I dont get it!

[erin62777]

This will be a little lenghty! 

I subscribe to my fico. About 3 years ago, in the midst of refinancing our home, I had some late payments on our mortageg which are still on my report. Other than that, I have no other lates, no collections, public records, BK, nothing.

Scores were 707 for TU, 703 for EXP, 693 for EQU. 

I have 2 amex NPSL (green and gold-refuse the platinum and the 450 AF). Have a capital one with 4k, quicksilver with 2k, BOA with 7700 (asked for 15k, gave me half), chase slate with 4800, freedom with 4500, chase amazon with 2k. Wells fargo gave me 7k, discover gave me a WHOPPing 1500!, citi diamond 2500, and a barclays barnes and noble card for 1k. I think thats about it. Have a lowes card with 3600, and best buy with 3k.

I have currently no balances except the wells fargo which is 5800 (yes, very high utiization), the others I pay off just about every month.

So, why would a BOA give me a increase to 7700, when discover which I got 2 months ago gave me a paltry 1500? Why would cap1 give me a 2k increase on 1 card and denied the increase on the quicksilver card? Why do I have a 7k on WF, yet amex I applied for a normal credit line card deny me?

Also, I have about 10 new accounts in the past year. Is this why?

I just dont get it really, my score should be a lot higher.

Household income is about 140k. Just dont understand the rationale. I have had amex for 2 years now. Cap1 about 10. chase, barclays,. citi, discover all within the year. BOA i had 2-3 years...

I just wish that credit was if you do this, you get this, if you make this, you are eligible for this. etc....

My friend who makes 30k a year got a discover around the same time as me and got 7500 limit!!! I make 4-5x that and got 1/5 his credit! I honestly dont get it!?

Last thing, 37 years old, oldest account is19 years (student loans-owe about 40k) and mortgage still owe 150k.

[erin62777]

Couple other things. Have a personal loan for 15k owe 12k. Also, total credit cards I probably have 35-38k available and I owe less than 6k altogether. so 20% utilization, not so hot?

forgot have dell account with 5800 limit owe 0. 

just dont get why scores arent mid 700's. Does anyone know when lates fall off? As I stated i had the mortgage one 3 years ago.....

[gdale6]

Individual lates that are on open or closed paid as agreed accounts drop at the 7 year mark. I would be using GW letters to that mortgage company in an effort to get the lates commuted.       http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Rebuilding-Your-Credit/GW-letter-Q-amp-A-Examples-and-GW-Success-Sto...

On your revolvers you ultimately want one card reporting no more than 9% of its individual CL to the CRAs each month, your maxed out WF card is costing you points I would be concentrating on paying that one down. Also if you are letting more than one card report to the CRAs you lose points for each additional card that reports regardless of the balance. You can use your cards right to the limit if you want on a monthly basis you just want to pay them off before the statement cuts and let the 1 card report.

Installment accounts are not figured in to any utilization calculations. I would not have more than 3 installment loans incl the mortgage open at one time.

[Anonymous]

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@erin62777 wrote:

Couple other things. Have a personal loan for 15k owe 12k. Also, total credit cards I probably have 35-38k available and I owe less than 6k altogether. so 20% utilization, not so hot?

forgot have dell account with 5800 limit owe 0. 

just dont get why scores arent mid 700's. Does anyone know when lates fall off? As I stated i had the mortgage one 3 years ago.....

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This is a primary cause:

Also, I have about 10 new accounts in the past year.

[erin62777]

Thank you all for replying.

I still dont get it though. I pay down 1200 on one to 0, 1800 to 0, 450 to 0, 1600 to 0, 61 to 0, 7k to 5k and scores went up 2 and 4 points!

Insane, just insane....

Applied for a normal amex with a line of credit, got denied.....I have the green and gold, just cancelled the green. No sense in paying 2 annual fees.

The last credit card will be paid in a month then I will have barely any CC debt (except for groceries, itunes, kindle, etc...

Just dont seem fair how your overall CC balance can be 12k now its 5k and it can drop 25 points but goes up 2 and 4 points!

Hard race to win....

Whats the point of have 18 months 0 interest or 12 months 0, 5% cash bank if you cant utilize it? I have 40-45k in credit, using 5, just dont get it...

[Anonymous]

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@erin62777 wrote:

Thank you all for replying.

I still dont get it though. I pay down 1200 on one to 0, 1800 to 0, 450 to 0, 1600 to 0, 61 to 0, 7k to 5k and scores went up 2 and 4 points!

Insane, just insane....

Applied for a normal amex with a line of credit, got denied.....I have the green and gold, just cancelled the green. No sense in paying 2 annual fees.

The last credit card will be paid in a month then I will have barely any CC debt (except for groceries, itunes, kindle, etc...

Just dont seem fair how your overall CC balance can be 12k now its 5k and it can drop 25 points but goes up 2 and 4 points!

Hard race to win....

Whats the point of have 18 months 0 interest or 12 months 0, 5% cash bank if you cant utilize it? I have 40-45k in credit, using 5, just dont get it...

