How to get my scores up?

Anonymous · ‎09-09-2016

Hey all, I am currently new to the forums..I just found it and figured you guys would be able to help me out!

As of right now I have a 616 FICO score, and a 591 TransUnion score.

I am in college so haven't even begun to repay my student loans, but have a few credit cards open that are near credit limits that I am trying not to touch until tax returns to pay a few hundred off on each.

I believe when I first started out I didnt think straight and got a few different cards around the same times and that has also messed me up.

I have multiple credit cards..BestBuy, Walmart, Target, Amazon, Discover, and Capital One

Along with an an open loan, and I have my car payment from a new car I got in May, and also I am the cosigner on a car.

As of right now I also have a derogatory account on my record from around 6 years ago when I was still in high school.

Would my best steps be paying off that loan first and foremost, then continuing paying off 1 credit card at a time, or all little by little?

will be graduating college in about 15 months and will need to be looking for a new place to live and whatnot, so need to start working on the credit score.

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

From what I have notice to bring up your scores quickly is bringing down your credit utilization. I have seen my score drop by 50 points by having my credit cards at 90% of their limit. I have seen my score increase by 50 points by bringing down to 10%.

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

Where are you getting the scores from that you mentioned? You said a FICO score and a TU score. FICO is a type of score an TU is one of the main credit bureaus; these are not the same thing. You can have a TU FICO score. Please let us know where you are getting your scores from.

The 2 major things holding your scores back are your utilization being high and that one derogatory. The good news is that the derog comes off at 7 years, so you've got a year to go. In that year simply focus on taking your utilization down. Basically just pay off all of your cards. If paying interest is a big deal, pay off the ones with the highest interest rates first. If the interest amounts aren't significant and you don't care much about that, pay off the cards with the lowest balances first so that you get more of your accounts in good standing quicker. You'll probably pick up 50 points or so over time it takes you to pay off all of your cards. Then, once that derogatory cames off at the 7 year mark you'll probably get another 50 points all at once. These numbers are just guesses. I'd imagine you'll find yourself in the low-mid 700's as far as scores assuming you have no late payments, take your utilization all the way down to zero on all cards with just a small balance on one and you get rid of that derog.

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
Hey all, I am currently new to the forums..I just found it and figured you guys would be able to help me out!

As of right now I have a 616 FICO score, and a 591 TransUnion score.

I am in college so haven't even begun to repay my student loans, but have a few credit cards open that are near credit limits that I am trying not to touch until tax returns to pay a few hundred off on each.

I believe when I first started out I didnt think straight and got a few different cards around the same times and that has also messed me up.

I have multiple credit cards..BestBuy, Walmart, Target, Amazon, Discover, and Capital One
Along with an an open loan, and I have my car payment from a new car I got in May, and also I am the cosigner on a car.

As of right now I also have a derogatory account on my record from around 6 years ago when I was still in high school.

Would my best steps be paying off that loan first and foremost, then continuing paying off 1 credit card at a time, or all little by little?

will be graduating college in about 15 months and will need to be looking for a new place to live and whatnot, so need to start working on the credit score.

Lower your utilization as the others have said and by all means have the co-signed loan refinanced into the other persons name only, if at all possible. If they do not make on time payments it will be a negative on your credit report and could potentially ruin your scores and require you having to make the payments to avoid a charge off or even a judgement.

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

^^^it's her car.

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

Or his car, sorry OP!

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

NM, I read that wrong... ( how do you delete or edit from mobile?)

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

Thats what I thought. I am trying not to touch them until I can get them down closer to no balance on them.

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

Sorry I was just going off the stuff on my capital one and discover card accounts. and car dealership told me when I got it that it was right around that 580 one when I was there.

Anonymous · ‎09-10-2016

I cosigned for someone who had 0 credit to there name. So I cant do that for them sadly. But I plan to lower the utilizaiton of them. I apreciate the help