Well tonight I bit the bullet and got my TU and EQ FICOs from myFICO.com. I truly thought my FICO had to be in the 400s - possibly even the high 300s. Imagine my shock to see high 500s. Now, I realize that's nothing to shout about, but it brings me that much closer!

Here's what's going on:

3 inquiries on TU - 1 from my credit union in May '09, one from a CC I recently got, and the other I don't recognize (also May '09) - NO inquiries on EQ
Only 1 TL since 2003 (perfect payment record, but a fairly new account)
TLs dating back 15+ years
Average TL: 8 years
3 old CCs "paid as agreed" with 0 balance
2 charge-offs
6 medical charges (2008-2009) gone to CA
1 very unfortunate tax lien (due to DH's poor handling of subcontracting status and our failing to file a few years ago; taxes are finally being prepared. I know we owe some, but not nearly as much as stated.)

I found 8 (eight!) variations of my legal name - none correct. LOL
Four obsolete addresses

One plan of attack is getting an Orchard secured card next week. (According to the handy dandy simulator at myFICO.com, that alone should boost my FICO by as much as 40 points. Sweet!) The next is getting a secured installment loan from my CU and setting up automatic payments. (They already said they'd do it.)

So my questions are:

* I have my letter printed out to have the incorrect names and obsolete addresses deleted. (I have lived at my current address almost 11 years.) Does the letter have to go out certified?

* I did see a couple of old employers, one dating back to 1987 and one to 1984! Do I need to have these deleted as well?

* Do I have to wait for confirmation of these corrections before I start my DVs?

* What, if anything, can I do about the recent medical charges?

* I'm shooting for 700. Judging from what you see here, and assuming I do everything advised, can you see a possibility of my score improving that much?

Thank you for any advice. I reeeally love this place....

This is the only one I can really answer for you. Getting to the 700 mark from the 500s
is a lot of work. At least its been in my case.

*if* you can get most of your derogs removed and your utilization of
your open credit is very low, you will get a nice bump. Just not sure
if you'll make it into the 700s.

I do know you need a mix of credit to get the best FICO.

In my case, I have 6 revolving accounts and 1 Installment account.
The problem I've been dealing with is low avg. age and high utilization.
Most of these accounts are 1 year or less old, so I'm working thru aging them.

I'm attacking my utilization now and should be under 15% after tomorrow's
payments post and 0% in another week or 2 when I clear the last 2 cards.

After that, I'm hoping for a nice 30-50 pt jump, but that could just be
my wishful thinking..

Good luck!