Welcome!
I'm new too but have also been lurking for a while. I'll try to answer.
@Anonymous wrote:
I've got 2 questions: 1) What should I be doing to help continue to improve my credit score (according to the FICO score I receive from Discover, I've got a 713, and the one I've pulled from CreditKarma says I have a 673)
I wouldn't put any stock in the CK score. The Discover TU score is a much better guide.
- Pay down balances to below 10% of the limit before each card's closing date to keep utilization low.
- It's said that having only 1 card report a balance is best. How much of an effect this has is debated though from what I've read.
- Always pay in full before the due dates.
- Don't apply for too much new credit. Each new hard inquiry will ding your score.
- A student or auto loan could help your score in the long run, but personally I wouldn't take out a loan just for the sake of improving a credit score.
- Patience. As your accounts age your score will go up. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts to acheiving this.
@Anonymous wrote:
and 2) When I was trying to pull my free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com, I was asked questions about a home mortgage, credit cards that belong to my parents, and student loans that belong to my siblings. I don't know any of that information, and I was wondering if their credit activity impacts my scores as well. My mailing and billing addresses for the Discover and Citi card are my college address, so I'm not how to access this information, and also how to separate my credit from theirs (if it isn't already). We do share a joint bank account, if that means anything.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to your responses!
Were you able to view your credit reports? If so, did any of those accounts show up on the actual reports?
I really don't know why it would be asking you about your siblings' accounts. I've only used AnnualCreditReport.com once, and it did give me crazy verification questions when I tried to view one report twice.
When I was viewing one of my reports I thought I saw in the corner of the page that the info would be available for X many days, but maybe this was only if I created an acct with that bureau. Anyway, a few hours later I tried to view one of the reports again and the site gave me verification questions that were completely unrecognizable to me. I selected "None of the Above" for each, it then took me to a screen saying I would have to call them and they could mail the report.
