paying off CC's...?

[Anonymous]

I have a quick question, hoping for some help/advice........I have 3 CC two of them are closed, and one is still open. The closed accounts are Citibank and Chase.  Even thought the accounts are closed I pay on a monthly basis fro the last 16 months, no problem.  citibank is about 1200.00 and chase is about 3200.00.  My open account Discover is great, with a low interest, but I owe about 4500.00 on that.

I will recieve a large amount of cash from the goverment this year, enough to pay off my cards and then some.....my question is this: what will help my FICO score to increase more rapidly? Do I pay of the closed accounts and put some toward Discover? Do I pay off one card and really pay down my Discover card? Pay off the closed accounts and continue with the monthly pay on Discover?

I'm looking to refinance by summers end and need to get my score up a.s.a.p.

Thanks for the help,

Brad

[Anonymous]

Pay the closed account in full, and pay the Discover down to no more than 9% of whatever your credit line is. Let that balance (1-9% report), then PIF.

The accounts closed with a balance are probably costing you a ton of points, because the balances count in your utilization, but your former credit limits do not. You didn't note what your Discover Card limit is, but if your gov't windfall will allow you to make a sizable dent in the balance, then you'll save $$$ no matter how low the APR is. Ideally, paying no interest is better than paying "low interest".

[Creditaddict]

Since you have been carrying a balance for more than 1 month on all these accounts, I would pay ALL 3 COMPLETELY OFF.  Then if you use the Discover, make sure you stay BELOW 9% of your credit line.