Best credit reports online; Equifax, TransUnion, others...?

[evilsaint]

Here's the cliff's, so I don't start rambling and spurt out six paragraphs :

22 years old, making mucho-dinero at my new job.
Was unemployed for 10 out the last 14 months.
~$5500 in assorted credit-card debt, most with low or 0% interest, thanks to payment/hardship plans.
Credit score is somewhere around 540 (blech, I know...).
Want to rebuild it, ASAP if possible, because i'm looking into taking out loans for school and a newer car.

Basically I have three big questions :

A: Pay off the high-interest stuff first, or pay off the lower interest ones and transfer the high-interests balances over to the low interest ones?

B: Which of the online reporting agencies where you can pay to get in-depth reports of your credit are the most reputable, and which have better features on their websites, especially in terms of estimating what it'll take to achieve a certain raise in my credit score?

and C: Should I try to secure more credit in the meantime and keep it squeaky-clean, or just pay off what I have, and continue using it carefully?

Thanks for the help in advance; i'm so glad to finally be in a situation where I can get out of the red, but now I realize that i'm rather clueless in terms of how to *properly* do it

 

[Queasy]

Getting it straight from the credit bureaus (Equifax, Transunion, Experian) would probably be best and ensure you're not getting scammed.

As for paying of your credit card debt. Unless you have one with an outrageous interest rate (like 19.99%) just pay off the one with lowest amount first, take the payment you were making on the first and add it to the second and pay it off...and on and on.

If you do have one card with an outrageous rate...pay that off first.

 

[evilsaint]

BTW, i've no bankruptcies on my credit record, thank god

 

[evilsaint]

Any suggestions on how to specifically add points to my FICO score?

 

[dartworth]

mucho-dinero...?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: evilsaint
Any suggestions on how to specifically add points to my FICO score?

Pay everything on time
Keep the balance of your revolving line of credit (credit cards) less than 50% of the available credit
Have no more than 4 credit cards (2 or 3 is ideal)
Keep the number of inquiries on your credit report low (they cycle out every 12 months)
Keep your total debt-to-income ratio low

 

[amdforever2]

Telling someone to carry only four cards is RETARDED.



First, are any of your accounts charged off?
Are any being handled by collection agencies?

Are the colleciton agencies collecting for the original creditor, or did they buy the debt from the original creditor?

 

[Britboy]

Get all your free credit reports and clean them up - Make sure there are no erroneous charges on there and that your personal information is up to date and correct.

Dispute anything that doesn't look right, if the lender fails to provide evidence to the bureaus it gets wiped off your reports

The longer you hold cards the better your score will be so hang on to your oldest cards even if you don't use them, don't go nuts applying for new cards as it brings down the average for cards held

Debt-Equity ratio is important, so keep your balances down and periodically try to get credit line increases, lenders like to see a low % use to available credit

I heard that having an Amex card also boosts your score, not sure if this is true or not, you could apply for amex blue rewards once your credit rating gets better (I would guess in the high 600's)

 

[TechBoyJK]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
Telling someone to carry only four cards is RETARDED.



First, are any of your accounts charged off?
Are any being handled by collection agencies?

Are the colleciton agencies collecting for the original creditor, or did they buy the debt from the original creditor?

whats the difference if the debt is sold or not?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
Telling someone to carry only four cards is RETARDED.

I used to work for Equifax (gonna be nice and avoid calling you a name here). Carrying alot of credit cards in no way HELPS your credit score. Once you reach a certain number you start getting dinged.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: evilsaint
Here's the cliff's, so I don't start rambling and spurt out six paragraphs :

22 years old, making mucho-dinero at my new job.
Was unemployed for 10 out the last 14 months.
~$5500 in assorted credit-card debt, most with low or 0% interest, thanks to payment/hardship plans.
Credit score is somewhere around 540 (blech, I know...).
Want to rebuild it, ASAP if possible, because i'm looking into taking out loans for school and a newer car.

Basically I have three big questions :

A: Pay off the high-interest stuff first, or pay off the lower interest ones and transfer the high-interests balances over to the low interest ones?

B: Which of the online reporting agencies where you can pay to get in-depth reports of your credit are the most reputable, and which have better features on their websites, especially in terms of estimating what it'll take to achieve a certain raise in my credit score?

and C: Should I try to secure more credit in the meantime and keep it squeaky-clean, or just pay off what I have, and continue using it carefully?

Thanks for the help in advance; i'm so glad to finally be in a situation where I can get out of the red, but now I realize that i'm rather clueless in terms of how to *properly* do it

A. Concerning credit score, it does not matter. Just make payments on time. However, if you can get rid of your high intrest debt sooner, do it. It just a smarter thing to do.

