Credit scoring and balances

[Phana24]

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@mpicasso wrote:

PayPal is now below 20% and will be paid off Friday (split payments over 6 weeks, instead of 6 months).

Last late payment was November 2019 but they will do nothing more than take your info to request an investigation.  Considering my name is the primary, the only thing I can offer is that none of the payments have my name on the account used.  Payor is not helping much, either, as they have yet to call and offer explanation, from their point of view.

Realizing my Capital One bill cycles around the 25th.  Guessing it best to just keep $30-50 on there, for when it cycles, and pay before due date (or at least after it is reported), correct? 

I normally keep my balances at $0, which is probably not helping my score...

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11/19 means the loan now has two years of on-time payments, which should give you a good chance to get them removed.  I'm not that familiar with co-signed loans, never had to go that route.  However, if you're "the primary," I don't see why you can't send a deletion request with some sort of a story blaming your co-signer and documenting how you've made arrangements that it won't happen again.   In any event, if they are only 30 day lates, the penalty should be relatively small by now.  Definitely keep at least one card reporting a balance, I've seen my report take an 8-17 point ding for all zero.  Discover is a good card to have as the reporting card because in the event something happens with another card such as an annual fee or unexpected charge for something ordered on-line because of a back-shipment, Discover will report mid-cycle if you ask them.  Keeping your Disc card at 30-50 is fine, provided your limit is at least 2K.  Finally, remember to take a look at your FICO mortgage scores, most of what we discuss here are bankcard scores, Fico 8 or 9.  There is a separate discussion thread just for mortgages, so it would be a good idea to get some input over there as well. 

[mpicasso]

Discover card is over $2K, yes.  Using it frequently now, as Amazon offers 5% cash back until January.  Because of it, have decided on my Savor card as the ONLY thing I use it for is eating out...usually about 1x/wk and rarely over $50.

I am the primary.  If they had financed on their own, a used car would have put them at around 23%...I got them down to 9.  Realizing now the effects of trying to be a nice guy can be rather expensive.

Mortgage side, I have no hiccups and probably have a considerably higher score there because of it.  That said, trying to get a better handle on which score is used for car insurance, car notes, mortgage, and how to improve the respective one for whichever one I am thinking.

[SouthJamaica]

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@mpicasso wrote:

PayPal is now below 20% and will be paid off Friday (split payments over 6 weeks, instead of 6 months).

Last late payment was November 2019 but they will do nothing more than take your info to request an investigation.  Considering my name is the primary, the only thing I can offer is that none of the payments have my name on the account used.  Payor is not helping much, either, as they have yet to call and offer explanation, from their point of view.

Realizing my Capital One bill cycles around the 25th.  Guessing it best to just keep $30-50 on there, for when it cycles, and pay before due date (or at least after it is reported), correct? 

I normally keep my balances at $0, which is probably not helping my score...

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It's great to have your balances at $0, so long as you have one reporting a small balance before you pay it off.

[mpicasso]

I utilize my CC's for EVERYTHING..but I will use my Savor card as the one to report.

Thinking no more than $50/mth, for reporting purposes (still less than 5% utilization) unless there is a suggestion/reason for going lower.

Thanks again, for all the helpful comments!!!

[mpicasso]

Amazon keeps showing the $150-200 gift card promotion, along with deferred interest.  In my mind, I have enough credit cards and need to let them age.  Furthermore, items to be purchased are not necessities...just hard to turn down free money, especially for wants.

1) wallethub and nerd wallet rank credit cards with 0% interest rates.  Might be nice to make interest free payments on larger purchases but does this truly only affect your score while above the 30% utilization mark?

2) though the $150 is a nice addition, this is for an item I do not need. Exceeding the 5/24 Chase rule and noticed the card is a Chase one.  Says I am pre-approved but not wanting dings for something I may not actually get.  Comments?

2b) Though I shop Amazon a fair amount, I rarely go to Whole Foods.  Would I be better looking at an AMEX card, with the 3x CLI consideration?

Doing the simulation scoring, on FICO, it was absolutely apparent how paying to $0, on all, affects ones scores.  No new reporting for a few weeks but will be following the AZEO rule from now on.

[Anonymous]

The AZEO method is the best method to use as I've experienced! I've used it to get a brand new car! My scores raised 25+ points across all 3 bureaus using the method!

[mpicasso]

Wow, that is awesome! My 8 and 9 are on the way to where I need them but 2,4, and 5 are questionable still.

Until this forum, i had no idea there were multiple variants in scoring.