Does anyone know how to raise your credit score?

[mamacags]

A few years ago I got sick and we got behind on some bills.  Since then we have paid everything except our house off and have a pretty good nest egg in both checking and savings.  Our credit scores because of a couple of years ago are REALLY low.  We wanted to upgrade our house and the banks won't touch us.  I don't understand that since when we bought the house 3 years ago we qualified for a 4.75% int. rate.  So how do you raise your credit scores when you don't owe anyone anything and you don't have any bills?

[Texacon]

A few years ago I got sick and we got behind on some bills.  Since then we have paid everything except our house off and have a pretty good nest egg in both checking and savings.  Our credit scores because of a couple of years ago are REALLY low.  We wanted to upgrade our house and the banks won't touch us.  I don't understand that since when we bought the house 3 years ago we qualified for a 4.75% int. rate.  So how do you raise your credit scores when you don't owe anyone anything and you don't have any bills?

You can't do it quickly but you can do it.  You need to have some open lines of credit and the easiest way to do that is to grab a couple of easy credit cards; Sears/gas type cards.  Charge a little on them each month and pay them off.  Go to your bank and get a 90 day loan for something .... something you can pay off in 60 days.  Little loans here and there and pay them off before they are due.

That is the only way I know to do it.  It won't happen quickly but it will happen.

KC

[jtyangel]

Mama, part of what's going on it directly attributable the housing thing going on. It may not only be your credit. Banks are very wary right now. 3 years ago was a different ballgame. Since then a couple of banks have closed, freddie mac has bit it(but might be bailed out), etc. A good time to buy property, if you can get a loan. I feel for you. Keep at it though with the suggestions made here. It should loosen up again at some point.

[morningAngel]

divorce worked for me 

[mamacags]

But I don't want him to divorce meeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!   I loooovvvvvvvveeeeeeeeee him!!!!!!!!!!!11

[Zeus]

If I was you I'd get copies of the Credit report from all three credit reporting agencies. Late pays will drop a credit score for awhile but it won't put it in the basement. Chances are you have erroneous data included on your report. That or the late pays coupled with Debt to income ratio are sending out warning signals.

[morningAngel]

But I don't want him to divorce meeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!   I loooovvvvvvvveeeeeeeeee him!!!!!!!!!!!11

oh bitch slap for the drama!
get over it, men are like Greyhound buses wait long enough another one will come along

[Carl]

Get a low limit card from your bank if you don`t have one...use it and pay it off monthly although I think paying a little interest here and there isn`t always a bad thing for credit company records.

Let them increase your limit but don`t use it,maybe take out another card if offered one and do the same.

It won`t be overnight but in a couple of years it will go a long way.
Much of a credit score I am told is based on the percentage of available credit being used so don`t go overboard but let the limits rise.

[debk]

Mama....get a copy of your credit report.

Make sure there are no "open" accounts on there that you don't know about. Like when you go into JC Penney's or Target or Sears and they tell you that you can have 20% off today's purchase if you open an account. If you have a bunch of those accounts, that even if you cut up the cards, and aren't using them any more, if you didn't specifically close the account, it's still showing up on your credit report as "open account - available credit - 'x' number of dollars. It doesn't matter that you haven't used the account in years or even have a card anymore.....it's available money as far as the credit bureau is concerned. DO NOT close them all at one time. Do it over a period of a few months.

There's a website....I think it's optout.com or something very similar. What it does, is you fill out the required info and you will stop getting all those credit card offers in the mail. It will bring your credit score up within a few weeks as much as 50+ points. If you can't find it, let me know, and I will find out exactly what it is. You wouldn't think this is a big deal, but it is.

Get a Mastercard or Visa....with a low available credit amount. Use it at least once a month. Donot pay it off entirely, but pay more than the minimum amount. Paying it off entirely will not help.

I had quit using cards and was only using my debit card, and since I no longer own a house, my credit score actually went down.

Don't go to a bank for a home equity loan. Banks are scared to death to loan them right now. Those loans are a huge reason for foreclosures. People are paying their first mortgage but not paying their secondary loans....either mortgage or home equity.

