have a past foreclosure in 2012, fall off in 2019.  The only debt I carry is student loans ~38K and two CC (~3k).  My Scores are ok (I guess) but I'd like to get them around 700.  i've not had much movement in the past two months.  My fico 8 scores are:

EQ:661
TU:645
EX:680

What can I do to at least get a 20 pt boost if possible on each report.

Credit utilization hovers around 5-12% per month.

---

1. What are the limits on each card?

2. What are the balances on each card?

3. What are the original amounts owed on each loan?

4. What are the balances on each loan?

Answer these questions & we can give you a plan.

[Iamthe1]

Ok CreditGuy and SouthJamaica.  I misunderstood the questions.  So I'll use SouthJamaica's format and answer CreditGuys question at the same time:

1. What are the limits on each card? card one:500.00  and card two:2,250 total for both as of today (11/10) 

Total Available Credit

$2,675.00

Total Balance

($11.06)>>actual Credit (+) that was put back on the card

2. What are the balances on each card? card one bal: -11.06- credit given back to me and card two: $0 but I just made a purchse yesterday of $75 (not reported as of today)
3. What are the original amounts owed on each loan? original student loan: $50,683.  What's left on the loan:$38,268
4. What are the balances on each loan?

It's hard for me to be certain, but it sounds like the combined credit limit on your two credit cards is $3250. Of that $3250 maximum limit, you owe about $3,000. Is that right?>>Credit guy for some reason I thought my total of both were greater..silly me.  So again, i keep my balences pretty low.  

I hope this added clarifications.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like your two cards are both reporting $0 to the three credit bureaus.  That is causing you to take a significant penalty.  FICO likes it best when you have most of your credit cards reporting $0 with exactly one reporting a small positive balance.  (Something like $10-20 would be fine.) 

In your case, since you have only two cards, you want one at $0 and the other with the small positive balance.  When they start reporting like that you will get a score bonus.

It sounds like you have a student loan.  The original amount of this loan was $50,683.  What's left on the loan is:$38,268. 

You do not have any other installment loans, right?  No mortgage, car loan, personal loan, etc?  Can you confirm that?

There's not likely to be anything you can do with your loans to raise your mortgage scores.  The EQ and TU mortgage models don't benefit from paying down loans.

One thing that seems clear as I reread your post is that you have some idea what your FICO 8 scores are, but do not appear to know your FICO mortgage scores. 

So if I were you, I'd get your credit cards both reporting to all three bureaus with the new better balances.   ($0 and $10)  Then sign up for the myFICO 3B monitoring product, which will give you all your scores, including your mortgage scores. 

You seem aware that you have derogs but also seem certain that there is no way to remove them.  You may want to confirm that with the people in the rebuilding forum.  Otherwise, getting your credit cards reporting the way I suggest is all you can do.  Unless SouthJ has some other idea.

[Iamthe1]

Thank you CreditGuy.

to answer your question: You do not have any other installment loans, right?  No mortgage, car loan, personal loan, etc?  Can you confirm that?

Yes I do not have any installment loans (no mortage, car, personal, etc).  I'll use your idea in having 1 CC reporting $0 and the other with a small balence.  Does it matter which CC to have the $0 balence?

The good news is, my hubby can qualify by himself for the mortgage, however we both agreed we wanted both our names on the deed.  Another good news (we hope), once my foreclosure drops in 1st quarter 2019 we'll refi.  I'm hoping that will really boost my scores.  

I'm really trying to start rebuilding now

I was also thinking about getting a car loan as an installment to possibly help with my scores, but I may wait until spring of next year after reevaluating my scores with your suggestion.

Lastly, I am subscribed to the Fico scores so I do know my mortage scores.  I can qualify for FHA (2nd chance) with my scores now, but the amount of loan we are seeking (JUMBO) automatically disqualify me as they will use my scores instead of hubby.

nevertheless, thank you for the suggestion.  I'll use this for 3 months to see how my scores improve.