B. I have had them be with in the same ball park of each other. I just go to myFICO.com and select the option that gives you all three scores.

C.Don't apply for too many credit cards at once. It's just a recipe for a bunch a denials. While increasing your credit would be beneficial, it should not make you stray away from the goal of just paying it off and improving your score.

 

[evilsaint]

Originally posted by: dartworth
mucho-dinero...?

Compared to what most kids make a couple years out of college, taken as an approximation on my part. I don't want to name numbers, but take what somebody might hourly as, let's say, a manager of an individual retail store; i'm now making double that and then some. I'm not proud of it (well, I kind of am ) but i'm making more than either of my parents do individually, and they do pretty well. Let's just say i'm not scrounging for :beer: money :laugh:

Basically, if I cut some corners in terms of spending frivolously, I can pretty much pay off every ounce of debt that I have in two months, give or take. I'm just wondering if paying it off in an improper fashion (or paying it all off too quickly, for that matter) will affect the short-term possibility of raising my FICO score.

AMDForever2 : The only accounts that I have in collections (only two, IINM) have been sold to the agencies. I was completely unable to pay on some of my accounts for a while, and it got me in deep doo-doo.

Lastly, can anybody recommend any good lenders for loans to pay off large amounts of debt? At this point, crowding all the interest together that i'm paying, even if I could get %7-%8 on a loan, it'd be a lower APR the interest on the debts that i'm paying down. I can prove my income, though I don't have many assets. No equity either, as I live with my parents.

 

[kranky]

At annualcreditreport.com, you can get one free report from each of the three credit bureaus each year. Get all three now, and make sure there are no errors.

Don't fool around with getting a loan - pay off your debt in the two months you say it will take. Your credit score is pretty low and the best thing you can do is pay off your debt. The logic of trying to get a loan to reduce the interest rate makes sense, but realistically you'll be better off just paying everything off because it will only take a couple months, plus it will only hurt your already-low score.

Once you are caught up, keep paying your credit card bill in full every month. Put money into savings every paycheck, so if you run short in the future you have a cushion. And in six months to a year, you can call your credit card issuer and request a lower interest rate and probably get it.

There is no way to "manipulate" your FICO score. It simply looks at your record and circumstances. You can't do anything but keep your nose clean credit-wise. Not applying for more credit is the one thing you can control, along with paying your balances.

It's going to take some time to build your score up so be prepared to pay a higher-than-normal rate on a car loan.

 

[alrocky]

Originally posted by: evilsaint

~$5500 in assorted credit-card debt, most with low or 0% interest, thanks to payment/hardship plans.

---

I'm making more than either of my parents do individually, and they do pretty well. Let's just say i'm not scrounging for money

If I cut some corners in terms of spending frivolously, I can pretty much pay off every ounce of debt that I have in two months, give or take. I'm just wondering if paying it off in an improper fashion (or paying it all off too quickly, for that matter) will affect the short-term possibility of raising my FICO score.

The only accounts that I have in collections (only two, IINM) have been sold to the agencies. I was completely unable to pay on some of my accounts for a while, and it got me in deep doo-doo.

Lastly, can anybody recommend any good lenders for loans to pay off large amounts of debt?

I live with my parents.

Quit screwing around and just pay off your debts in the two months you mentioned. You've already pooched your FICO score - no such thing as paying off debt too soon in your case. Yours accounts in collections hurts you. It'll take several years for all those bad marks to work themselves off your credit score and not much you can speed them along. You make plenty of money now. Grow up and start becoming more financially responsible by saving for retirement and paying off your CC debt every month. You make more than either parent? They probabably expect you to move out NOW.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: evilsaint
Any suggestions on how to specifically add points to my FICO score?

Pay everything on time
Keep the balance of your revolving line of credit (credit cards) less than 50% of the available credit
Have no more than 4 credit cards (2 or 3 is ideal)
Keep the number of inquiries on your credit report low (they cycle out every 12 months)
Keep your total debt-to-income ratio low

I've always been confused about this. Since we got married, my wife and I have about 5 or 6 credit cards between us. Two of these credit cards we no longer use. I've been hesitant to close the accounts because I've heard that decreasing my total line of credit will increase my balance / available credit ratio. This seems to conflict with your advice to limit your number of credit cards to 4. So which is it?

 

[Miramonti]

Collections takes years to come off the credit report, so have patience.

My credit score jumped almost 100 points when a $30 collections for a parking ticket that I never knew about went off after 5 years.

 

[alrocky]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: Queasy
Have no more than 4 credit cards (2 or 3 is ideal)[/b]

My wife and I have about 5 or 6 credit cards between us. Two of these credit cards we no longer use. I've been hesitant to close the accounts because I've heard that decreasing my total line of credit will increase my balance / available credit ratio. This seems to conflict with your advice to limit your number of credit cards to 4. So which is it?