Talk to your mortgage company. If you have equity in your home, they may be more willing to loan you money for updating....as it improves their "investment". Only ....ONLY.....do it if you have significant equity to afford to increase your debt and the improvements you are going to make will make the investment of taking out more debt on your house worth it. Remodelling your kitchen, updating your baths, putting in hardwood/tile floors. If you want to paint or put new carpet in.....dip into your savings. General maintenance work is not worth borrowing more on your house. It does not increase the value of your home, it only makes it more attractive and marketable should you need to sell it. If you need a new roof....wait for a good hail storm......consider calling your insurance company and have them come look at it. That's why you have home owner's insurance. It will probably make your insurance payments go up, but not that much.  

Your credit score may not be as bad as you think....it may be who you are asking to check it and why. (bank rather than mortgage)

Whatever you do, if your interest rate is a "fixed rate"....at that low of a rate.....DO NOT mess with it!!!! You will not get it again!!! I dont know if anyone's even getting 6% right now.....I don't pay much attention to them anymore because there are just too many variables and I leave it between a lender and a buyer.

Hope this helps.....

[Chris_]

A few years ago I got sick and we got behind on some bills.  Since then we have paid everything except our house off and have a pretty good nest egg in both checking and savings.  Our credit scores because of a couple of years ago are REALLY low.  We wanted to upgrade our house and the banks won't touch us.  I don't understand that since when we bought the house 3 years ago we qualified for a 4.75% int. rate.  So how do you raise your credit scores when you don't owe anyone anything and you don't have any bills?

1) Write a letter to the credit reporting services and protest every late charge.  You have to do this one bill at a time -- a separate letter for evah one. By law, they have 30 days to respond or the  debt is cleared from your report.

The letter should be sent to all 3 credit bureaus and say something like:

To (bureau name [Experian|Equifax|Trans Union])

I hereby put you on notice that the credit report against me is improper and incorrect.  I request that this information be stricken from my record.

I reiterate -- this must be snail mail and one per ding on your credit report.

I am a little confused -- is that 4.75% rate a fixed rate? If so then your credit must be fabulous.

In the meantime, let me provide everyone with a good set of recommendations:

0) PAY ALL DEBTS OFF EVERY MONTH.  CARRY NO BALANCES!
1) You should have no more than 4 Credit cards (AX, MC, Visa) and NO revolving credit lines -- Macy's etc.
2) The older credit cards do you the most good.  Do not close old cards.
3) Use your credit cards, but only as a substitute for cash.  You need to use, then pay off, credit to build your score up.  SEE ITEM 0 above!
4) PAY ALL DEBTS OFF EVERY MONTH.  CARRY NO BALANCES!

If you would like to PM me, I can advise you on your specific situation.  The last time I looked, I had a 820 FICO, so I know of what I speak.  I did this in 3 years after having a BK, so I had to do all the stuff I listed.

PS: do NOT use "credit repair" company -- they just do what I listed and charge you hundreds of dollars for what you could do in an evening.

[Chris_]

Mama....get a copy of your credit report.

Make sure there are no "open" accounts on there that you don't know about. Like when you go into JC Penney's or Target or Sears and they tell you that you can have 20% off today's purchase if you open an account. If you have a bunch of those accounts, that even if you cut up the cards, and aren't using them any more, if you didn't specifically close the account, it's still showing up on your credit report as "open account - available credit - 'x' number of dollars. It doesn't matter that you haven't used the account in years or even have a card anymore.....it's available money as far as the credit bureau is concerned. DO NOT close them all at one time. Do it over a period of a few months.

Old credit is good, but revolving credit is bad -- the FICO algorithm assumes you might max out your available credit. w hether you close them over time or all at once makes no difference.

There's a website....I think it's optout.com or something very similar. What it does, is you fill out the required info and you will stop getting all those credit card offers in the mail. It will bring your credit score up within a few weeks as much as 50+ points. If you can't find it, let me know, and I will find out exactly what it is. You wouldn't think this is a big deal, but it is.

Urban Legend.  Offers to you to open new credit do not affect your FICO score at all, until you take them up on it.  You are confusing "Inquiries for Credit" which hurt you (because it means you are asking for a new credit line) with "Inquiries for Service" which is where those damn "sign and send" applications come from.  You are not dinged for the latter, but it is a good idea to opt out.

Get a Mastercard or Visa....with a low available credit amount. Use it at least once a month. Donot pay it off entirely, but pay more than the minimum amount. Paying it off entirely will not help.