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In a very simple response:

You aren't at a point where you understand the Credit Score Game

• 35%  Payment History   You have lates showing on your credit report.  Granted much of the sting may be gone due to age, but they are still reporting.  
• 30%  Credit Management     You use of credit as of this post is not bad, under 20 percent.  However, the question would be: What is showing on your credit report at the time that you recorded the scores you are mentioning?  We get a lot of people who come to the forum and talk about paying their credit cards off, but at what stage in the reporting process are you doing so?  
• 15%  Credit History    How long have you had your oldest accounts?  
• 10%  Inquires   You've opened 10 accounts in the past year!  Using a rough 2-3 points for each hit, you are looking at 20-30 points in scoring right there.  Not to mention that each new account is going to lower your Average Age of Account(AAoA).  
• 10% Mix of Credit  Have a mix of installement and revolving credit; auto or mortgage vs credit cards.  

As for the Amex denial, I will say that Amex is big on your utilization.  Also, the lates do not do you any good.  

I tell everyone, stick around this forum and read through as many posts as you can in the Rebuilding Credit forum and Credit Cards and you'll gather a wealth of knowledge.  I went from a credit bum to an outstanding citizen in a little over 30 days.  

[erin62777]

In a very simple response:

You aren't at a point where you understand the Credit Score Game

• 35%  Payment History   You have lates showing on your credit report.  Granted much of the sting may be gone due to age, but they are still reporting.  ya 7 years right? have 4 more to go!
• 30%  Credit Management     You use of credit as of this post is not bad, under 20 percent.  However, the question would be: What is showing on your credit report at the time that you recorded the scores you are mentioning?  We get a lot of people who come to the forum and talk about paying their credit cards off, but at what stage in the reporting process are you doing so?  they have reported. chase freedom owed 1700 paid to 0, chase slate owed 1200 paid to 0, amazon paid to 0 was 500. BOA was 1600 paid to 0 dell was 455 paid to 0 wells fargo was 6800 paid to 5k gonna put 2k on it next friday when get paid which will bring to 3k..the chase and dell and boa all hit myfico (get text alerts) and did NOTHIng to my score!
• 15%  Credit History    How long have you had your oldest accounts?  student loan is almost 20 years which is my oldest account. 
• 10%  Inquires   You've opened 10 accounts in the past year!  Using a rough 2-3 points for each hit, you are looking at 20-30 points in scoring right there.  Not to mention that each new account is going to lower your Average Age of Account(AAoA).  average age is 4 1/2 years. 
• 10% Mix of Credit  Have a mix of installement and revolving credit; auto or mortgage vs credit cards.  have 50k student loan, 150k mortgage and 10 or 11 k personal loan. forgot owe 7k on a car loan. 

As for the Amex denial, I will say that Amex is big on your utilization.  Also, the lates do not do you any good.  surprised because as i mentioned i had the green and gold, used it a lot in the beginning always paid it weekly, never waited for statement. then, applied, got denied. so i cancelled the green gonna keep the gold for now. have optiion to go platinum but for what? 450af, free 200 voucher not worth it for me. i would like a normal cl with amex.

Weird thing is BOA i havent used since july 2014, had 2500 limit. All the local branches closed in my area so i had to close checkings and savings accounts. Anways, hit the credit line increase, asked income, how much, etc. I asked for 15k, they countered and gave me a total of 7700 making is my highest CL next to WF which is 7k. But like 3 months ago i got the discover IT in the mail, applied got approved for a paltry 1500! seriosly? Even chase 8 months ago gave me the freedom for 4500, then 3 days later sent me pre approval for slate, applied and got 4800. then on amazon said you get 75 bucks for opening account which is through chase, they gave me 2k. 

I dont get why discover gives me such a low Cl and amex denies me....

I have been trying to read the forums and figure this stuff out! I guess I to do more!

I tell everyone, stick around this forum and read through as many posts as you can in the Rebuilding Credit forum and Credit Cards and you'll gather a wealth of knowledge.  I went from a credit bum to an outstanding citizen in a little over 30 days.  

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[Anonymous]

OP you are almost there.  I would say, pay down what you can, and do not use those cards for the length of at least 30 days and report back to use with your results?  Also, go to the Rebuilding Forum and find out the best way to do Good Will(GW) letters and make that work for you.  From what you explain here,you are just a month or so of gardening away from that elusive score of 750.

However, I will say that the lates do not help your cause.  But, aside from that, you are good.  Unless you are applying for a mortgage I wouldn't stress it.  

As for your CL. Look at the thread in Credit Card forum(can't miss it, 300+ replies) and he talks about credit limits.  His response is that lenders generally do not look at your other card limits and attempt to match those.  Each lender has matrix which give them an idea of the amount of exposure they wish to incur with each individual.   so down the line, the stingy lenders may increase your limits based upon your payment history, future scores and spend?

[erin62777]

Thanks blackace, I will read that thread and pay down and I will report back......

The lates were from 3-4 years ago when I was in the process of refinancing the house. Some things got screwed up, I missed a few payments and obviously they are still on there. I write a GW letter and hope for the best!