My Journey from 550 to an 836 Credit Score

[ronron66]

WOW.  The last last payment fell off and gained 33 points.

836 Score from Equifax.

Current Stats:

Accounts: 27

Accounts with balances: 7

Accounts opened in the past year: 5

Recent Inquires: 0

Collections: 0

Public records: 0

AU: 1

Credit History: 24 years

Payment History: Exceptional

Amount of Debt: Exceptional

Length of Credit History: Very Good

Amount of New Credit: Good

(I'm thinking I should get another 5 points after the "Accounts opened in the past year" section goes to 0 in December of this year)

Current Mix: Every type

Observations:

1.  The last negattive is valuable - 33 points

2.  Sometimes asking for an early removal of a negative works. (EQ remove it 3 months ahead of the scheduled date)

3.  < 10 %  but >= 1% IS the magic number in terms of utilization

Question:  A paving company is at odds with me and my wife over some work that was done and are threatening to take us to small claims court for $300. 

My wife and I are in disagreement that IF we were to:

1.  Go to court,

2.  Loose the decision

3.  Pay the amount awarded

That Court Record could end up on my credit report as a Public Record

I say that it WILL be reportedto the CR

She says it would not.

I AM NOT TAKING THE CHANCE over $300

Your comments are appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear about your profile/score improvement!

One thing though, you wrote that you have 5 accounts opened in the last year which would imply that you have 5 inquiries, yet you wrote your inquiries are 0?

[ronron66]

Yes.  With the 5 New Accounts - the inq's did not post to all 3 CA's. only 1. I notice that with NON MAJOR accounts like CC's, they sometimes only do an inquiry from 1 CA.  Lucky break.

[Anonymous]

Congratulations on your journey. I concur with your assessment. I would not risk a public record over $300.

[Anonymous]

Thats fantastic... Very happy for you...

[Blackswizz750]

I am very happy to see you go from 550 to 836. Tell me this, do you actively seek new credit anymore or do more with cash? I tend to use cash more for purchases but using some credit does help with prepping for large items such as a home or HELOC.

[ronron66]

I don't seek any more credit.  11 months ago I applied and recieved 5 new credit cards so my available credit would be large (> 70 k)  After that, I did not apply for any credit.

I'm now waiting for those 5 to not report as "New Credit"

Also, this is my thoughts on HELOC's.  They definitley serve a purpose, but they report to the CA's just like a credit card.  I had a 20K HELOC and needed the entire 20K.  It reports as if I had a maxed out CC.

[Blackswizz750]

That is something I did not know about HELOC. My wife and I have looked into them but just saved the money and paid cash.

[grillandwinemaster]

Pay the $300. 

It's not worth the risk.

While chances are tthat it WILL NOT go on your credit record IF you Pay once the court decision is made, it's not worth the risk to your pristine credit score. 

[Credit_hawk]

Pay the money you owe. I have a feeling you know you don't have a leg to stand on as you are already anticipating losing if it goes to court. Knowing friends who are contractors it really is lamentable those who don't pay for work done. Now I'm sure you are unsatisfied of the work if you're not willing to pay but it's really rare that the contractor won't make it right. It could be he is a jerk and it could be you're impossible to please. Either way, you don't need a $300 judgement against you.