Again, you are wrong.  Paying your account down to zero every month is the best thing you can do -- it sets your ratio of available credit to used credit to the lowest possible level, which increases your score.  You do need to use the card, but then you need to pay it down.  To zero.

I had quit using cards and was only using my debit card, and since I no longer own a house, my credit score actually went down.

A mortgage paid over time on time is the gold standard for credit. I am confused, did you pay your mortgage off completely? MUI a paid mortgage makes you gold for life for FICO purposes. 

Don't go to a bank for a home equity loan. Banks are scared to death to loan them right now. Those loans are a huge reason for foreclosures. People are paying their first mortgage but not paying their secondary loans....either mortgage or home equity.

Not true. If your fundamentals (debt/income ratio) are solid, then a home equity loan makes good sense (although nowadays a refinance makes even more sense since they are so skiddish -- if your FICO is 750+ you are in the drivers' seat).

Talk to your mortgage company. If you have equity in your home, they may be more willing to loan you money for updating....as it improves their "investment". Only ....ONLY.....do it if you have significant equity to afford to increase your debt and the improvements you are going to make will make the investment of taking out more debt on your house worth it. Remodelling your kitchen, updating your baths, putting in hardwood/tile floors. If you want to paint or put new carpet in.....dip into your savings. General maintenance work is not worth borrowing more on your house. It does not increase the value of your home, it only makes it more attractive and marketable should you need to sell it. If you need a new roof....wait for a good hail storm......consider calling your insurance company and have them come look at it. That's why you have home owner's insurance. It will probably make your insurance payments go up, but not that much. 

Most major upgrades pay back about 50-75% of the amount invested -- do it for yourself first.  I agree that taking out a line of equity or a second mortgage (or a refi) to merely do renovation is insanity

Your credit score may not be as bad as you think....it may be who you are asking to check it and why. (bank rather than mortgage)

If you have been turned down for credit the law says they MUST give you a credit report for free -- again, request it by nail mail.  But you can get one for 7 or 8 bucks.  Go to the web sites of the bureaus I listed earlier.

Whatever you do, if your interest rate is a "fixed rate"....at that low of a rate.....DO NOT mess with it!!!! You will not get it again!!! I dont know if anyone's even getting 6% right now.....I don't pay much attention to them anymore because there are just too many variables and I leave it between a lender and a buyer.

Well, panic is always a great option.  I was offered 5.5% fixed last week (I have 5% fixed so I said no).  But fixed is always better than variable IMHO -- but I am old school.  There are a lot of people who think variable mortgages are still a viable way to go.  There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding on the type of mortgage to select.

Hope this helps.....

No offense, friend, but you have no idea what you are talking about.  Your "advice" is destructive -- I suggest you not stray into areas outside your expertise again.

[rich_t]

freedumb2003 has provided most excellent advice on this.  He posted pretty much what I had in mind to when I started reading this thread.

Mama, you my find this link helpful:

http://www.frbsf.org/publications/consumer/creditrights.html

Another helpful link:

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/money/fair-credit/fair-crd.htm

[debk]

Mama....get a copy of your credit report.

Make sure there are no "open" accounts on there that you don't know about. Like when you go into JC Penney's or Target or Sears and they tell you that you can have 20% off today's purchase if you open an account. If you have a bunch of those accounts, that even if you cut up the cards, and aren't using them any more, if you didn't specifically close the account, it's still showing up on your credit report as "open account - available credit - 'x' number of dollars. It doesn't matter that you haven't used the account in years or even have a card anymore.....it's available money as far as the credit bureau is concerned. DO NOT close them all at one time. Do it over a period of a few months.

Old credit is good, but revolving credit is bad -- the FICO algorithm assumes you might max out your available credit. w hether you close them over time or all at once makes no difference.

Last I checked, JCP, Target, and Sears....are revolving credit. According to the lenders I work with, it is bad to close all credit cards out at once.

There's a website....I think it's optout.com or something very similar. What it does, is you fill out the required info and you will stop getting all those credit card offers in the mail. It will bring your credit score up within a few weeks as much as 50+ points. If you can't find it, let me know, and I will find out exactly what it is. You wouldn't think this is a big deal, but it is.

