I was referred here from elsewhere, so for some of you this may be a repost: In college, I screwed up and went nuts. Had tons of cards and basically killed my credit score. Only in the last year did it finally get above 600 again, and it's been hovering between 635 and 660 for the last 6 months (well, my Providian thing says that at least.) At the moment, I have no real reason to care what my real one is, I'm just trying to get it on the best possible track for the future. I've almost finished paying down my old debts (around $4000 left - should take another year at my current pace) but my revolving credit line is only $6500ish because apparently my AMEX doesn't report as a dollar amount?! What's worse, my AMEX is the card I use most, and it keeps filling up the remaining "active" balance. So, anyway, how bad will it be like 5 months from now if I apply for and get approved for 3 or 4 cards to up my revolving limit by another $4500 or so? I know I'll take a hit right now for the inquiries, but if I apply only to Equifax pulls, I shouldn't have any declines. My credit is not good enough for me to expect huge credit lines to just be handed to me, I just want to raise my available credit by the amount I still owe, so I have a better ratio. I only use my AMEX (charge card - pay in full every month) and debit card now to pay for things, with a joint credit card of my husband's used in VERY rare instances where we'll need 2 or 3 months to pay something off. The only balances I carry are from college and on a debt management plan. Am I silly for wanting a better ratio? All the old debt accounts are closed and on payoff, so it's not like I'll be closing accounts for new ones - they're already gone. I don't plan on actually USING any of the new cards, I just want them for the revolving line increase.
Did you actually have negative items on your reports, such as late pays and chargeoffs, or did you just have a lot of open accounts with balances, but paid as agreed?
8 late pays and one charge off. But the charge off isn't mine, and I just noticed it recently, so I'm gonna dispute it. All of the late pays are on closed accounts, 5 with a 0 balance, and only one of which has a "permanent record note" of "30 days late".
How late are the late pays, and how long ago were they? How many accounts do you now have open, with what total balance outstanding, and what total available credit?
90 days was the longest, and that was around 5 years ago. The most recent were around 3 1/2 years ago, and that was 30 days. A few 60 day lates were reported on Experian for one card that the others have as 30 days. I have 8 accounts open, total balance around $7,500, $11,000 total credit + Gold Amex which doesn't appear to have a limit that I can see. $4,500 of that balance is the afore-mentioned static debt management, the other $3,000 of it gets paid off monthly (work-related reimbursed expenses, utilities, etc.) The charge-off is listed as in collections with three different companies. I spent this morning writing some letters to every address I could find asking for proof and investigations and all that. I'm pretty sure I'm in the right on this one, considering 1) I never had an account with the original creditor and 2) I can't imagine three different collection agencies can possibly own the same debt at the same time. So that I'm ignoring and focusing on the other things. I know that the 90 day lates are going to drop off in less than 2 years, and that most of the others will be gone by 2007, which should help my score. I just want to do whatever I can to raise it before then.
The charge off is probably hurting you the most. Combine that with a fairly high debt to available credit ratio, and you get your low to mid 600 scores. The fact that about half your debt is business expenses paid off every month still skews your debt to available credit ratio. Get the charge off removed, don't close any accounts, pay down debt, and selectively open accounts based on offers with competitive terms, but don't increase your outstanding debt. Forget opening 3 or 4 accounts in 6 months. That will tank your scores, make you appear risky to even your current creditors, and they will likely limit your credit or raise your rates. You might open one new account every 6 months, but only if it is no fee, acceptable interest, credit line large enough to be significant compared to your existing accounts, and from a bank with a decent reputation.
Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I'll focus on getting the item specifically called "charge off" off my record first, and if I have to fight with the collection agencies about their own things, I'll deal with that. It's from 1997, so maybe I'll have some luck. I should have the remaining bit of my college debts paid off within the next 18 months unless something horrible happens, so I'm happy enough with my pay-down there. At least you can see why I wanted to get my credit ratio raised. I keep getting pre-approved for $2000 limit, no fee cards from my bank. Maybe I'll take one and see what happens in a few months.
If it's from 1997, that is, if it is an account that originally went delinquent in 1997, whether it is yours or not, it shouldn't even be showing on your reports at all. However, you want it off totally if it is not yours, since 7 year reporting only applies to applications for credit under $150K, and you also don't want to be pestered by CAs for the rest of your life over someone else's debt.
Have you tried debt settlement? Go to http://www.superiordebtrelief.com to find out how you can settle your debt for 50% of the total debt amount.
The charge off is for $92. I hardly need debt settlement for that The "closed" date on it is 2002, but it says 1997 as reported. As I've said, the rest of the debt I'm paying down steadily and have no reason to do otherwise. I got myself into trouble, I learned my lesson, I'm just *almost* out of it and getting antsy.
