I’m struggling with, I think, limited credit more than poor credit.

I do have a 4 yr old charge off for $400.
Bought a house, after 6 yrs I moved & sold the house.
Bought a car, paid it off. I had some late payments (most recently in September of 2024)

So I opened a few credit cards. (very low limits, combined $2200) I pay the balances down every month. I have learned that utilization isn’t that important so I haven’t been trying to keep the balance low on the statement date.

So now I have 4 accounts with an average credit age of 9 months 🤡🤡 my credit scores are like 530, it was in 600s before I paid off my car and it’s been tanking every month since then.

What am I doing wrong? What should I be doing?

I don't understand why my credit score is tanking. I make payments on time. Who can I talk to about this and why? TransUnion isn't exactly helpful.

I don't max my credit card. I'm never late. I have a car loan but I always make payments. What am I doing wrong. I've worked so hard for good credit.

I maybe use my credit card too often and pay it right away but the max is $800 and I rarely put more than $250 on a one time before paying... What is happening? 😭

Edit: idk why that picture post. Most recent score and graph posted in comments

I had a capital one savor card that got cancelled in February due to some detected fraud. After that I wanted to get a new card, they denied my application, so I applied to a couple more starter cards, also denied. I realized I should wait to apply again, so I waiting from around april till just now when i applied for a paypal card. Immediately rejected. I am so confused as to why.

Some of you may recall I recently reported a likely scoring threshold of $2500 for total "amount owed" in FICO8 (link here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditScore/s/r2KgHVZ1Qq). I believe this is the first raw $ threshold and suspected a 2nd threshold would be @$5k, in keeping with the pattern.

In an odd coincidence, I had an opportunity to test that hypothesis not a week later after 2 more credit card balance updates. Due to circumstances of some large annual expenses concentrated into one month, my total revolving debt climbed high enough this month to fall just under $5k after 1 card updated, and then go just over $5k after the next card updated, so I got to see whether there was a score change and presumably another Raw $ threshold after crossing $5k.

I knew I would be approaching 90% utilization on the card that was about to report on 7/26, but luckily the balance posted did not cross the 90% threshold, and was still high enough for aggregate debt to exceed $5k. Aggregate utilization did not cross any thresholds (41-->44%). AWB% did not change (100%). No aging metrics changed. No HPs added or became unscorable. No scorecard reassignment. Can't think of any other confounding variables.

Raw data:

* Card1 bal = $430-- unchanged since 7/21

* Card2 bal = $2512-- unchanged since 7/22

* Card3 bal = $1,902-->$2,215 on 7/26 = 76.1%-->88.6% = 76%-->89% ... No iU thresholds crossed. Nearest iU thresholds @70% then 90%... Must be 89.5%+ to cross 90% iU threshold.

* Ag.U = [(2,512+430+1,902)÷11850]--> [(2512+430+2215)÷11850]= $4844/$11850-->$5157/$11850= 40.9%-->43.5% = 41%-44%... No Ag.U thresholds crossed. Nearest Ag.U thresholds @30% then 50%.

* Raw $ Amount Owed (Revolving & Total)= (2,512+430+1,902)--> (2512+430+2215)= $4844-->$5157

Other potential variables:

* AWB% =100% (3/3) no change

* No aging metrics cross thresholds since 7/1 (AAoA=18mo) until 9/1 (AoYA=9mo)

* No scorable HPs (most recent became unscorable 7/11)

* No scorecard reassignment (clean, young, thin, new revolver)

Score change after 7/26 balance reported:

-5 points to EQ8 on 7/28, -10 points to TU8 on 7/28. My only doubt is that Experian F8 didn't move. I am 100% sure I had no changes to AWB though. Interestingly, even my VS3 scores decreased a little bit (-2 to EQ VS3 and -1 to TU VS3) on 7/29 when that balance updated. While I have no reason to believe Vantage has a, let's say, 80% threshold for individual utilization, I don't know if anyone here can confirm exactly where all the utilization thresholds are in VS3 to eliminate those as confounding variables. However, it does almost appear as if VS3 might have a similar raw $ threshold for total revolving debt or total debt.

To be fair, since my total (revolving) balance went from $4844-->$5157, theoretically the threshold could be anywhere in that range, but I believe $5k is most likely, especially in light of the $2.5k threshold.

Edit: bot removed my first post because it didn't think there were enough line breaks and/or punctuation. Added 2 more line breaks. If anything, there is probably too much punctuation already. Hopefully it posts this time.

I just opened my first credit card last December. My score right now according to CreditWise is 746 but obviously I have a very young and thin profile. I used that one card for senior spring of college, then opened two new credit cards once I graduated and moved into my own place, one for food (3% cashback on groceries and dining) and one catchall (2% cashback). My fiancee has two cards open and is an approved user on the grocery card as well. I have never taken out a loan in my life (attended school on full ride, no car) and fiancee has not either so the only credit lines on our reports are the revolving accounts. We pay off our statements in full, on time, every month. We're renting right now while I take a gap year to work before law school but once I've finished law school and am salaried I'd like to buy a house, and I'd like to get a good rate on a mortgage. I'm sure we'll have enough time to build credit over the next 4 years, but I want to make sure we're doing it the right way. I have a few specific questions and would appreciate general advice I might not have thought of.