Your 6 credit cards owned by 2 people = 3, inline with the stated "2 or 3 is ideal".

 

[kranky]

The mystery of FICO calculation escapes me, but with respect to how many cards you should/shouldn't have, my situation is this...

I have about 20 open credit cards on my report, of which I use two. People say that's too many cards. I have 5 store credit cards open and store credit cards are supposed to hurt your score. But my score is over 800, which is just fine with me.

We don't know how FICO works, and we never will know because once the formula is public knowledge, people can manipulate it. I think there are a number of things built in to the system which keep people from determining for certain that Action X = Change in Score Y. For all we know, changing your phone number could increase your score if it's under 600, and hurt your score if it's over 700. We just don't know.

 

[GrammatonJP]

Originally posted by: Queasy

I used to work for Equifax (gonna be nice and avoid calling you a name here). Carrying alot of credit cards in no way HELPS your credit score. Once you reach a certain number you start getting dinged.
[/quote]

Maybe u can help me.. so when i was 18, i got sucker into getting one of those macy cards... I never used it and when i was around 25, i check my cc report and its there.. I never cancelled it either.. should I leave it or cancel it ? I'm 30 now and I assume if I do another cc check, it'll still be there.. any ideas ?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: alrocky

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: Queasy
Have no more than 4 credit cards (2 or 3 is ideal)[/b]

My wife and I have about 5 or 6 credit cards between us. Two of these credit cards we no longer use. I've been hesitant to close the accounts because I've heard that decreasing my total line of credit will increase my balance / available credit ratio. This seems to conflict with your advice to limit your number of credit cards to 4. So which is it?

Your 6 credit cards owned by 2 people = 3, inline with the stated "2 or 3 is ideal".

What he said. Avoid closing the counts in your case. Having a credit card for a long period of time helps your credit score. Shows stability and builds history.

Example: I've still got my first credit card that I applied for in 1993. Horrendous APR but I only use it occasionally to keep it active and then pay if off.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: GrammatonJP

Originally posted by: Queasy

I used to work for Equifax (gonna be nice and avoid calling you a name here). Carrying alot of credit cards in no way HELPS your credit score. Once you reach a certain number you start getting dinged.

Maybe u can help me.. so when i was 18, i got sucker into getting one of those macy cards... I never used it and when i was around 25, i check my cc report and its there.. I never cancelled it either.. should I leave it or cancel it ? I'm 30 now and I assume if I do another cc check, it'll still be there.. any ideas ?[/quote]

How many other credit cards do you have? Like I said in the post above, carrying around a credit card for a long time shows stability and can be a positive.

Though, since you've never used your Macy's card it may not matter. It may even show up as inactive now.

 

[GrammatonJP]

Originally posted by: Queasy

How many other credit cards do you have? Like I said in the post above, carrying around a credit card for a long time shows stability and can be a positive.

Though, since you've never used your Macy's card it may not matter. It may even show up as inactive now.

2, i guess next time i check again ill take a look

 

[evilsaint]

Originally posted by: alrocky
Quit screwing around and just pay off your debts in the two months you mentioned. You've already pooched your FICO score - no such thing as paying off debt too soon in your case. Yours accounts in collections hurts you. It'll take several years for all those bad marks to work themselves off your credit score and not much you can speed them along. You make plenty of money now. Grow up and start becoming more financially responsible by saving for retirement and paying off your CC debt every month. You make more than either parent? They probabably expect you to move out NOW.

Wow, overly critical enough? I am fiscally responsible and have been for a long time; As I stated above, a long spell of unemployment accounted for the horrible state that my credit is currently in. I'm not some stupid immature teenager who grabbed a bunch of credit cards and went on a shopping spree.

And no, they don't expect me to move out at all. They're proud of my accomplishments, not bitter like you

 

[evilsaint]

Originally posted by: jjsole
Collections takes years to come off the credit report, so have patience.

My credit score jumped almost 100 points when a $30 collections for a parking ticket that I never knew about went off after 5 years.

eep... that sort of thing scares me. Is there any way to get records of collections debts expunged once they've been paid, or do you just have to wait it out?

 

[kranky]

Originally posted by: evilsaint

Originally posted by: jjsole
Collections takes years to come off the credit report, so have patience.

My credit score jumped almost 100 points when a $30 collections for a parking ticket that I never knew about went off after 5 years.

eep... that sort of thing scares me. Is there any way to get records of collections debts expunged once they've been paid, or do you just have to wait it out?

You can try at creditboards.com and follow their time-consuming suggestions on how to manipulate your credit record.

If the collections were from companies you still deal with, and you've had a good record for a while, you might see if they will voluntarily remove the black marks for customer goodwill.