I filed my BK in 1997 my 4 yrs college (all unsecured credit cards CB 2 cards, Chase 2 cards, HSBC 1 card). Since June 1997, Ford Credit auto loan -- paid back full (now account closed) and Mazda American credit auto loan--paid back full (now account closed). AT&T universal card..payment arrangements since Nov. 1999 with AmeriDebt (paying every month arranged payments..no skips). With Providian, Gold card with $4,500/-, good standing (since march 1999). With Providian, Mc with $1,000/-, good standing (since Oct. 2000). Cap. 1, MC secured with $600 ($99 deposit), good standing since July 2000. Orchard MC with $300, good standing sice Oct. 2000. I do not know where I stand on my credit history. I made a mistakes in the past and learned from it. Really appreciate any feedbad/tips Dean
Pick any two credit cards. Lose the rest. FICO is better with two than one revolving trade line, but is lower with four.
My advice is to stay put for a while and continue to build up your credit. Four lines is not excessive and it would look bad to close recently opened accounts. In about a year, you might want to consider closing one of the low limit cards. My bet is that Cap.1 will be the lowest limit at that point. The credit limits on Providian will grow rapidly and Orchard will grow moderately. With higher limits, you will start to attract better offers. Still, this will take a while. The BK is a huge negative.
RE: What is FICO I would like to elaborate alittle more than Pat if you dont mind. You should keep 2-3 tradelines. Since you dont have any retail, I would suggest keeping 3. This must be the 3 oldest revolving accounts with the highest credit limits. Thus close providian 2000 or one of the accounts you opened in october. It really doesnot matter which, just keep the 1999 providian account with the $4500 limit. You asked what is Fico. Fico is a score generated from fair isaac, inc to determine your credit worthiness. It ranges from 300-900 with most consumer in the 500-750 range. You can find this score out by applying for a mortgage or when you buy a car. You as a consumer can not assess the score on your own. One of these lenders will tell you the score if asked. Your score is lowered by recent inquiries (mostly in the last 5-12 months), past payment histories, it is lowered by collections, bankruptcies, charge-offs, late payments etc. It is raised by recent ontime payment history. Your auto accounts should be helping your score. Your providian accounts as well should be helping. The older a credit card account is with good payment the more it helps your score. It is all about time. Roni, Where do I stand on my credit? wrote: ------------------------------- Hi Pat: What is FICO?