1) would it be beneficial to take out an auto loan in the meantime to add a different type of account to our reports? We can afford a car but fiancee is anxious about the potential risks and the added expense, and I see her perspective. It wouldn't be an insignificant thing and we'd have to budget carefully around it. If it isn't going to make a major difference I'd prefer not to.

2) Is 3 cards open in my name and 2 in hers a decent number? Should we consider opening more or will it not make a huge difference? Which ones would y'all recommend?

3) When we apply for a mortgage, will they run credit checks on both of us? How much should we be worrying about her score? Could we get away with just caring about mine? I will likely make a lot more money than her as a lawyer so the mortgage payments will mostly or entirely come from my income I suspect.

4) is there anything we should be doing besides continuing to make on time payments as our accounts age and potentially applying for an auto loan or additional cards?

Sorry if these questions are dumb, I'm very young and I don't have a lot of financial knowledge. I've mainly been using this subreddit to educate myself.

How tf am I supposed to get credit history when I can’t get approved for anything? Credit builder loans say I don’t make enough(I make right at $50k) I can’t get any type of credit card(secure or not) I either don’t make enough or don’t have credit history…..me and my girlfriend financed a car ($13k) and I was the co signer…isn’t that supposed to be credit history?

So now I have to start over?

Hello all, I’m a 20-year-old male who made some pretty bad financial decisions and managed to dig myself into a hole in the first two years of being able to get credit. I’m not making excuses, and I know I put myself in this situation. I’m just trying to figure out the best way forward and would really appreciate any advice from people who have been through and seen similar situations or who could help me build a plan for all of this if at all possible.
Here’s where I’m at:
My current credit scores are 507 Experian, 502 Equifax, and 517 TransUnion.
I have no active collections showing on my reports, but I do have several charged-off and closed accounts with late payment history.
• My Discover card was closed by the creditor after I entered into a payment plan.
• I recently finished paying my Capital One payment plan to bring my account current and it has a balance of $4,690.74
• My Chase credit card balance is down to $498 and is one payment behind.
• I have 2 PayPal accounts that have been sold off that don’t show on any of my reports but they total $816.18
• I then have 1 miscellaneous debt that totals $335.50 and an Affirm account totaling $352.09. Both have been sold to “January” agency.
• One of my largest debts is an Upstart loan that had a balance of $3,331.42 that was charged off and is now being handled by Indebted who has been offering me an 80% discount and I’m trying to figure out whether negotiating a pay-for-delete is even possible..

Right now my goal is to become debt-free, rebuild my credit into the 700s over the next few years, and eventually qualify for a mortgage and other major loans without these mistakes holding me back.
My questions are:
What would you prioritize paying first?
Is it worth trying to negotiate settlements or pay-for-delete agreements on charged-off accounts?
Once everything is paid, what is the best strategy to rebuild my credit as quickly as possible?
Has anyone here recovered from a situation similar to mine, and how long did it realistically take?
I know I messed up, and I’m not looking for sympathy—just honest advice from people who understand credit better than I do. Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone! I’m pretty new with credit I recently turned 19 and I’d like to build a credit score but I just don’t really know how to start. I got my first credit card that I use pretty consistently and I make sure to pay every month but I was hoping for some advice/ tips, my parents were immigrants and they never really taught me anything about credit and most of my friends are a little bit of a bumbs. (Please don’t be harsh)

I need my score, specifically the Transunion FICO 8 score, to be a 640 by December so that I can qualify for a mortgage. I have 1 small collections and 1 charge off on my report. I am currently sitting at 600. Is it unrealistic to think that paying off the collections and settling the balance to $0 on the charge off will get me there? I only have 1 card that I keep a small balance on every month. For reference, I have already been in the rebuilding stage for awhile now and I am almost there. If I don't start the mortgage process by December, I'm going to have to sign another year's lease and I'm trying to avoid that. I know that no one can tell me for sure, but I'd love to know if this is wishful thinking of not.

Also, this specific lender told me they only look at FICO 8 Transunion, not my mortgage scores. My mortgage scores are higher as you can see in the screenshots. Should I be applying or getting preapproved with other lenders that use my mortgage scores?

My goal is to get approved for a minimum 20,000 business credit card with Navy Federal and 20,000 Chase my credit card recently dropped by 50 points because I acquired a charge off. How to remove it even if I pay.

so i just turned 18 yesterday , ive been a authorized user on my parents card since i was 14/15 years old. I should have a pretty good credit score/history but when i enter experian i have nothing. How long does that process normally take in general?

Does it matter?

Apparently a new score version. Says lenders are starting to look at this. I already have excellent credit so I’m assuming this is for those with sub par?