Urban Legend.  Offers to you to open new credit do not affect your FICO score at all, until you take them up on it.  You are confusing "Inquiries for Credit" which hurt you (because it means you are asking for a new credit line) with "Inquiries for Service" which is where those damn "sign and send" applications come from.  You are not dinged for the latter, but it is a good idea to opt out.

No it is not an urban legend. Putting your name on the list, stops credit card companies from offering you credit. I have had 2 clients do it within the last 6 months...one's credit came up 43 points and the other 37, both within 2 weeks time. I was not confused about "Inquiries for Credit" as that does hurt you. However you are not "dinged" anymore if it is mortgage companies pulling your credit....but you are if you go looking for cars, and you allow the car dealer to "check your credit just to see if you can afford that BMW".

Get a Mastercard or Visa....with a low available credit amount. Use it at least once a month. Donot pay it off entirely, but pay more than the minimum amount. Paying it off entirely will not help.

Again, you are wrong.  Paying your account down to zero every month is the best thing you can do -- it sets your ratio of available credit to used credit to the lowest possible level, which increases your score.  You do need to use the card, but then you need to pay it down.  To zero.

Allowing a credit card to carry a balance for a month or two does help your credit. Paying it off entirely while the credit card company will not penalize one for doing it, carrying a balance for a couple of months shows ability to pay a recurring charge. A car payment works just as well.

I had quit using cards and was only using my debit card, and since I no longer own a house, my credit score actually went down.

A mortgage paid over time on time is the gold standard for credit. I am confused, did you pay your mortgage off completely? MUI a paid mortgage makes you gold for life for FICO purposes. 

I sold my house, paid off the note, the mortgage company loves me. They send me a letter every other week offering me a mortgage.

Don't go to a bank for a home equity loan. Banks are scared to death to loan them right now. Those loans are a huge reason for foreclosures. People are paying their first mortgage but not paying their secondary loans....either mortgage or home equity.

Not true. If your fundamentals (debt/income ratio) are solid, then a home equity loan makes good sense (although nowadays a refinance makes even more sense since they are so skiddish -- if your FICO is 750+ you are in the drivers' seat).

ALL banks and mortgage companies are skittish right now and have seriously tightened up their requirements for loans. There are fewer people with scores of 750+ or more than there are with under 750.

Talk to your mortgage company. If you have equity in your home, they may be more willing to loan you money for updating....as it improves their "investment". Only ....ONLY.....do it if you have significant equity to afford to increase your debt and the improvements you are going to make will make the investment of taking out more debt on your house worth it. Remodelling your kitchen, updating your baths, putting in hardwood/tile floors. If you want to paint or put new carpet in.....dip into your savings. General maintenance work is not worth borrowing more on your house. It does not increase the value of your home, it only makes it more attractive and marketable should you need to sell it. If you need a new roof....wait for a good hail storm......consider calling your insurance company and have them come look at it. That's why you have home owner's insurance. It will probably make your insurance payments go up, but not that much. 

Most major upgrades pay back about 50-75% of the amount invested -- do it for yourself first.  I agree that taking out a line of equity or a second mortgage (or a refi) to merely do renovation is insanity

Kitchen and bath upgrades....if significant, can return almost 80-90% of the cost.

Your credit score may not be as bad as you think....it may be who you are asking to check it and why. (bank rather than mortgage)

If you have been turned down for credit the law says they MUST give you a credit report for free -- again, request it by nail mail.  But you can get one for 7 or 8 bucks.  Go to the web sites of the bureaus I listed earlier.

My comment was directed to the particular companies they requested a loan from. Not all companies requirements are the same. As we both have said.....it depends on the score.

Whatever you do, if your interest rate is a "fixed rate"....at that low of a rate.....DO NOT mess with it!!!! You will not get it again!!! I dont know if anyone's even getting 6% right now.....I don't pay much attention to them anymore because there are just too many variables and I leave it between a lender and a buyer.

Well, panic is always a great option.  I was offered 5.5% fixed last week (I have 5% fixed so I said no).  But fixed is always better than variable IMHO -- but I am old school.  There are a lot of people who think variable mortgages are still a viable way to go.  There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding on the type of mortgage to select.

Congrats on being offered a rate of 5.5%....it's still higher than the existing mortgage of 4.75% that they currently have. There is no guarantee that if one increases the loan amount they currently have,that the mortgage company will allow the current rate.

Hope this helps.....

