Attack Utilization or Pay a Closed Account

[Anonymous]

Credit Gurus, I need your advice!

I am currently sitting on a 590 credit score with Experian. I would like to get closer to a 600 or better in preparation for apartment hunting in NYC. With my next paycheck, I would like to do as much repair as possible. I can possible set aside 500 to 600 dollars to tackle this. I have the following credit cards:

Capital One 213/200 (due date 11/28)
Another Capital One 701/700 (due date 12/4)
Victoria Secret 0/3k
Kohl's 255/300 (due date 11/28)
Merrick Bank 575/600 (due date 12/16)

And I have a charged off Macys account for $559.

I was thinking to either bring the Capital One (200 limit) and Kohl's to zero balance or pay off the Macys. I am a NY resident, so if I pay the Macys in full, it should be deleted as it has been well off 5 years since the DOFD.

Which debt should I tackle first to get the best possible point increase?

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Credit Gurus, I need your advice!

I am currently sitting on a 590 credit score with Experian. I would like to get closer to a 600 or better in preparation for apartment hunting in NYC. With my next paycheck, I would like to do as much repair as possible. I can possible set aside 500 to 600 dollars to tackle this. I have the following credit cards:

Capital One 213/200 (due date 11/28)
Another Capital One 701/700 (due date 12/4)
Victoria Secret 0/3k
Kohl's 255/300 (due date 11/28)
Merrick Bank 575/600 (due date 12/16)

And I have a charged off Macys account for $559.

I was thinking to either bring the Capital One (200 limit) and Kohl's to zero balance or pay off the Macys. I am a NY resident, so if I pay the Macys in full, it should be deleted as it has been well off 5 years since the DOFD.

Which debt should I tackle first to get the best possible point increase?

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First, this is just my opinion:  

I would pay off the Cap One account showing $213 balance out of $200 credit line so it reports zero.

Next, I would pay $210 on the Cap One that is showing a balance of $701 out of a credit line of $700.

I would then apply the balance to the Merrick Bank cc - or at least $120 and put the balance on Kohl's.

Can you get another couple hundred and pay off Kohl's?  I think it would help to have 3 out of 5 cards reporting zero and right now you only have one reporting zero.

Right now you are either at your limit or over your limit so you are getting significant dings to your score. Is there any way you can also negotiate a PFD for Macy's? It's charged off so I would put this last on your list.

Hopefully, others will chime in...

[RobertEG]

The Macy's account is still counting in your % util even though it is closed, so the improvement in overall % util will be the same regardless of which account you make payments to.

The four accounts that are at or near maxed out would be a focus, but not my first focus.

The longer they remain at higher % utils, the greater the chance becomes that was you do pay them down, the creditor will decrease your credit limit due to concern over the apparent increased risk.

My first focus would likely be on the charge-off.  It is common after a CO for the creditor to either refer or sell to a debt collector, which will likely result in the addition of a new collection.  That would be my primary concern.

You might also offer a pay for deletion to the creditor, which would, if accepted, remove a major derog.

[surferchris]

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Great advice, RobertEG! 

Definitely take care of that charge-off before it results in a collection. After that get your utilization down.