JohnHoer

But here is the logic for the creditor. Be sure to read the fine print because if the creditor assign you a credit limit of $10,000 and you use over 35% of your limit along with the credit balances of your other accounts, your credit score will probably decrease.

Since you score has decreased, you have become a greater credit risk. Consequently, your interest rate will probably be increased leading to hefty profits for the creditors. Yes! It is a conspiracy.

The credit bureaus have been closing my good closed accounts little by little.  I've had several installment loans that have been paid with a timely payment history be deleted without my request.  Why is this happening? I've had one closed car loan disappear and two paid mortgages be deleted, too.

My Experian Credit Report is nearly a thin file due to this. And it's nearly impossible to have a creditor report the account again. It's very difficult not to believe that the credit bureaus are doing this to artificially keep credit scores low.

But, I have a similar question that is similar. MY scrores are:

B Credit Usage

A Ontime Payments

B Age of accounts

B Number of accounts

B Derogatory remarks

D Inquiries.

But, yet my over all score is C

On Credit.com my credit scrore is A

On Credit.com my overall score is A.

My CK Score is 734

My Vantage is 728

And the credit bureaus keep dropping my oldest accounts. My oldest account on Credit.com is at least 30 years. And I have many more accounts on Credit. com.

The same occured with my Experian credit report. my score decreased by about 150 points within two days. I have three thousand dollars in revolving credit. I made one large purchase on one account which nearly maxed it out, but left me with a combined credit usage of about 32%.

Now by per centage of combined credit usage should be 27% (they update the increase much faster than they do the decrease) and my per cent of credit usage is now 80% on the one card, 0% on the other although because they aren't in a hurry to update the decreased in balances, by combined cerdit usare is reported as 29% and 86% on the other.

And let me empaszie that I had the one card maxed once before and paid the entire balance a month or two later. It had a 0% balance for about 3 months and it was never reflected on my credit reports. I have noticed that creditors don't tend to report when the balance is 0%.

My account with a $2000 limit has a 0% balance and it hasn't reflected it eirther.

I contested the the remaining balance on two installoments loans. One should have reported zero and the other should have had a substantial decrease. Instead of updating the correct balances. The two accounts were deleted from all three credit reports. Since they were accounts in very good standing, I aske the creditors to report the paid accounts to the bureaus. Nearly four months have gon by and they still haven't been reported.

So, now my score has gone down because I have two less accounts isntallments accounts. One with a zero balance and one with a reduced balance. And my score took another hit because I no longer a have a mix of open trade lines.

And one of my mortage accounts which was paid in full  was also deleted. I have no clue why that occurred.

And then I had a revolving account that was paid in full, no late payments, a zero balance, but it reported a requred montyhly payment of $20 which was utilizied in my credit score analysis. I contested that there should be no requred payment due on an account with a zero balance.

Now that account is showing a $212 balance and its being reported as a chrage-off. I teleponed the company, spoke to a representatvie and she said that it was not reported as a charge-off and she doesn't know where the credit bureaus obtained that information. She said that she could write me a letter to submit to the credit bureaus and I should also have the credit bureaus check back with her. She will not respond to them and it should be deleted.

What is going on here? Because of no errors of my own, peferfectly good accounts are being deleted from the my credit reports, the information isn't being reproted accurately nor timely to the credit bureas, and my credit score has taken a dive. Who is responsible for this? Who takes accountablity for this? And I really think that these errors will never be corrected.

My Transrisk score is 673. When I obtained a recent loan from the bank my Trans Union scrore was 704.

Why should the banks require higher credit scores. They were bailed out by the very people who are applying for the credit, they are now making huge profits and have huge reserves of cash on hand.

And the prime rate is much lower now than it was four years, six years or even ten years ago.

And if a credit score was good four years ago, why isn't the score just as good now. Or do the scores really not mean much?

I heard that it actually takes less of a credit score to qualify for a mortgage now than it did a few months ago.

Consumers! The banks are not our friends! They have ripped consumers off for hunders of billions of dollars, and remember, profit is their motive. That's the way the system works.

