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How do I raise my scores to 700?

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Queen_Etherea
Valued Contributor

How do I raise my scores to 700?

So I recently had all late payments (except one 30 day from 2014) deleted from my report. I also had a collections for $1,600 deleted. Other than that, I have 100% on time payments, and one other thing in collections (won't fall off till next year).

 

I'm really not sure how I can raise my scores at this point. They seem to be stuck in the low 600's. I have 2 credit cards, one student loan, and a car payment:

 

Wells Fargo Secured$598/$1,200 (opened 3/2017)

Capital One Platinum$0/$500 (opened 10/2017)

Navient$4,935 owed, $70/month

PenFed Auto Loan$10,720/$13,086, $265/month (opened 5/2017)

Inquiries:  5-7 (depending on the credit bureau)

 

I know the balance on my Wells Fargo is pretty high, and I'm going to pay that off when I get paid on Friday. The reporting day is on the 7th, so I never have time to pay it off before it reports because I get paid on the 10th and the 25th, but this time I'm paying it off and leaving it low.

 

Should I apply for another credit card? What can I do to raise my scores because being stuck in the low 600's is no fun. My boyfriend and I are hoping to purchase a house next year and I'm trying to raise my scores as much as I can before then. He already has great credit (in the high 700's) and his just keeps going up. I want us both to have GREAT credit when it comes time.

 

Thanks!

 

I think I've found the sacred map that may lead me to this garden everyone keeps talking about.



Officially collection free as of 3/19/19!!
STARTING SCORES: 377 (11/2013) & 580 (3/2018)
Message 1 of 15
14 REPLIES 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?

You seem to realize that you need to have exactly one card reporting a small-ish balance (e.g. $20) with your other card at $0.  That needs to be done first and then you will have a baseline of what you can achieve.

 

Will your collection have fallen off your reports before you begin looking for a house?  That wasn't clear to me.  That will help you a lot.

 

If you were to open a card now, could you delay looking for a house until after the new card is 12 months old?

 

Starting this fall you should begin a campaign to get the Day 30 removed.  Wait until your scores are better before you do that.  It might take nine months (or more) of persistent letter writing to get it removed.

 

You should stop applying for credit (with the possible exception of one more card).  When all your inquiries are over 1 year old you will get some help there.

Message 2 of 15
Kree
Established Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?

I think that generally the benefit of having 3 cards outweighs the detriment of new credit.  If you apply sooner rather than later, the new account will have more time to age.  They say atleast 6 months between new credit and a mortgage.

Message 3 of 15
Queen_Etherea
Valued Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?


@Kree wrote:

I think that generally the benefit of having 3 cards outweighs the detriment of new credit.  If you apply sooner rather than later, the new account will have more time to age.  They say atleast 6 months between new credit and a mortgage.


I've tried the pre-qualifying links on Discover, Chase, and a few others, and the only things I seem to be approved for are secured cards LOL. I don't think anything has updated on my report as far as the items being deleted, balances, and CLI's, so I'm going to wait till it does before I apply. I think I'm going to try getting a PenFed card since I already have my car loan with them.

I think I've found the sacred map that may lead me to this garden everyone keeps talking about.



Officially collection free as of 3/19/19!!
STARTING SCORES: 377 (11/2013) & 580 (3/2018)
Message 4 of 15
Queen_Etherea
Valued Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?


@Anonymous wrote:

You seem to realize that you need to have exactly one card reporting a small-ish balance (e.g. $20) with your other card at $0.  That needs to be done first and then you will have a baseline of what you can achieve.

 

Will your collection have fallen off your reports before you begin looking for a house?  That wasn't clear to me.  That will help you a lot.

 

If you were to open a card now, could you delay looking for a house until after the new card is 12 months old?

 

Starting this fall you should begin a campaign to get the Day 30 removed.  Wait until your scores are better before you do that.  It might take nine months (or more) of persistent letter writing to get it removed.

 

You should stop applying for credit (with the possible exception of one more card).  When all your inquiries are over 1 year old you will get some help there.


So the 30 day late was with CIG Financial, who I had my car loan with and was paid full in 2014, and the very last payment was late. I've tried calling them to ask if they'd remove it and they said no, they won't remove it unless I dispute it with the credit bureau's and will only delete it if it was actually wrong (which it wasn't). I am going to try sending out a few GW letters to whoever I can in the company and see what happens. Doesn't hurt to try, right?

 

As far as the collection, it won't fall off till the end of next year (reports say 9/2019), but I know I can get an Early Exclusion with TransUnion and Experian, and will do so when the time comes.

 

If I can be approved for a new card soon, I can probably wait till it's 12 months old. We don't have a date set in stone, so it might not even be next year. I have a certain amount of each paycheck DD into a savings account, so once we reach our goal, then it'll be time. As my credit is right now, I don't qualify for any decent cards. When my report is updated without all the late payments and collection account that was deleted, then I'll try. So it might be next month.