No offense, friend, but you have no idea what you are talking about.  Your "advice" is destructive -- I suggest you not stray into areas outside your expertise again.

No offense, friend.....but I do know what I'm talking about. I have sold real estate for the last 11.5 years in E TN. I sold new construction for 5.5 years (up until a year ago) ....and for the last year and a half, I evaluate property for potential foreclosure, removal of PMI (private mortgage insurance), home equity loans, refinancing, recovered (foreclosed) properties, bulk sales of mortgages for Bank of America, Chase Manhattan, Citicorp, Countrywide, HSBC, and a variety of other banks/lenders. I have sold foreclosures for the last 6 years, and that's all I sell now for the last 10 months. I do everything from eviction, prep for marketing, maintain the property, list/sell the property primarily for Deustche Bank, Ocwen, HSBC, US Bank NA.  

While my advice may not be exactly what you think it should be...it is not destructive....nor have I "strayed into areas outside my expertise".

And thank you very much for the BS I assume you gave me.

[rich_t]

No it is not an urban legend. Putting your name on the list, stops credit card companies from offering you credit. I have had 2 clients do it within the last 6 months...one's credit came up 43 points and the other 37, both within 2 weeks time.

I don't see how stopping CC companies from sending offers has any bearing on one's FICO.

The Credit Reporting Agencies have no way of knowing how many such CC offers a person receives.  They are nothing more than junk mail unless you fill them out and apply for the card.

I wonder if there were other factors that came into play with the two clients you refer to, that caused their scores to come up.

Simply signing up for optout doesn't seem like it would make one iota of difference.

[debk]

No it is not an urban legend. Putting your name on the list, stops credit card companies from offering you credit. I have had 2 clients do it within the last 6 months...one's credit came up 43 points and the other 37, both within 2 weeks time.

I don't see how stopping CC companies from sending offers has any bearing on one's FICO.

The Credit Reporting Agencies have no way of knowing how many such CC offers a person receives.  They are nothing more than junk mail unless you fill them out and apply for the card.

I wonder if there were other factors that came into play with the two clients you refer to, that caused their scores to come up.

Simply signing up for optout doesn't seem like it would make one iota of difference.

The lender I work with most, is the one who told them to do it. I didn't believe it would work either, so I was really surprised when it did. I have since talked with other agents who have had their clients do it too.

I was told that because many come "pre-approved", the credit card company has already done a check on your credit report....just as if you personally applied for the card.

Think how often you get those fake cards in the mail that say you are "pre-approved" or "approved" for up to x-amount of dollars. They've already checked your credit.

I'm sure you know, there are multiple companies out there, that for a fee, will tell you all kinds of info on someone.
I have Courthouse Retrieval for the state of TN that tells me how much a property was purchased for, all about the house, the loan amount, who's name it's in, interest rate, and for how many years. It's part of our MLS system.

[rich_t]

I was told that because many come "pre-approved", the credit card company has already done a check on your credit report....just as if you personally applied for the card.

If that is true then why does the application require me to provide my SS# as part of the application?  If they had already run a credit check as you were told, they wouldn't need me to provide it on the application.

I think somebody may have given you some incorrect information.  There is no such thing as pre-approved credit IMO when it comes to credit card offers that come in the mail.

I have read the fine print on many so called "pre-approved offers" and the fine print on the application has always stated that by signing and returning the application, I give the issuing authority permission to obtain a credit report.

I suspect that Credit Card companies do not invest the funds to pull a credit report on the millions of so called unsolicited "pre-approved" offers they mail out each year to consumers.


BTW...  I did opt out some time ago.  I haven't received single credit card offer in the mail for quite a while as far as I can recall, so at least that part of it seems to work. 

[RobJohnson]

Mama....get a copy of your credit report.

Make sure there are no "open" accounts on there that you don't know about.

Good advice.

When I was really young, like 19 or 20, I was turned down for an ATM card at a credit union. After getting a copy of my credit report, it was four pages long....it was showing error after error....

According to the credit report, when I was six or seven years old I had several JC Penny charge cards, and other things that just were not possible...after I did the paper work to question the reporting, my credit report ended up being less then one page long!

If the advice here does not work, I would just try to make up a new Social Security number....it works for millions of illegal mexicans....

