Credit Score

[justabitconfused]

This is my first time doing something like this. I have been trying to clean up my credit and get my score to increase. I started by paying off the small debts I had. (things that are under 1000.00) I then had them removed from my credit report. There are somethings that I am disputing. I check my report reguarly and my score is going up rather than down. I have not applied for any new credit and the things that I had removed were items that were in collection. I have tried to contact Equifax to find out why this is happening and I have not been able to talk to anyone. Could someone please help???????

Thanks,

Justabitconfused

[contrary1]

I'm in the process of working on my scores too. Since I purchased this home, my numbers have gone down too. It changed my debt to income ratio, I think that is the reason.

I've got one item still being reported, from the dark ages here in my life........and so help me, I can't get it changed. I realize it won't be off totally, but the debt was satisfied years ago, but the reporting agencies still have it outstanding. It's on my 2006 goals, to keep working on this, to at least get the satisfied bit posted.

[34saving]

I'm not an expert in this area (well, in any area really), but I'm sure others will have some advice for you. In the meantime, you might want to check out: http://www.creditboards.com/forums/

[justabitconfused]

Thank you for the information. I am going to check out that website. Here I am trying to right the wrong and I still feel like I am getting penalized....

[sweeps]

It's hard to say without knowing the details. But one thing you mention is that you're having previous debts removed from your report. If that's true, you're eliminating credit history which is a big component of your score.

Also by closing older accounts, you're (a) reducing the average age of your accounts, and (b) increasing your debt-to-available-balance ratio, both of which hurt your credit score.

[katwoman]

Originally Posted by Sweepsplayer

It's hard to say without knowing the details. But one thing you mention is that you're having previous debts removed from your report. If that's true, you're eliminating credit history which is a big component of your score.

Also by closing older accounts, you're (a) reducing the average age of your accounts, and (b) increasing your debt-to-available-balance ratio, both of which hurt your credit score.

Beat me to it!

My contribution to this would be that you'll have to either a) have someone add you as an authorized user on their well aged accounts or b) start applying for new lines of credit.

If I had to choose between the two I would go with option a. Why? You immediately get the benefit of history AND you wouldn't suffer any hard inquiries on your own reports further lowering your score. Once your reports are clean, you can start applying for new lines of credit on your own. Then you'll see a nice increase in scores. BTW, this is exactly the way I did it so I know it works.

[justabitconfused]

Just so that I am clear on what yall are saying...Even though I have paid off the debt maybe I should have them reported as paid in full and not deleted. This should happen because I am clearing out the age of the debt. I have recieved 2 new credit cards in the last 6mths. They have 1000.00 limits on both and I have kept the balance low on each. I was thinking this should also help the score......

[sweeps]

The problem with FICO is its proprietary and no one (except for Fair Isaac) really knows how the scores are calculated. There are general guidelines to go by, but it's impossible to know exactly how a certain action will affect your score.

For example, is it better to keep a mildly bad debt on your record (to demonstrate credit history), or is it better to have it expunged (to eliminate past-due notations)? No one really knows for sure.

Since you've opened 2 new CC's in the last 6 months, that certainly can lower your score -- again because of the lower average account age, and due to the "hard-pull" credit inquiries on your account. On the other hand, your debt-to-available-credit ratio should improve.