When negotiationg with the banks, always remember that they are your adversary. That is the nature of capitalism. When you are issued a credit card/charge card it is not a gift. At most, it is a tool for you. They plan to make a substantial profit from you for not only using it, but for having it. And they will also make a profit off of the merchant who uses it.

Mercahnts must take credit cards to compete for you business. But, whenever you use credit instead of cash, it means that merchants must increase their prices for the cost of offering that service.

I've had the same experience with correcting errors and credit scores drops. I have two installments that were not reporting monthly. One had not reported my payments or  updated my balances for over four month. The other one had not reported by payments and updated my balances for three months. So, I disputed them because my credit score had just decreased due to high balances on my revolving account and because of these two installment accounts that were being reported as recent inquiries and fairly new accounts.

The result of disputing them was having the accounts totally deleted from my reports. It was hardly the outcome I was desiring. So, my credit score decreased because my number of accounts (open and closed) had decreased. It's so totally frustrating.

I've been trying to get errors corrected on my reports for at least 18 months becasue I want to refinance my home. The creditors and credit bureaus are impeding my progress. And I'm going to lose the window of opportunity with the lower  interest rates.

I know that if I had missed a payment, it would be reported within a day.

I have reams and reams of paper sitting in my office and it all has to do with correcting errors on my credit bureua reports.

I've called my creditors to ask why my accounts are not being reported and they don't know. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 Perhaps the CK Moderator can answer this question. Has the average credit score decreased nationally over the last two to three years due to the high foreclosure rate, the increase in late mortgage payments and the high unemployment rate.

If it has, has it decrease over all for each state? It seems like Kansas was a lighter color several months age which would indicate that the average credit score for Kansas increased or the average national credit score decreased.

I realize that fewer inquiries is best. But, it is misleading to be told that the soft inquires ran by Orchard Bank will not impact one's credit score when it does. And that part of my question wasn't addressed.

Are there other soft inquiries  that can impact one's credit score? I do appreciate sites like CreditKarma.com, Credit.com and Quizzle.com because I am learning much from these sites about credit management.

But, it is also difficult not to develop some cynicsim

Thanky you. :)

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The soft inquires that they run during the pre-approval can count against your credit score and your auto insurance credit score.  

My point is that they said that the pre-approval inquiries do not hurt you. When I got pre-approved for a secured card only. I didn't want an unsecured card and did not pursue it. But, the soft inquiries are being used to factor in the credit analysis for my credit score and for my auto insurance credit score.  WE WERE NOT ADVISED OF THAT. So, these soft inquiries negatively impacted my credit score. This is misleading information.

In fact, aren't we told that soft inquiries do not impact our credit scores at all. Now, I'm beginning to wonder how many other variables soft inquires impact. But, no one has answered this question. Please do!!

 CK is docking my score for having 8 inquiries over a two year period. I do not know how this is calculated. I"ve read where they do not impact your credit score if they are older than 1 year. And I've seen some credit score analysis reports that do not take inot account credit inquiries that are older than six months. Does anyone have the correct answer. Mine are almost all older than six months. And five are older than a year. So, what impact are they having?

When I filed for bankruptcy I knew that I would be going through a divorce, too. So, I took my wifes name off of my accounts in advance. I helped her establish credit in her own name and paid off the accounts from which I couldn't get her named removed. We had two cars. One was paid and she kept it and we took my name off of the title.  I had the newer one in my name only. I knew the bankruptcy would occur when we seperated. So, I had ample time to legally do this. It did not impact her credit at all.

Store cards count as revolving debt. They are not good if you overuse them. If you keep you credit utilization low, it can benefit you. However, in your credit analysis they will dock you for not having a bankcard. But, if you get into trouble by using your bankcard wrecklessly, don't get one. Use a debit card. 

Let me assure you that I have been given the run aroung by Chase Home Loans and Chase Bank U.S.A. They have run hard credit inquiries without my consent, they improperly report my accounts to the credit bureaus and they just flat out refuse to correct anything.

