my-credit-blog

YAY!!! My credit score is above 680!

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 21:12:52 +0100

I haven't been working on my credit score as much lately, but I decided to check up on it and was excited to see a 687!

Lexington Law Firm is still doing their job and getting me some awesome results. I still have a couple of negative items that showed up recently from an old collection account. They removed everything else though and my credit has improved drastically. My wife's credit is now over 700, so we should be able to get a home loan.

I am very happy with what we have been doing and what Lexington Law has done wiht my negative items.

Average American Credit Score

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:40:47 +0100

I updated my site to give everyone more info on credit scores and what is a good credit score. I also put links to great sites to get free credit scores online. In my research I wanted to know what is the average credit score in the US. I received several different answers from several different reliable sources.

The FTC, FICO, and the credit bureaus all had different answers. Mainly because they all report credit differently. FTC does rely on the others to give them credit scores, but they base the average at the other sites numbers. FICO who is the biggest credit scoring model used to report the median credit score was 723, which sounds a little high. They do not report this anymore, I'm guessing because it has dropped much below this. Other sites report the average American credit score being 680.

The 3 major credit bureaus officially have all started their own credit scoring models called Vantage Score and I think for the only reason to make everything more confusing. They have different ranges and different scoring algorithms. Thanks credit bureaus for showing us you don't care about consumers again.

Through all this research, my consensus is that the average American credit score ranges from 680 to 720. 720 and above is a good credit score and 620 and below is a bad credit score. Most people that read this will probably be in the 600s or near it. I put some more tips on improving the average American credit score on the front page. There is also a great credit guide on how to understand your credit score.

Express Recovery Services and AFNI

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:20:18 +0100

These collection companies see that you are paying off your debt and they just start coming out of the wood work. I finally had everything off my credit report and getting my debt paid down, then both Express Recovery Services and AFNI Collections show up on my credit report. Express for some old medical bills and AFNI for an old business phone bill that was forever ago.

So this sent my score down to 600 again. Boy was I mad. I negotiated with AFNI to pay them off and they would remove the listing. They agreed and they have been paid. I have a deletion letter from them that I will post. So that is good, but Express is being much more stubborn. I hope they will do the same or otherwise I will have to pay them off and then dispute them with Lexington.

Just when you think you are out, they pull you back in. Hopefully this will be done soon.

I hate Experian

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:20:34 +0100

Out of all the credit bureaus, Experian has given me the most problems. They send me stall letters, they don't investigate and they don't send updated credit reports. Out of all the credit bureaus they have given me the most problems.

Transunion seems to be the easiest. My items were removed on the first dispute and they have looked good. Equifax was in the middle, items were removed on the first dispute, but still 1 item on there that hasn't come off yet.

I just don't understand why credit bureaus are so reluctant to do their job. Instead of wasting my time and their time stalling disputes they could be doing investigations. I won't be going away and neither will by awesome credit repair service Lexington Law Firm. They have rocked and hope to be bad credit free soon.

Piggybacking

Mon, 03 May 2010 18:02:22 +0100

So my wife added me to some of her good accounts, so that hopefully I can gain some good credit history from it. I don't have much credit history as it stands, so anything will help. She has a few credit cards, and merchant cards that she has had for a while with good payment histories.

So will give it a few weeks and check my credit scores again and see if they have improved. Probably also need to raise some of her credit limits if possible. Only problem with that is that we will get a credit inquiry on our credit, so don't want to apply for too much.

I will post again, about our easy it was, the affects and if you should do it. Got a lot of the info on how to do this from this credit score model. It is awesome at breaking down the whole process and letting you know what affects your credit score the most.

680 Credit Score - Almost There

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:15:22 +0100

Checked my creditkarma today and showing a 680 credit score! I think getting one more item removed or getting a little more positive credit will probably put me over the hump. This is only my TU credit score, so I'm a little worried about my EX, which I think is getting the least amount of deletions. Still have a few negatives on EX and EQ, but TU is looking good.

Haven't wrote in here for a while, because just been waiting for deletion letters. I guess I could be posting about what good credit I've been acquiring. But to be honest I've been procrastinating getting new credit, wanted my credit score to be a little higher before applying to diversify my credit to get the lower interest rates.

So the next couple weeks I will probably get a new credit card that should help my scores too as long as I don't get too many inquires.

My TU Is Up 50 Points

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:56:09 +0100

So I checked my TU credit score for free today on Credit Karma and my score went up 50 points. Lexington Law received has removed all of my negative items on my Trans Union, so that is why. Awesome!!!

Now just waiting on the other 2 to remove their items. I should be receiving updates soon, so once I get them I'll get all 3 credit scores and post them again, so everyone can see my progress.

I hoping to set up like a forum or posting capability so everyone else can post their results too. Would be cool to have a community of us following our progress and posting our updates as we go.

Wow, the ultimate credit repair guide

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:30:29 +0100

I'm always looking around the web for new sites or ideas on how to raise my credit score to 700. This Credit Repair guide has everything you are looking for. They list a variety of ways to increase your credit score that include lowering balances, increasing limits, and removing negative items. It is very cool.

They also recommend Lexington Law Firm, which is no surprise since they seem to be the best credit repair service out there. I am using them also, waiting on the credit bureaus to send me my updates, man they are slow.

I can't wait to get some more negative items removed. It is like Christmas when the new credit reports arrive and you see some items removed. I will be shouting from the rooftops when that happens.

Received Trans Union Response

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:41:03 +0100

I received a letter from Trans Union on the 9th of February stating that 2 of my Express Recovery accounts are not reporting. Then why are they showing up my credit report? That is what I want to know. I forwarded the letter to Lexington to keep them up to date on everything.

Not sure if they send new disputes now or if we are waiting for an updated credit report from Trans Union. If these 2 collection accounts are gone that means I only have 1 collection account and a charge off I think.

I scanned the letter and put it on my credit reports page if anyone wants to see. Waiting on Equifax and Experian now too. Wish me luck.

High Credit Score is More Important Now Than Ever

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:43:50 +0100

The more and more I look around, the harder it seems to get approved for a house. Don't worry I'm not getting a bunch of inquiries on my credit. I've just been calling and checking online and with banks about what they can offer and for what credit score.

It seems now more than ever you need a high credit score to qualify for a home. The housing bubble that burst has made lenders afraid to lend to just anybody. They don't want to get stuck with another foreclosure. That is fine, but it has made it really hard for earnest home buyers to get their first loan.

They put way to much stock into what happened 5+ years ago and not enough into how much I'm making now and how my payments were for the last 5 years. That is why I have to get to 700 credit score. A 600 credit score and of course a 500 credit score have become completely useless now. I'm really hoping to get my credit score to 740, but shooting for 700 first.

Keep following my journey at 700 credit score. This was a good little article about credit help. Let's get it done.