[rich_t]

I did some web searching and I found some interesting info:

http://www.cardreport.com/overview/pre-approved.html

Pre-Approved Credit Card Offers

Rather than simply mailing credit card offers to everyone with an address, banks try to target their mailings towards consumers who are more likely to respond, qualify for a card, and become profitable customers. When preparing for a mail solicitation campaign, a card issuer may send a set of minimum standards to one of the credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, or Trans Union), and request a list of consumers whose credit reports meet the qualifications. The bank may send a list of consumers obtained elsewhere (e.g. from a marketing database company) and have the bureau return a subgroup that matches the criteria. "Pre-approved" offers are then sent to everyone on the list, and may arrive in the consumer's mailboxes as long as two months after the credit bureau screening.

I do NOT approve of the credit card companies having the ability to send such requests, but the credit reporting agencies are "for profit" organizaions, and the CC companies are obviously willing to pay for the service.  So it is what it is.

If you have a copy of your credit report, you may see inquiries that are designated as "promotional." This means that your file was checked for a "pre-approved" list, although it does not necessarily mean that you qualified to receive an offer. Since this type of inquiry was not initiated by you, it is not seen by other prospective creditors to whom you might apply, and will not reduce your FICO credit score.

So I learned; credit card companies can indeed do a sort of behind the lines query of credit reports. (debk was right about that)  I personally have never seen a "promotional" entry on my credit report and I check it with the 3 main agencies annually.  I used to receive dozens of such offers each month.

But the key part I found is the part I bolded.  Such offers do NOT reduce your FICO score.  Therefore it seems to me that opting out of such offers will NOT raise ones FICO score.

[RobJohnson]

I suspect that Credit Card companies do not invest the funds to pull a credit report on the millions of so called unsolicited "pre-approved" offers they mail out each year to consumers.

The "pre-approved" offers are harvested from credit scores before being sent out.

[rich_t]

I suspect that Credit Card companies do not invest the funds to pull a credit report on the millions of so called unsolicited "pre-approved" offers they mail out each year to consumers.

The "pre-approved" offers are harvested from credit scores before being sent out.

See my last post.  When I am wrong, I admit it.

[RobJohnson]

I suspect that Credit Card companies do not invest the funds to pull a credit report on the millions of so called unsolicited "pre-approved" offers they mail out each year to consumers.

The "pre-approved" offers are harvested from credit scores before being sent out.

See my last post.  When I am wrong, I admit it.

Looks like you posted while I was typing....now I know what that "red lettered" message was about when I hit "post" 

[DumbAss Tanker]

But I don't want him to divorce meeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!   I loooovvvvvvvveeeeeeeeee him!!!!!!!!!!!11

oh bitch slap for the drama!
get over it, men are like Greyhound buses wait long enough another one will come along

But, also like a Greyhound, then we pull out and leave after ten minutes.

 

[BEG]

I went to the optout.com website and you have to pay to sign up but I found optoutprescreen.com which it appears you don't have to pay.  I'm afraid to sign up to opt out because they ask for your social security number.  Which makes sense, they need that if they are going to make sure they are opting out the correct person, but I'm still afraid to do it.  I just want to stop receiving to much dang junk mail a credit card offers.  Has anyone ever used any of these websites and has it worked? 

[debk]

BEG....I just called my lender and he said to do optoutprescreen.com.

He did say that he's had some do it, where all it did was Increase the amount of offers they got.

He said that the one client of mine that got 43 was the highest change that occurred, but that it usually is only in the 20's.

He does a lot of "C" and "D" loans....rather he did more when the market was better....and does a lot with people who need to improve their credit before they can apply for a mortgage. He's done several loans for buyers that I have had over the last several years, so he's my "go to" for questions.

[BEG]

BEG....I just called my lender and he said to do optoutprescreen.com.

He did say that he's had some do it, where all it did was Increase the amount of offers they got.

He said that the one client of mine that got 43 was the highest change that occurred, but that it usually is only in the 20's.

He does a lot of "C" and "D" loans....rather he did more when the market was better....and does a lot with people who need to improve their credit before they can apply for a mortgage. He's done several loans for buyers that I have had over the last several years, so he's my "go to" for questions.

Our credit score is actually quite good, in fact I would say excellent.  I just want to get the junk mail and credit card offers to STOP.  I am sick of shredding credit card offers all the time.