And in these situations, the credit bureaus have been their patsies. It is a rigged system where creditors are not held accountable for improperly reporting to the credit bureaus. If creditors where fined $500 an error, they would be a bit more scrupulous.

In my opinion, everyone should yank their monies out their Chase account, refinance their loans and close their Chase credit card. Keep you money local and in your community where it will benefit your community.

J. P. Morgan Chase, B of A and Citibank and etc take your money to Wall Street. Keep it local.

I had $87,000 in Bank of America and wanted to borrrow $70,000 to obtain a loan to purchase an apartment building. They would not lend me the money. But, yet they had brokers calling me and were wanting to invest my money for me. I yanked that $87,000 out of their bank and deposited it into a community bank where I was shown a little appreciation.

I could walk up to my community bank and obtain signature loans witihout collateral.

That just speaks for itself.

 When I paid off the balance of my 2nd mortgage, my score plummeted. I would think that having paid off a mortgage would increase your score because it demostates that you did manage your debt.

I also think that if one has had difficluty with managing credit card debt in the past, they should reconsider getting a any bankcard again (secured or unsecured). Would you advise an alcoholic in recovery to hang out at the bars?

And I think that bankcards are riskier than a store charge in that you can charge nearly anything anywhere . I say before you step back into the fire, you should be aware of your weaknesses. And bankcard issuers are much like pushers. They have done much research into how to market these products to maximize their profits.

But, there are those consumers who can manage their credit wisely. At the same time it just seems insane to see consumers wanting to increase their credit score to obtain a credit card or to obtain a credit card to increase their credit score.

A good history of paying installment loans and auto loans can also increase your credit scores. If you must, save $1000 and take a secured loan out against it. It can also hae a favorable impact upon your credit.

I find it ironic that many of the states with the highest credti scores on in the same states wher home foreclosree rates are highest. I would not have thought that. (Calofornia, Arizona and Idaho). I would have thought that Florida and Nevada would have been much lower than it is.

Pay attention! I learned a good lesson over the last few months. I was under the impression that the total credit card balances to the total credit card utilization was the important factor. And it is. Mine ws 33%. I had one account with a $2000 limit and a $30 balance. That's about a 1.5% credit uitilization. My other account had a $1000 limit with a balance of $966. That ws a 97% utilization.

I did not realize that nearly maxing out one card even with a total utilizatoin of 33% would have such a negative impact upon my credit scores. It certianly does.

I paid the balance down from $966 to $856 to a total utilizatoin of 86%. And it also brought my total credit card utilization down to 30%. My credit scores quickly improved.

The lesson is to keep your individual credit card per centage of utilization down as well as your total credit card utilization down.

I suppose the ultimate lesson is to pay off all of your total account balances monthly, if possible.

The greatest misconception I had was that I was attempting to demonstrate good payment history by paying off larger balances. That isn't necessary. Paying accounts off monthly or keeping balances below 10% is best.

I"m very sorry to about your medical issues. I hope you are doing better. I had a similar evernt. I ws hosptialized and wasn't able to make my monthly payments on my bills. I could substantiate everything. I wasn't even able to return to work but I did begin receving long term disability after three months and after two years I was able to receive to two pensions.

Even thought I had been some of my account for over 25 years, they charged me late fees and increased my interest rates to 29.99%. I could not get all of my creditors to work with me because I had wanted to pay my accounts; not at 29.99%.

Eventually, bankruptcy was the best option or I might have lost my home. I didn't want to choose that option. I was forced into it.

My creditors made a choice between accessisively penalizing me ang guauging me or taking a total loss. They chose the total loss. Bankruptcy turned out to be less damaging to my credit history/score than the futile attempt of negotiating with the banks and paying off the accounts.

There reluctance to work with me was their choice.  So, it was a lose-lose propostion for all of us. I suppose that's what one would call being penny wise and pound foolish. Let them eat cake!

I"m very disappointed with this card because when I applied on two different occasionsI was told that they would be doing a soft inquiry; not a hard inquiry. They suggested a secure card to me and I declined it on both occasions.

But, when I looked up my Auto Insurance Score, it had decreased my score because they said that I had applied for a bankcard twice.

