Why Doesnt my score go UP?

Discussion in 'Credit Talk' started by RobynH, May 6, 2003.

  1. RobynH

    RobynH Member

    I have been doing self credit repair for the last 6 months or so, and i have managed to get 2 reposessions, numberous collection accounts,and some lates removed. I do still have one collection thats on 2 of my reports for 1200.00 and a few little ones for 200 dollars that im just gonna pay. (it seems like the little ones are the most stubborn to come off)

    Anyway, i have done all this work and still my score isnt comming up.... someone pulled my credit to try to give me a personal loan to pay off the remaining debt so i can try to get a mortgage and I was declined... Credit score was only 522. Experian credit watch says 645 credit score.

    Why isnt my credit score comming up? I have several loans paid off that are perfect with no lates, i have a couple of open accounts that have no lates and these are long standing accounts.... What gives?

    Please help me understand

    RObyn
     
  2. Simon

    Simon Well-Known Member

    Robyn,

    I have read many times that people will experience a significant jump in their scores when the last derog. has been deleted from their reports. However, it sounds like you still have quite a few collection accounts on your reports. Collection accounts do damage to your scores whether you owe a little or a lot. Getting more of these deleted will bring your score up. Also, if you are going to pay some of these, negotiate hard for deletion.
     
  3. GEORGE

    GEORGE Well-Known Member

    RNG
     
  4. J. Vick 71

    J. Vick 71 Well-Known Member

    It sounds like the balances on your open accounts are killing you right now. Go to the FICO score simulator on Experian and find out if this is the case. Put in the situation that pays down the balances.
     
  5. BurnIt

    BurnIt Well-Known Member

    My hubby just had a medical collection removed from TU. His score literally jumped 116 points. We were pleased.
     
  6. QUEEN_BEE

    QUEEN_BEE Well-Known Member

    Was it your last derog on that report?
     
  7. BurnIt

    BurnIt Well-Known Member

    It was his only collection account. He has current lates on an installment, and old lates on past installments.

    No, it wasn't his last.
     
  8. creditcrud

    creditcrud Member

    Gee, wouldn't that be nice if your score got better as your report did?!

    My DH had a collection removed (the only one on it), and his score dropped on EQ. Not his last derog, although his derogs are mostly 5+ years old (he has one 30 day late in 2000) and he has a current installment that is 18 months old with perfect payments.

    There is something really wrong with a system when a collection helps your score, LOL!

    I feel your pain!

    creditcrud
     
  9. rackt3

    rackt3 Well-Known Member

    One thing I came to find out as I was doing my credit repair is that credit scoring isn't an exact science. I remember getting 3 120+ late, and one charge-off removed (expecting a huge jump in my score, and score went up only 1 point!

    It turns out that, getting *some* of these really bad ones off of there is only half the battle. For example, lets say you have 6 seriously delinquent accounts (charge-offs, collections, 90+ days late), and you manage to get 4 removed... your score may not seriously increase, because you have those other two left. You'll need to get all the seriously delinquent accounts out of there before you'll see a jump.

    I think you'll need to get rid of those collection accounts too in order to see a good increase in score. I wouldn't simply send the money.. you'll be better off negotiating a pay-for-removal deal. Do it all in writing, not on the phone.

    After getting the really bad stuff off, you can then concentrate on the not so bad ones (e.g 30 day lates) if any.
     
  10. kelcol

    kelcol Well-Known Member

    It's an insane science.... when I first began clean up, I disputed 7 items on TU, 6 were deleted - I lost 20 pts. I recently put all of dh's EQ in dispute (96 bk, 1996 iib acct and 2 ca's) only the iib acct was deleted and the 2 ca's updated their reporting date to 4/03 and SOMEHOW he jumped up almost 50 pts....that one has left me scratching my head BIG TIME!!
     
  11. ckalston

    ckalston Member

    I am having the same problem. I recently cleared 11 old accounts from my credit report and successfully disputed another account that I refuse to pay. I pulled my report and found that instead of my score going up it dropped 4 points (now at 501). I have no recent lates or collection activities, two hard inquiries but those occured before getting the deletions and are for attempting to buy a home. My question is, why would my credit score drop instead of go up. I was looking forward to bettering my score and if it does no good to take care of things then why bother.
     
  12. ckalston

    ckalston Member

    I am having the same problem. I recently cleared 11 old accounts from my credit report and successfully disputed another account that I refuse to pay. I pulled my report and found that instead of my score going up it dropped 4 points (now at 501). I have no recent lates or collection activities, two hard inquiries but those occured before getting the deletions and are for attempting to buy a home. My question is, why would my credit score drop instead of go up. I was looking forward to bettering my score and if it does no good to take care of things then why bother.
     
  13. Mycroft

    Mycroft Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: Why Doesnt my score go UP?

    What about good credit. How many positive trade lines do you have? How many of them are recent?
     
  14. ckalston

    ckalston Member

    Re: Re: Why Doesnt my score go UP?

    I have a gas card, capitol one car, two vehicles (payments 800 a month), all current with no late payments in over a year.
     
  15. Mycroft

    Mycroft Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: Re: Why Doesnt my score go UP?

    Saying that these accounts have no late payments in the last year implies that there are late payments prior to the last year. If that's the case, then your credit is still 100% derog, and your score is going to stay in the lower 500s.

    What you need are good credit references. It's not enough to take off bad references if there are no good references to show that you will make your payments on time in the future.

    How to get them?

    Well, you can open new accounts, pay them religiously and let them age. That will do it. You can also try to have the lates removed, turning these negative accounts into positive ones. The first option is a sure bet, the second may be faster.

    At this point you really don't need to worry about inquiries. They don't bring your score down to 501. By the time you establish some tradelines and take care of the remaining negatives, the inquiries you have today will be too old to worry about.

    Don't give up.
     
  16. ckalston

    ckalston Member

    Re: Re: Re: Why Doesnt my score go UP?

    Thanks for your help. I thought since I took care of my most recent bills that the older ones would not affect my credit. I am in the process of trying to buy a home, so I don't need to have any additional hard inquires at this time. However, after I get through, which cards or credit lines do you recommend.
     
  17. Mycroft

    Mycroft Well-Known Member

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Why Doesnt my score go UP?

    How important is it to buy a home right away? I ask because I'm not aware of any investors that will fund a loan for a FICO score of 501 without a hefty down payment or seller carry-back and a high interest rate. When I say high, I mean 9-12%. A lot depends on your specific situation, but if you can boost that FICO to the 580+ range, then you can get an FHA loan in the upper 5's or lower 6's. I'm the last person to discourage someone from home ownership, but this looks like a situation where putting off the purchase can save you a ton of money down the road.

    Which credit card to get? Great question. I'm not the best person to answer it, but maybe someone else in this forum will.
     

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