How can I gain the maximum points in the next year?

[jnc]

I got zero responses so I'm rewriting this to see if I can make it simpler. I tend to overexplain

Our cards:

BofA:             owe 14,100  limit 14,300   9.9% interest

Sears:           owe 650       limit 1150    17.24%

Kohls:           owe 600       limit 800         21.9%    (in my name only)

CareCredit:  owe 500       lmit 1800        0%         (in my name only)

If we are really good about budgeting and nothing unexpected comes up, we should be able to pay off about 2/3 of that in the next year.

Negatives showing on our credit currently include:

Foreclosure on home loan 1. (Falls off 2016 according to the credit reports)

Charge off on 2nd home loan (was forgiven by bofa last year)

Charge off on a Chase CC (settled for less than owed in 2011)

One 30-day late on Kohls card 3.5 years ago (only on my report not the husband's)

One of my husband's reports is showing Asset Acceptance for a Citibank balance of $262 as unpaid... the other report shows it as paid in full. I don't even know what this account is as its been so long. So, I'm not sure the actual status and how to go about getting the report to show it correctly.

Quizzle gives me a score of 608 and my husand 645.  MyFico gives him a score of 673 as of 1/1/14.

Our credit history length is 12 yrs 9 mos with an average age of accounts as 8 yrs 5 mos.

So, given all that, I'd like some advice...

Is there anything else I can do to improve his scores over the next year, as we pay down the CCs?

I've seen mention of Credit Building Loans. Would this be something to consider?

Should he add any cards or just leave it be as is and see what happens as we pay them down? (Currently he has only the Sears and BofA reporting on his credit)

Anything else I'm not thinking of?

TIA for any advice!

[jnc]

Bumping this for responses because I edited it to make it a little clearer and more concise.

Can anyone help with suggestions?

TIA!

[wallstreet177]

The 30 day late shouldn't be effecting your score much anymore since it's been 3.5 years. The effect normally goes away after 2 years.

The biggest thing I see is your utilization on your cards. Pay that all the way down, leaving one card reporting 9% util and the rest 0.

In the meantime I would start GW'ing the charge offs and foreclosure.

[titanofold]

You don't need a rebuilder loan. What you need to do is pay down those cards as the high utilization is really damaging.

Send a GW letter to Kohl's for the late. It really doesn't affect your score at this point, but it'd be nice if it shows as a 100% positive TL rather than a potentially negative one.

Send a GW letter to Asset Acceptance asking them to delete the TL since it's been paid.

[jnc]

Thanks for the responses!

Ok, so I guess we basically just have to be patient and see what paying down the balances does for our scores.. and maybe GW a few things in the meanwhile.

Will having only 2 reporting cards on my husband's credit be enough to get our credit back up? Should we consider applying for another after we have some of these paid down or just leave it at 2?

We had excellent credit before all of this so it's been rather painful

Any clue if we can get back near excellent status before the foreclosure falls off or is it just going to be a matter of waiting?

Thanks again!