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My Credit Score?*

I have spent the last 6 years paying off nearly fifty thousand dollars in credit card debt. I currently have a total Credit limit of $8975 with 97% of my credit being free and pay on time every month (for the past 8 months). All my credit through revolving accounts I do not have mortgage or auto loan. But my score is still horrible FICO 648 How can I improve my score, and how long is thing going to take I no longer have any debt pay my entire balance every month; I have never filed for Bankruptcy After all this work- almost makes me think I would have been better off filing chapter 11. Any advice would be greatly appreciated this is like a never ending nightmare I all I want is a decent score, which I feel does not reflect the 0 debt that I now have

Answers:

1) The only thing I can think of is calling your credit card company and asking them!!! I hope it works out good luck

2) One of the most important factors when trying to raise your credit score is not being completely debt-free, but the proportion of credit you use and pay off every month vis-a-vis your credit limit. For example: If your limit is $ 10,000, and you spend 100$ and pay it off every month, there's very little positive. If your limit is $500 and you spend 400$ and pay it off every month, your score will improve much faster. Other things to consider: Don't apply for credit often, don't carry cards you never use. Revolving debt is riskier than other debt. When calculating your score, the credit bureaus take the average age of all your accounts and factor that in to your score. If you have 4 accounts that are under 12 months old and one that's 5 years old, that will be detrimental to your score. By the way, a FICO score of 648 is a NOT horrible score.

3) Your credit is not diverse - credit bureaus like to see revolving accounts (credit cards) AND loans when they are calculating credit scores. Also, your credit card is only 8 months old. It takes two years of positive payment history to really start improving your score. You may want to applying for other credit... if you're only paying one bill per month that is getting reported to the credit bureaus, it may take a while to really improve you score. Consider purchasing or doing a trial of one of MyFICO's credit score watching products. They analyze what is making your score what it is and how you can make it better. http://www.myfico.com You're on the right track! And really, 648 is not a bad score. It is considered fair. Once you get above 660, your credit will be considered good by most lenders.

4) Hi! I used to work at a credit reporting agency and can tell yout that there are a lot of different things impacting your score aside from your monetary debt. There is length of credit history, the percentage of used revolving credit (you don't want all your credit cards paid to zero). Check out this article for some info about how different things determine your score.http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/879153/what_determines_your_mortgage_credit.html?cat=3 Hope this helps!!

5) The only way to improve scores is to make good credit (which you are doing) and remove negative marks off your report. I assume that 50,000 that you paid included collections and charge offs? They stay on your report for 7 years after date of first delinquency. Nothing resets that period. If you have been paying off for the last 6 years, I assume a lot of your negative accounts are either 7 years old or nearing 7 years. When you check your credit date reported is marked very clearly on each collection account which is the original date of delinquency with the original creditor. Collection companies can't reset that date. I suggest you go through your report and see what is 7 years old and what will be 7 years old in the next 12 months. All 7 year old entries should be disputed with the bureaus and they will be removed. Once your collection items are 2 years old (date of last activity) your scores will get better. FICO scores have a big hole in the fact that once you decide to pay your collection items, date of last activity becomes current and tends to hurt your FICO scores initially. Once all paid and the account goes inactive for 2 years, your scores will improve. 24 months of on time payment will also help your scores if you have been late recently. Since you now have 0 debt, your scores will improve over the next 24 months. Keep an eye for all the stuff that is 7 years old and have iot removed. Once all the collections are removed and you have been using your credit responsibly for 2 years, your scores will be up. Keep plugging. It is worth it!

6) You need some accounts with extended perfect payment history. Have you considered using one of those authorized user tradeline programs. They are very affordable and would get you well on your way to having better credit. My mom used it and not only was able to open other accounts, but her score jumped 51 points. Check out the free evaluation form at www.totaldebtsolutionsllc.com They can help.

7) Well if you are paying off your balances every month on your credit cards in full this may be the cause. Paying off balances in full is not such a good idea to build a credit score. Remember credit scores are based on "history". Suppose that you use your credit card to purchase gas, groceries, and everything else each month, always spending around $1,500 each month, but when the bill arrives, you pay the balance in full. One would think you would get bonus points for staying out of debt and paying off the balance in full each month, but not when you consider how you look on paper. What is your credit card issuer reporting to your credit report each month -- the total amount you owe at the time of the report and that you pay on time, not the fact that you pay your balance in full each month. Therefore, on paper, it looks like you carry a $1,500 balance on your credit card and never pay it off. Therefore, a good idea would be to have 2 or 3 credit cards and rotate them, using one for a few months, then using another, so that your credit card company can report a zero balance every few months to the three credit reporting agencies NOTE. The method of using the authorized user system to build credit is soon to be no more. FICO is making a major change to the FICO credit score formula as announced by Fair Isaac Corporation. FICO scores will no longer factor authorized user accounts into their credit scoring formulas. People that are listed as authorized users on credit card accounts will likely see a significant change in their credit scores when this modification takes place later this summer. For most consumers, this change will have a negative impact on their credit scores. Only consumers who are listed as an authorized user on negative accounts or accounts that have balances that are close to the credit limit will possibly see an increase in their credit scores. Adding a family member or friend as an authorized user on an existing credit card account has long been used as a way to establish credit. Many parents added their children as authorized users in order to help them build their credit history. However, credit repair organizations have also started using this system as a way to fraudulently sell authorized user account access to consumers with credit problems. This credit repair loophole was part of the motivation for the FICO score change. Go to the FICO web site to find out more http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/questions/Authorized-User.aspx Hope this answers your question.

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