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I’m just curious to know if you guys have seen any credit score improvement yet. I’ve had Capital One since February and I’ve had the same score since then (580’s). It did improve a little bit when I initially got the card but nothing after that. My FAKO score has improved some 60 points, but we all know that means nothing. I’m starting to get a little frustrated, so any advice will be greatly appreciated.
There are three things denting my report right now: 1 account in collections, 1 paid charge-off and not enough revolving credit (as well as a couple of closed accounts with late payments but now in good standing).
The account in collections is going to be deleted during the next 30 days, as I was able to negotiate a deletion (I actually sent payment today). There’s really not much I can do about the paid charge-off. It’s been paid, so it’ll be on my report for the next 5 years as it has been 2 years since payment. I sent a goodwill letter hoping that it’ll get deleted but I doubt it will.
If everything goes as planned, I’ll be opening a new secured card with hopefully a 5k credit line (family loan). I’m hoping this will along with the deletion of the collection account will boost my score. If this doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will. I’m out of ideas.
Hey fontanaman,
Although I am a newbie to credit, I’ll try to help as best I can based on the knowledge I’ve learned in my research. You’ve already mentioned the baddies that are affecting your score, and after they fall off, that will obviously improve your score. Having another credit line (if you get the second secured card) should also help a lot because it will increase your credit to debt ratio, decreasing your debt %.
Other factors that really affect your score include Average Age of Accounts and Utilization. Do you know your AAoA and/or Credit Utilization %? The standard they usually tell you is use no more than 30% of your credit limit, but from different forums, I’ve read that people say having about 10% or less reported on your credit report is best and actually better than having 0% reported (paid in full before statement cut date). So that would mean letting a balance of about 10% of your credit limit be on your statement, to be reported to the bureaus.
Here is a link for more basic information about improving scores: http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/ImproveYourScore.aspx
Amy is right, that 2nd secured card will help alot with utilization. Also, it will help your credit line mix…I think I saw on one of the websites, one of my positives and I didn’t have many, was that I have two major branded credit cards (or something to that affect). Also, that Average age of accounts is very important. New accounts are good especially when you don’t have too many at one time, but they usually make your score dip (just a little)and it recovers gradually as time goes on if there aren’t any other factors keeping it from increasing. You might even see a couple of points go away from an account being deleted. Don’t fret, it’s usually dealing with your AAoA whether it was a positive or negative account. But we all know that getting a negative acct deleted from our reports is the best.
With new positve accounts growing (aging) and negative accts being deleted or just getting older (doesn’t affect the reports as much as it gets older) your score will increase….any new accounts need to age….give it a year at least and work on the negative if you can.
Also are you going to check your FICO to see where you really stand? I had a 57 points difference one time in my Fako and FICO score and my FICO was higher!
Thanks to both for the words of encouragement. I guess I just need to be more patient and keep working on removing the negatives from my report. Hopefully I’ll be able to boost up my score with the new secured credit card.
@Amy:
– My current Revolving Credit to Debt Ratio according to Experian is: Credit: 88%, Debt: 12%, which I think is pretty good. I just don’t have enough credit right now.
– My oldest account age is 8 years, though this specific account is now closed.
Also, thanks for the good article. I had posted this link on the blog some months ago, but it’s good to come back to it.
Sorry for the confusion I think I was not very clear. The 580 score I mentioned is my FICO score, I’m currently monitoring my report and score through experian. My Fako score is something like 644 (MyCreditInform).
I was able to negotiate two deletions, one of them has already been removed, but there was no change at all in my score. The other will be removed in the next few weeks, hopefully I’ll see some improvement after this as I would not have any accounts in collections any more. This were both medical bills and some people say they don’t affect your score much. I’ll know in a few weeks.
Fontanaman,
I just realized something. Are you saying that is your Experian FICO score? What service are you using to check this score? I ask this because that may not be your Experian FICO, because since 2009, consumers can’t buy their Experian FICOs and it is only available to lenders. Check out this from myFICO: http://myfico.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/280/~/experian-announcement—important-announcement-concerning-service-offerings
Did you ever check your TU and EQ FICOs? This so-called Experian FICO may not be real unless it’s been provided by a lender, such as when you apply for credit.
Hi Amy,
Thanks for the heads up. The only score and report I’ve been checking lately is the one provided by Experian. I was aware from an article I read a few months ag, that Experian does not work with FICO scores anymore, but that they are still valuable and useable.
I didn’t know that they still provided FICO scores to lenders and this is a good thing to know ’cause I suppose lenders will be seeing a different score than the one I’m seeing. I agree with you, I should check my other scores to see where I really stand. I haven’t checked my TransUnion or Equifax scores since January.
I wish all this stuff was free so I could check them at least once a month! I guess I can wait a couple of months and check them again in January for free…
Thanks for the article. It was really helpful
Well, I have some good news to report (and some not as good as I thought).
The only account in collections that I had was updated today to “Paid”. The good news is that my credit score went from 579 to 636 (a 57 point difference!). The not so good news is that this collection agency had agreed to delete the account from my report completely and they didn’t (and I’m not sure I have enough proof to dispute this)
I’m pretty happy about my score finally improving after many months, but I can’t help thinking that if they had deleted the account I would probably have an even better score now. Any suggestions?
Cool I hope thats your fico score!!! If u have it in writing that they agreed to delete u should be able to send the letter to the credit reporting agency however not sure if u have to mail or call n get a FAX number to send the letter. Or contact the collection agency and remind them of the agreement but I don’t like to talk to them.
Yeah, that’s my Experian score!
That’s the thing, they did send me a letter saying they were going to delete, but it was written by hand on the bill they sent me, so I don’t think I have enough proof as it was not signed or anything. I tried to get an official letter from them, but they just ignored me.
I did send them a letter stating that: “cashing of this check represents an agreement to remove within 30 calendar days all derogatory information reported against this account”. Then I wrote something similar on the back of the check as well.
I was going to start by sending the collection agency a letter. Do you think it’s better to contact the credit bureaus first?
Well in that case, yeah, I would contact the collection agency and remind them of the agreement. I would just act like someone made an error (well they did) and see what happens. I don’t know fontanaman, not sure if it will make your score jump some more…well we know a deleted account is always better though, but that was a good score jump – 57 pts!
Yeah you’re right, I don’t think it’ll improve my score a lot more. I’m pretty excited about the jump, but I’m not happy with having that on my report for 7 years. I’ll do what I can and post back if anything changes. Thanks for your feedback!
Another update!
I had an 86 point jump in TWO DAYS!!!!
After opening my second secured card with Bank of America yesterday, I wanted to check today how many points were taken off by this new card application. You are not going to believe me when I say that today, not even 24 hours after opening this account, it’s already showing on my report as “Current”! My score improved another 29 points for a total of 86 points in two days. My new Experian score is 665! I can’t be happier.
So here’s a summary of what happened these past two days:
1. I had two collection accounts on my report. One was deleted, the other one was updated to paid. This brought my Experian score from 579 to 636 (57 point jump).
2. Opened a 2nd secured card at Bank of America with a $4k credit limit. My score went from 636 to 665.
Next round of beers is on me
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