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How to get credit score high

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ttonnka3
Member

How to get credit score high

Hello,

 

I have credit cards never paid late no bad marks no late no collections etc......My credit score is still low i think how can I boost it ? Pay off all my credit cards?? pay them half off?? any help would be appreciated thanks

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2 REPLIES 2
pdog661
Frequent Contributor

Re: How to get credit score high

Tough to answer with the info provided.

 

Here is the break down of a score:

 

31% Payment History

30% UTL of available credit

15% Length of history (AAoA - average age of account)

14% Type and number of accounts

10% Credit applications or inquiries.

 

Payment history - 0 late payments are for this highest credit score

 

UTL - Many say using 9% of your available credit is the best way to have a high credit score

 

Length of History - 6+ years for an average AAoA is best, and the oldest account helps to be 10+ years old

 

Type and Number - Having a mortgage, auto loan, installment loans, and credit card a few credit cards is a health mix, and your credit will be higher.  My credit decreased by 10 points when my mortgage reported as paid.

 

Credit applications - The goal would be to only have 1 or 2 inquiries on your credit file. 

 

The challenge is to get the required diversity in your credit file without having numerous inquiries on your file.  Having a high credit score takes a plan and years to achieve.

 

I am guessing you have a high credit card UTL rate because you posted the idea to pay off half of them.  If you have 10K of total credit on your CC you should only have 900 dollars report on your credit file.

 

Post more information about your file, and I will offer my opinion on what can be done to bring up your score. 

 

 

Message 2 of 3
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: How to get credit score high


@pdog661 wrote:

Tough to answer with the info provided.

 

Here is the break down of a score:

 

31% Payment History

30% UTL of available credit

15% Length of history (AAoA - average age of account)

14% Type and number of accounts

10% Credit applications or inquiries.

 

Payment history - 0 late payments are for this highest credit score

 

UTL - Many say using 9% of your available credit is the best way to have a high credit score

 

Length of History - 6+ years for an average AAoA is best, and the oldest account helps to be 10+ years old

 

Type and Number - Having a mortgage, auto loan, installment loans, and credit card a few credit cards is a health mix, and your credit will be higher.  My credit decreased by 10 points when my mortgage reported as paid.

 

Credit applications - The goal would be to only have 1 or 2 inquiries on your credit file. 

 

The challenge is to get the required diversity in your credit file without having numerous inquiries on your file.  Having a high credit score takes a plan and years to achieve.

 

I am guessing you have a high credit card UTL rate because you posted the idea to pay off half of them.  If you have 10K of total credit on your CC you should only have 900 dollars report on your credit file.

 

Post more information about your file, and I will offer my opinion on what can be done to bring up your score. 

 

 


I think your percentages are slightly off, but the basics are right: http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

 

Also, this is a nit, but the general rule of thumb for ideal scoring is not 9% or less total utilization.  The general guideline is that you have all accounts report $0 except one.  On that one account, you have 9% or less of that one account's CL report.  So this would be less than 9% of the person's total revolving limits.  Still, if the OP is close to maxed out and got it down to 9% total utilization, there would be a significant increase.


Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
Current Score: EQ 681 (04/05/13); TU 98 728 (01/06/12), TU 08? 760 (provided by Barclay 1/2/14), TU 04 728 (lender pull 01/12/12); EX 742 (lender pull 01/12/12)
Goal Score: 720


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