 

Hope this helps!

I think I've found the sacred map that may lead me to this garden everyone keeps talking about.



Officially collection free as of 3/19/19!!
STARTING SCORES: 377 (11/2013) & 580 (3/2018)
Message 5 of 15
AndySoCal
Valued Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?

How recent are your scores in your siggy? I would have thought there would be a changes due all that you have been able to get done regarding your credit. 

FICO Scores XPN v8 802 V2 831 (SDFCU) TUC 803 v8 EFX 807 (10/2023)
Discover 09/90 19,000, JCPenney 10/2008 4,700 US Bank Cash+ 12,000 Citibank Custom Cash 5/2015 11,100 C State Dept. FCU 15,000 06/2023 , 02/2024 Redstone FCU Signature VISA 10,000 Banking: Ally Bank Credit Unions: Lafayette FCU Quorum FCU State Department FCU State Department FCU Pelican State CU Redstone FCU

Message 6 of 15
Queen_Etherea
Valued Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?

My scores are up to date as of today. Nothing has changed so far. Usually it'll update with my Capital One by now, but I haven't seen any changes anywhere. It's really frustrating! I got a $300 increase on my Capital One since the last statement, I put $200 for a CLI on my Wells Fargo secured card, got all those late payments deleted, and have only one thing in collections, which will fall off next year. All these changes and my report hasn't updated at all. I'm REALLY curious to see what all those changes did.

I think I've found the sacred map that may lead me to this garden everyone keeps talking about.



Officially collection free as of 3/19/19!!
STARTING SCORES: 377 (11/2013) & 580 (3/2018)
Message 7 of 15
Queen_Etherea
Valued Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?


@AndySoCal wrote:

How recent are your scores in your siggy? I would have thought there would be a changes due all that you have been able to get done regarding your credit. 


My TransUnion score actually updated this morning after I replied! Went up from 638 to 670!! I'm finally in the "Good" range (at least with TransUnion). Experian is taking fooorreevveerrr to delete my stuff! TransUnion did it the same day, like literally 2 hours after I called.

I think I've found the sacred map that may lead me to this garden everyone keeps talking about.



Officially collection free as of 3/19/19!!
STARTING SCORES: 377 (11/2013) & 580 (3/2018)
Message 8 of 15
dynamicvb
Valued Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?

From what I've read, you get the best jumps when you get the last baddie gone. If you only have the 30 day late and it was more than 2 years, then it does not hurt that bad. Hopefully, you will get a jump from Experian soon too.

 

From what I've seen getting CLI increases does not help all that much at first( the bump from getting the card is always higher), but they start to help over time as the accounts age with the higher limits. Getting that utilization down should help too once it picks up. If you could pay down some more on the auto loan, then you may get another bump from TU. It treats installment loan balances a little differently from CC's. At least this is what I've seen in my file. Getting the utilization on the installments will help at least with TU.

Started Rebuild 4/2018: EX 616| TU 604| EQ 621

Current 5/28/20:


First Goal Score: 750+ Reached 3/2019

Next Goal all over 800
Message 9 of 15
Queen_Etherea
Valued Contributor

Re: How do I raise my scores to 700?


@dynamicvb wrote:

From what I've read, you get the best jumps when you get the last baddie gone. If you only have the 30 day late and it was more than 2 years, then it does not hurt that bad. Hopefully, you will get a jump from Experian soon too.

 

From what I've seen getting CLI increases does not help all that much at first( the bump from getting the card is always higher), but they start to help over time as the accounts age with the higher limits. 


What's weird is that last collections only shows $77, which I would HAPPILY pay. However, when I called, they said my balance was like over $10,000... I told them I couldn't pay and that was that. I don't know why they would only report $77 when it's actually much higher, but I'm not going to complain. I'm just going to let that one fall off on it's own next year.

 

I should've paid the balance on the Wells Fargo card instead of adding to the credit line, but I'm going to pay about $300 on that card today. So my total credit utilization should be around 17%. I think that's what holding me back the most. My report was showing 60% utilization before today. It's still showing the balance on my Wells Fargo as $838 because it updates on the 7th. I will never go above 8% on that card ever again. I've carried such a high balance on that card for the past year, which is probably why it hasn't graduated. Every report shows a balance of $800 or more with a $1,000 limit.

 

I'm SO excited that TransUnion is finally showing a score of 670. I've come a long way since I was at 584 when I began this journey.

I think I've found the sacred map that may lead me to this garden everyone keeps talking about.



Officially collection free as of 3/19/19!!
STARTING SCORES: 377 (11/2013) & 580 (3/2018)
Message 10 of 15
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