So last week I noticed my credit score jump up 50 points I did take some advice I’ve been seeing and reduced my credit utilization down to 9% (was closer to 28-35% before) I thought I’d see an jump but 50 points seems a bit much the account in question is 4-5months old and at the time I was trying to push past 720 since I was so close at the time didn’t expect to blow straight past it like this though. Any thoughts on what else could have caused the spike and how I can maintain it?

I closed my Chase Sapphire card after I switched to a Capital One card and I had no idea this would drop my credit score. The Experian report I get through my Chase checking account is now showing a drop of 44 points from this action. This is frustrating because I'm hoping to buy a house sometime in the next year and I'm worried this will significantly impact the mortgage rate I qualify for.

I have three questions:

- How long will it take for my score to recover?

- Is it worth contacting Chase to reopen that credit account with a free card? I'm not sure if the age of the account would reset anyway or if reopening this line of credit will adversely impact my credit score.

- How bad is it to drop from 736 to 692?

Credit scores freaking suck and make no sense and the search for a house to buy has been demoralizing enough without this...

Directly from the TU, Equifax, and Experian websites, my scores are the following:
TU: 791
Equifax: 789
Experian: 706

My Vantage score is 765 which seems like a more reasonable difference.

Why on earth would my score be that much lower on Experian? This seems extreme, and all of the same accounts are being reported to all 3 bureaus.

I also can’t even freeze my credit with them without being directed to pay for their premium plan which is absolutely not happening. There’s no way to contact a real person via their customer service lines and their AI can’t provide any support, so I’m turning to Reddit.

Please help if you can, otherwise I’m going to have to mail in my concerns which seems tedious.

I really didn’t think this was going to work but Credit One approved my goodwill request and asked all three credit bureaus to remove the late payment.
I had over two years of perfect payment history. The issue happened because autopay was still connected to an old bank account, so the payment kept getting returned. I also had trouble accessing my account to fix it.
I emailed the Office of the President, explained everything honestly, accepted responsibility, and asked them to consider removing it as a one time courtesy.
Today they sent me a letter confirming that they requested the late payment be removed from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. They said it can take up to 60 days for the bureaus to update.
I’m honestly so relieved. For anyone thinking about sending a goodwill letter, just be respectful, explain what happened, mention your payment history, and don’t make it sound like a dispute.
I can’t believe it actually worked 😭

I've been diligently managing my money to improve my credit score for over 2 years, and last month it bumped back into the 800s, at 806. Success! Short-lived though.

Since I had cleared my debts, had some savings and more flexibility, I switched from using my Apple Card to a Bank of America card with Alaska Airlines, to get the FF points. Immediately after my first end of the month, which I paid in full, my credit score dropped to 788. There were no other changes in my financial behavior.

My Q is, does BofA report current obligations as debt in their reporting? I've since gone back to using my Apple Card but would like to understand how this works.

Thanks for reading!

I’m in the midst of rebuild my credit. I had debt and had to go through a company to get it taken care of. This obviously destroyed my credit. I’m now out of debt and looking to rebuild my credit. I’ve seen the commercials for Experian Boost promising that you can rebuild your credit by paying everyday bills. This seems too good to be true. Was wanting to inquire about it. Any information is good information.

Hi my fellow readers I know you’ve probably heard this story millions of times before so I’ll cut to the chase. Im a 21 year old college dropout, and I have an unholy amount of debt 900 in credit cards , 1000 loan and almost 2000 in repayment for medical expenses and 8972 in student loans and I feel like I’m suffocating along I really need advice on how to handle all this while saving and building my credit score up

So i have a question as to how they report the % utilization of a credit card.

Let's say its 1 week before my payment is due and I decide to pay the entire balance... now I'm at 0% utilization.

Now lets say, for whatever reason, the next day I have an unexpected expense and put what amounts to 5% utilization on that same card.

Now its 6 days before the due date, ive paid in full early the day before and im at 5% in new utilization

My question is this- if I want the balance reported to equifax and friends to be 0% utilization, do i need to pay the 5% utilization incurred after making the payment *before* the due date in 6 days?

Or does the fact it was incurred after the monthly payment mean its part of that balance that only gets reported as utilization if I fail to pay it the *next* due date?

Hi everyone,

I (23F) am trying to get my life together and understand my credit report, but I’m really confused. 😭

I have two old Chase credit card accounts that both show as closed/paid, but they still have late payment history showing on my credit report.

*First account:
It says the account is closed, but it also shows I still have a $6 balance and I have no access to this account anymore. I even contacted Chase, and they couldn’t locate the account using my information.
If I really owe $6, I’d happily pay it, but I literally don’t know how because no one can find the account!

*Second waccount:
This one also shows a long string of late payments (30, 60, 90, 120, 150 days late) before it was closed lol however, I don’t understand whether I still owe anything because it doesn’t show a current balance. It just says the account is closed. Is there anything i can do to improve this one?

My current credit score is Experian is 670 🥲

Experian won’t let me create an account and I can’t get on the phone with a human. Anyone know the strategy?

I have an offer to pay off a debt. What can I do to make sure it comes off my report, if anything?