Need to raise score 50pts!!!

[Anonymous]

So my current scores are as follows:
Experien: 595
Transunion: 606
Equifax: 579
My credit utilization is at 84%. My plan is to pay down all cards to at least 50% by the middle of next month. The hope is to have my middle score to at least a 640 so I can apply for a mortgage by this summer. Do you think it's possible to raise my scores by about 50 pts by paying down my cards?

[Anonymous]

Help please. How do I move this to rebuilding?

[RobertEG]

I would speculate that you would likely need a reduction in the less than 10% util range to get a score improvement of that magnitude.

With score hovering at 600, the more likely score depressor is major payment history derogs.

What are your major derogs, and what efforts have been taken to attempt their removal?

[Anonymous]

I have jcpenney account that has three 30 day late from 2014, Just sent a GW email. That account is stil open and at 50% utilization. I was an authorized user on my husbands Credit one credit card that closed in January of2015 and is paid off, just sent GW email to them. Paid off a collection account to Comcast which reported in November and crushed my score. They said they would recall the debt from the CA, still waiting to see that.

[RobertEG]

Can you explain the GW on the AU account?

If you are an AU, you are not an account holder and have no standing to request actions regarding their reporting on the account other than to remove you as an AU.

If there is derogatory reporting on the account and you wish to remove it from your scoring, then the path is to get yourself removed as an authorized user, not to get involved in good will requests regarding the account.

[Anonymous]

But how do I remove myself as an authorized user from a closed paid account? Also will this impact my score negatively by doing so? The tradeline will still be on my report, correct?

[Anonymous]

My husband and I wrote the letter together concerning his account.

[Anonymous]

So I can say from recent experience, a major shift can happen in the three mortgage scores by reducing utilization. Of course it depends on your unique mix of things, but here's my story:

February 8, three mortgage scores were:

EQ. 597
TU. 621
EX. 627

I was at 95% utilization on three cards. I have paid them all down to under 9%.

Today, wo TU updating on the third card, the other two mortgage score should be (from the Myfico simulator of mortgage scores:

EQ. 640
TU. 667
EX. 677

I'll report back later this week when lender pulls the actual report.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Well that's encouraging! Please do let me know.

[Anonymous]

Speaking from my own experience, it could be possible, but it's different for everyone depending on what your credit report looks like otherwise.

Using my own situation as an example, I went ahead and paid off 3 collection accounts and paid my two credit card balances and Fingerhut Advantage account down to 0, after having 94% utilization for a few months back in February. I only made a small charge on the two credit cards ($20 on each) for gas prior to them reporting for the month. I am still waiting for these changes to be reflected on my TU report, but both EX and EQ jumped once those changes hit. I have since applied for a few store cards through Comenity Bank and those are also on there now, which brought up my credit limits and reduced my utilization even further. In that time, between about February 10th and today, my EX score has gone from 557 up to a 620. Equifax increased by a smaller amount, but it still was notable, and Transunion updates haven't hit yet. All of that being said, I think that if you stick with it, keep your utlization low, and pay close attention, 50 points by summer is a possibility. Buying a house is on my goal list as well, but probably not until next year. I need to give my new accounts time to age so I can replace my subprime cards with better ones.

Good luck to you!