Why is my FICO score still low if....

[Anonymous]

I have been diligently working to repair my credit for the past 5 years.  My FAKO's are TU 646 EX 621 and EQ 651.  My FICO's are TU 647 EX 640 and EQ 586.   I have brought them all up from low 500's.  I only have a collection from a cell phone bill on reporting on all 3, a paid collection for cable reporting on all 3, a collection for broadband reporting on two (experian and equifax)  a repo only reporting on Equifax which the account was opened in 10/02 and the last collection reporting only on EX which says it was opened in 10/3 and don't know what it is.  All these collections are older than 3 years.  I have not been late on any payments on accounts that I currently have open which are:

1 - car installment - a year old in July

3 - credit cards with balances of - $93 on a limit of $350 (3 years old)  $200 on a limit of $500 (2 years old) and $678 on a limit of $5000 (3 months old).

I have had alot of things removed, deleted or have fallen off my report my report over the past 5 years including a foreclosure.

I was hoping to be in the 700's by June so I can apply for a mortgage. Can anyone give me an idea as to why they don't seem to go up?  Is there anything I can do to increase it aside from everything I have already done. 

I

[smallfry]

You still have a slew of neggies on those reports my friend.

[haulingthescoreup]

Congrats on the progress so far!

If I may ask, where did you get your FICO EX score?

Look on screen 2 of your FICO EQ and TU reports. What are the negatives on each, listed in order? The first negative has the most influence on your scores, the second is the next-most important, and so far.

Off the top of my head, I would say that your util is higher than it should be, and you shouldn't have all three CC's reporting balances.

But please do let us know what the negatives are. You should be able to copy/paste them on to a post.

[Anonymous]

Transunion

1 You have a collection on your credit report.

2 You have a recent collection on your credit report.  4 months old (disputed and it was deleted) 

3 You've recently been looking for credit. (3 months ago last credit card obtained)

4 You've made heavy use of your available revolving credit.  

Equifax

1 You have a collection and a serious delinquency on your credit report.

2 You have a short credit history. (Not all old closed credit cards that report on the other two report on EQ)

3 You have a recent collection on your credit report. (disputed and it was deleted) 

4 You recently missed a payment. (This is in correct I haven't missed a payment in over 3 years)

The Experian score is from freecreditreport.com.  The last time I was able to get it here it was a 640.

[haulingthescoreup]

I think that as smallfry said, it's the negatives that are keeping you down for now. With them, you pretty much have to wait it out.

Stop trying for new credit for the next 12 months. You need to let your history get longer, plus lose the "seeking new credit" ding.

TU is saying that your util is too high. This is #4, so it's not huge, but it's still hurting. If you haven't already, resolve to use your cards only for things that you would otherwise have to pay cash for (think gas and grocs), and steadily attack your balances.

If the recent collection was still showing on your reports when you pulled your scores, you might have a jump if it's truly deleted. The more recent a negative, the more it hurts.

Scores from freecreditreport.com are FAKO's, so I wouldn't fuss too much about what your EX score is doing. It's cleaning the incorrect negatives from your reports and getting your util down that will help.