In addtion to that, when I obtained my credit scores and looked at the credit analysis, they had decreased my credit score because they said that I had applied for bankcards twice.

Therefore, the inquiry might not show up under hard inquiries, but that doesn't mean it won't affect you credit scores. This isn't transparency by any means.

So, consumers who apply for this card, beware! The soft inquiry will impact your credit scores.

If we make lake payments to creditors, it is reported to the credit bureaus almost immediately. However, I have a couple of instatlment accounts that have not been reporting to the credit bureaus for three and four months periods.

This negatively impacts my credit score because it's not reflecting lower balances on these accounts. Shouldn't creditors that decide to report to the credit bureaus on an account be required to report monthly or not report at all. In fact, one creditor reported the new loan and one payment in September 2010 and has not reported to the bureaus snce then.

I've contacted the creditor twice and they said that they would look into it. But, they still aren't reporting.

I've even contested these two creditors reported balances with the credit bureaus. They completely deleted one account on for Experian report. But, Trans Unioin credit bureau hasn't taken any action.

One bank has recently updated my balance with the credit bureaus after four months. I have less than two payments remaining.

Why aren't creditors held to greater accountablity in how they report to the credit bureaus?. Inconsitent reporting should not be acceptable.

It's been three years from the filing of my Ch 7 BK. I could have been approved for an FHA mortgage two yearas from time of bankruptcy discharge date.

Convential mortages are more strict. I think it needs to be three years from the time of bankruptcy. I don't know if it's 3 years from the time of filing or from the time of discharge. And I think that some conventional lenders might require 4 years from the bankruptcy.

And then you must meet all of the other mortgage requirements.

Oh! It it were only that simple. There are so many errors on my credit reports that one yearly free report from each of the bureasu is way less than sufficient. And CSC/Equifax is so difficult to access. and to dispute. I think consumers should be up in arms about the system.

* I've been working tediously to monitor my credit reports. I have reestablished credit and I get docked on my score because they say my balances are too high. I currently have four lenders who are not reprorting my monthly payments which are timely. The are two, three and even four months behind.

If I charge on two of the accounts, they  report the charges/increased balances even before the end of the billing cycle. But, they don't report to the credit burueas on a monthly basis. I'm disputing the balances but the point is that I shouldn't have to. Credit bureaus should require lenders to report monthly on active accounts if they are going to report at all. The consumer gets penalized for this.

Are any other consumers encountering this issue?

When one considers  the accumulation of delflated credit across  all consumers that totals up to a lot of credit score points. The adds up to consumers not being able to get the best interest rates on loans which in turn means lenders are making a lot of money.

In return, that induces consumers to purchase products sold by the credit bureaus so that they can monitor their reports.

I take responsibility for my errors. But, this system is very sloppy at the expense of consumers. And it also requires a lot of time and energy to correct these errors. Accessibily and accurate reporting  is a real issue.

I had a small student loan that was reported on each of my credit bureaus five times.  The paperwork on the loan had been lost for nearly fifteen years. The account was listed as paid and closed once and as over 180 days late four  times.

Getting the different departments dealing with student loans to communicate with each other is virtually impossible and getting the credit bureaus to correct it was as equally frustrating. Luckily for me I keep documents forever. I finally went to the Obudsman for the Department of Education.

Now the loan is showing four and five times on each of the credit reports as paid/closed. It was not my error the when they reported them as derogatory and its not my error that they are reporting it as in good standing four and five times.

This occurred, because the loan was erroneously put in default satus and passed between agencies several times. For years it counted against me; now they're being reported in my favor.

The point is beware that accounts considered delinquent can be sold and reported over and over again. This happens frequently between collection agencies. They even try to pass them around between collection agencies (much like a shell game) if they know you are about to declare bankruptcy. Its a method used by businesses to get around bankruptcy laws.

 I empathize with you. I became disabled and had to make the decision  between bankruptcy and losing my house. As advised, check with an attorney. Also try to network with someone who has been through a bankruptcy.

The amount of equity you have in your home might also be a factor.

Good Luck.