I made a couple posts a while about about my fathers delinquent credit card debt that was destroying my credit score. I got that removed and, the numbers, started looking better. While I had the authorized user problem my Experian credit score was ~ 720; The other two were ~550. (Note that Experian was not showing the "40k delinquent debt" from me being an authorized user. It took several disputes and the other two removed it. Experian didn't change at the time. Equifax went up, but only slightly (550 --> 610) and Transunion went up from 550 --> 730. Problem is, now, my scores are going down, slowly and I can not figure out why. Experian is now down to 635, Equifax is 588 and Transunion is 710. Please note that I am getting all my "reports" from my subscription at "freecreditreport.com". The only debt I have now, is student loans (30,000$) that I do not have to start paying back for (if everything works out in graduate school) 5+ years. I have no debt that I actually have to pay back now. Those student loans are the only things that are showing up in my credit cards, loans and other debt section with a balance. There are 2 other things there. A "Bestbuy credit card" my father had put in my name when I was in highschool. It states that that is "current closed". There is also a "Professional Adjmnt co" from when I was sued for my rent owed for an apartment. Long story short, it was student housing, so I was matched with roommates. Those roommates were doing drugs in the apartment. Landlord would do nothing and police couldn't/wouldn't come, so I walked out (at the time, thinking, heavy drug users in the apartment voided the piece of paper they had me sign...). I payed the settlement and that (Professional adjmnt co) is "current closed". Freecreditreport.com is showing my "% Revolving Credit Available" is 100% for all 3 bureaus. Problem is, it also says I have one account listed negative for both experian and equifax but not transunion. ( I assume that is why there is a discrepancy in credit score). I was recently refused a student credit card, quoting, "a delinquent credit obligation, either paid or unpaid, was recorded on your credit bureau report". (they took that from experian). The report summary shows all 0's for "Debt" and 100% available. Only thing negative listed on that, is "1 account listed negative" for experian and equifax. Note that the "professional adjmnt co" is listed by both experian and equifax, but not transunion. I assume that is the "account listed negative". Is there anyway I can handle this? I paid that settlement off in full 2.5 years ago. (Free credit report quotes, "Time since negative" as 2.7 years). They also say "current negative status = none". I assume, I need to get rid of that one negative, and I basically go to "no credit" with nothing but debt right? Any ideas of how i can get that "professional adjmnt co" off of there? Would putting a note next to that "professional adjmnt co" be worthwhile, now that I am applying for credit cards to actually try and BUILD some credit?
Welcome back, and I'm glad to hear you were able to solve the whole AU issue you were having. It sounds like you have no revolving credit at the moment, and that's certainly going to make your FICO scores head in the wrong direction. If you can't get approved for a student credit card, you may want to look into getting a secured credit card that reports to all the bureaus. Use it responsibly for about a year, and then you should be able to upgrade to an unsecured card. Since you already settled the negative mark you're referring to, there's not much you can do about that now. It will affect you credit scores less and less over time, and adding a note probably won't do much to help you get approved for a new credit card right now. If there's missing or inaccurate information, you can always try disputing that through the CRAs as well. Good luck!
Thanks for responding. That is what I figured, with respect to the negative mark. You are right... at the moment i have no revolving credit at the moment. Everything with respect to debt is listed as 0. I have no court judgments. The only account that seems to be affecting my score, is the negative one from the collection agency. I do have some student loans, but it seems like those are doing nothing to the score.
Of course, it's great to keep your debt at zero, but you'll need to get some revolving credit and prove that you can manage it responsibly for awhile. Then you should start to see your scores improve. Make sure you keep those student loans in good standing as well.
Yeah, my student loans are in deferment right now and I start my PhD program before deferment ends so repayment won't start until I finish my PhD program or quit school. I actually just got a credit card (not secured) so hopefully I can get my credit score up some. I filed a dispute against that professional ad thing (collection agency). If nothing else, maybe they just won't respond and it will be removed. I was very broad in my dispute, claiming "it is not accurate and should not be listed".
Congrats on getting approved for the card, and remember - always pay your balance in full! Please do come back and let us know how things play out with your dispute as well.
