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@Anonymous wrote:No, you can't.
Thank you for the direct answer to my question. I'm disappointed, but accepting.
Out of curiosity, what was your FICO score, and which version of FICO score?
What FICO score would make you more comfortable?
Your score is the cold hard facts of what is on your report. The only way to change it is to change what is on your report. (and as you said you do not want to do that for obvious reasons) You cannot request it to be lowered, just like you cannot request it to be raised.
I am curious, why not just ignore it? Why do you feel it is something you need to take action against?
@Anonymous wrote:
"I am curious, why not just ignore it? Why do you feel it is something you need to take action against?"
I think I am represented inaccurately and unfairly by my score. I realize that I have suffered no immediate injury. But I would still like to correct the perceived misrepresentation if I can. I have actually considered reviewing my credit bureau reports for late payments that show as paid on time, and correcting them. I have made a number of late payments recently, but they don't seem to be reflected in the FICO score my bank reports to me. Maybe it's a tic, but I do try to be transparent in my financial dealings.
My bank updates its FICO score disclosures monthly. I'll wait a month to see if my recent missed payments make a discernible difference, and, if I don't see that, maybe I'll begin the slog of requesting bureau reports.
Perhaps there is a misunderstanding.
If someone is initially late in paying a credit card bill, nearly all banks penalize the cardholder with a "late payment fee". Have you had to pay late payment fees?
If the cardholder does miss the payment due date, the bank immediately starts to reach out to the cardholder, via your email, probably also via text, and sometimes by calling the cardholder directly. The purpose of course is as a first level collection activity. This collection contact costs the bank administrative time, somebody has to do it, and that is why there is often a late payment fee.
If you then follow through with paying the missed minimum payment, and that is within 30 days of the original due date for that payment, the loop is closed, and the Late was merely between you and the bank. No reporting to the credit bureaus occurs in this situation.
If, however, you ignore the bank emails, texts, and calls imploring you to make that minimum payment, and more than 30 days passes, then the bank takes the next escalation step and reports your account as a 30 day late for this month. The 30 day late info hits your FICO score hard, dropping it by several dozen points in most cases ( though it depends on your overall profile ).
The main thing to understand is, all legitimate banks automate these escalation steps. The calls to the cardholder are standard, because the bank would rather just get you to pay, and to keep earning swipe fees and possibly interest. If the cardholder does not pay by 30 days after that due date, then the bank will have to report that payment as 30 days late.
If your concern is being a few days ( less than 30 ) late, and feeling guilty about that, that may be misunderstanding how the "late" is calculated.
@calyx wrote:Also, that data is only looking at those that hold credit cards, so it's already only a subset of the (adult) population of the US.
There are still a lot of people who only use their debit cards, and a lot of people who are otherwise underbanked or unbanked.
Interesting point, I don't recall ever seeing my Grandfather use a Credit Card. Nor had I ever seen one in his Wallet. Yet he still had good credit.
He was a firm believer in cold hard cash, and felt that if he didn't have enough cash for soemthing then he didn't need it. He paid for everything in cash, his car, house etc. Just so that he wouldn't have payments when he retired.
@OmarGB9 wrote:
. Not many people ever achieve scores over 700. Most people get stuck in the 600-700 range.
Sorry, but that's nowhere close to true. 58% of the population is 700 or higher. 40% are 750 or higher.
I have just over a year's history, a minimum of 20 HPs per agency, over 40 on Experian, and I'm still over 700
Just what exactly is your score? Perhaps we could arrange a trade.
@I_Love_Cards wrote:Just what exactly is your score? Perhaps we could arrange a trade.
LOL! Transfer 50 points my way. Its the season of giving. And taking in this case.
@Anonymous wrote:Interesting point, I don't recall ever seeing my Grandfather use a Credit Card. Nor had I ever seen one in his Wallet. Yet he still had good credit.
He was a firm believer in cold hard cash, and felt that if he didn't have enough cash for soemthing then he didn't need it. He paid for everything in cash, his car, house etc. Just so that he wouldn't have payments when he retired.
This is contradictory -- don't see how he could have had "good credit" if he never used credit. The latter is a requirement of the former.