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I know it's been discussed many times about how to optimize scores and I recognize this is Karma and therefore useless but I really just chuckle every time I look at this graphic representation of how scoring models consider carrying NO debt a bad thing. "Dear consumer, please run up your credit cards and we'll give you a better grade" Sincerely, CK As an aside: thanks to all that contribute to the Fico science threads, looking forward to seeing Fico 9 variances added to the mix.

I'm Trying To Understand Why Credit Scores Are So Different? I Signed Up For The 30 Day-Free Monitoring Trials For Each Credit Bureau To View My Credit Scores And This Is What I Found: Experian Website: Ex Score (545) Eq Score (541) Tu Score (547) Equifax Website: Ex Score (541) Eq Score (532) Tu Score (584) Transunion Website: Ex Score (625) Eq Score (653) Tu Score (676) Credit Karma: Tu Score (607) I Was Extremely Happy When I Saw The TU Scores Thinking I'm On My Way To The 700 Club.....But Then I See The Scores From The Other Credit Bureaus And Went Immediately Into Sad Mode.

Will paying off collection accounts either to the CA or original creditor raise credit score or will it do more harm than good?

Hello everyone, I will keep this as quick and to the point as possible: My wife and I are expecting our first child in September, and are dying to get out of our 1 bedroom apartment before then. Unfortunately, I have far from stellar credit because of (stop me if you've heard this one before!) my stupidity when I was somewhat younger... When I was in my early 20s, I opened a credit card with a 300 dollar limit, quickly maxed it out, found myself out of a job, and ended up getting it turned over to collections. I settled it for less than the full balance in mid-2008. Since then, I never opened another credit account because I didn't trust myself. Fast-forward 5 years, and I'm married with a child on the way, and eager to get out of an apartment and into a house. Here is where we stand now: My wife: Yearly Income $27040 Credit scores in the 700-750 range (don't know the exact numbers off the top of my head right now... will be getting her exact scores in a few days, but last I checked that's where they were) Individual Old Navy Visa card with a $2300 balance on a $5800 limit, always paid on time and usually for over the minimum payment Authorized User on her father's Amex card: $19,000 balance on an unlimited card, always paid on time No negative reports In her case, it seems the Amex really helps her a lot... the 2300/5800 doesn't hurt her so bad because of the Amex situation. Me: Yearly Income $39520 (soon to go up fairly significantly to about $45760 if some things pan out at work) Credit scores: Equifax 609, Transunion 596, Experian 598 Authorized signer on my wife's Old Navy Visa ($2300/$5800... about 44% balance to limit..... not good, and hurts me much more than my wife since it's my only account!), always paid on time and usually over the minimum payment 1 Negative report from ~Aug 2008 Originally, I had hoped to wait the 7 years for my negative report to go away, and then "start over" with a quest for better credit... but life has a way of throwing curveballs I suppose. We are hoping to qualify for a FHA loan (very) soon, and my understandings are that the bare minimum score for 97.5% financing is a 580, with 620 being the more realistic number as a minimum. Is there any way for me to boost my score by about 20 points or so? If we can get that Old Navy (GECRB) down to <25% balance, do you think that would give me the boost I'm looking for? I may see if we can get them to increase our limit significantly by calling and explaining that we will be having a baby soon and buying lots of Old Navy baby clothes (lol :-P), and if I can get them to do that, and then pay a nice big chunk (~$500+), that should get the debt to limit ratio down a lot. I feel like my biggest current problem (at least, the only one I can do anything about) is the fact that I only have that one account, and it's at a 44% balance. So I guess my biggest question is: How can I get a quick boost to my score? And, as a secondary question: Do you think we can find an 97.5% FHA mortgage with a low credit score of ~600??? It would be nice if we could just put the whole mortgage in my wife's name... but I don't think her income is sufficient without mine to be attractive. It sucks because I'm the bread winner with the crappy credit score, and she's got the good score and the worse income!! I'll tell you one thing, I am going to do my best to instill a good sense of financial responsibility in my child! I don't want him/her to go through the same thing I am... Thanks ahead of time for any help. Edit: got 2 of my credit scores mixed so I fixed it...

Hello, I lost my job 2 years ago and my credit went down the drain. I'm rebuilding and have a good score now. However there is a collection on my account from an energy and power company. I moved and requested my electricity turned off on a certain date. Well these lame-o's didn't turn the electricity off by my requested date. They turned it off a full month later, by then the new tenant had racked up about $120 in charges. I refused to pay because I moved out and requested it turned off on my moveout day and they're the ones that didn't. Anyway, this collection is from 2009, however the collection agency, continues to refresh the "date assigned" every six months so that it continues to looks as if it is a new collection. It's the same collection agency too. Actually the debt is charged off. I've disputed it and tried to get it fix but they refuse. So the collection agency that purchased this charged off debt refreshes the "date assigned" every six months and it continues to list as a "new collection" which we all know affects our credit score more than an old collection. Even though the debt was assigned to them in 2009, they know that by refreshing the date assigned they can keep banging my score in hopes that I'll pay the measly $120 and their tactic is working. I'm so tired of this collection "relisting" itself as a new collection every six months that I'm willing to just pay the $120 even though it's not my debt. Is it legal for them to misrepresent the "date assigned" date. For example they'll list it as "Date assigned January 2012" and then refresh to "Date assigned July 2012" to "Date assigned December 2012" etc, so that it looks as if it has been "newly" placed for collection which bangs my score hard. Is this legal? And if not, what can I do about it? As far as I know, "Date Assigned" refers to the date it was assigned to the collection agency, which should actually say "May 2009" and that date only changes if the debt is then assigned to a different agency or bounces around to different agencies.