No Increase in Score?

[MLMMBC]

I can't seem to get pass 600.  It's been at least 5 months that it has been the same, what do I do here?  Add another card, spend on the cc and pay off? I am clueless here.

I have:

Car High Balance 25K now 20K no lates for 1.5 years  489.00 

Best Buy Limit 300 Bal 177 (christimas shopping) no lates

Capital One Limit  301 Balance 50

Capital One LImit 250 Balance 30

Ramona Tire Limit 1000 Balance 160

Daniels 204 High Limit 0 Balance

2x First Premiere Charge off.  Last reported 03/2013  (if i get removed can this help)

Medical Bill Collection 100.00 (which I am about to dispute - have really no clue, I'm insured)

I had zero balances on everything but spent a few bucks and paid it off and it showed a 4 point increase... Not good enough.

[DCole3g]

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@MLMMBC wrote:

I can't seem to get pass 600.  It's been at least 5 months that it has been the same, what do I do here?  Add another card, spend on the cc and pay off? I am clueless here.

I have:

Car High Balance 25K now 20K no lates for 1.5 years  489.00 

Best Buy Limit 300 Bal 177 (christimas shopping) no lates

Capital One Limit  301 Balance 50

Capital One LImit 250 Balance 30

Ramona Tire Limit 1000 Balance 160

Daniels 204 High Limit 0 Balance

2x First Premiere Charge off.  Last reported 03/2013  (if i get removed can this help)

Medical Bill Collection 100.00 (which I am about to dispute - have really no clue, I'm insured)

I had zero balances on everything but spent a few bucks and paid it off and it showed a 4 point increase... Not good enough.

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I would try and get some CLI's on the cards that you have and spend a little more on them.  Do not pay in full every month, allow a balance to report so that you will have something to pay off. Also I would look up the HIPPA process and try and get the medical collection taken off.  I was in a very similar boat about 1.5 years ago and I basically started using my credit cards more and got a few medical collections removed.  I saw the biggest increase from credit card usage, the medical collection was  a + as well. Good luck!

[coldnmn]

For highest score pay all cards to zero before statement cuts but one. That gets you a higher score by having one card reporting <9% utilization then all reporting zero.

[blondy250]

You have too many cards reporting a balance, and i would work on  getting CLI preferable with SP's. The primary reason is those dereogatories, find out what is going on with those (just because you have insurance doesn't mean you can't be billed).

[MLMMBC]

Okay, well they were all at zero balance and one had <10% utilization (just to keep active).   But someone told me to spend on them because they were basically dormant.  Their super small balances, so I don't mind paying them back off to zero.

I will find out about the derogs.  

I am very close on getting them all off (will update when I do).

And if you don't mind, what does "SP" mean?

I would like to get to 650 so that I can start on purchase of house next year.

[coldnmn]

SP / Soft Pull In the credit card forum at the top of the page there is a helpful threads. In there is a link to common abreviations.

[choppa02]

SP means soft pull

[MLMMBC]

Thanks. Very useful info.

[Dapper_Dan]

Pay your Best Buy balance down ASAP.  Get the balance below $30.  Then pay off Cap1 250 CL card.  Then pay off the Cap1 301 CL card.  Pay them off and stop using them, only use 1.

Car loan won't make a difference, just pay it on-time.  Pay 1 week early if you can to save yourself on interest.

Ramona Tire is fine, but would be better if it was <$99 bal and would be excellent if it was $0.  This is a high CL, so don't close it.

Paying down balances is the quickest way.  Once you do that, only use one Cap1 card and pay it off each month before the due date.

No luck, just do it.

[titanofold]

The FICO score has no memory of balances. It doesn't care if you used a card, but it does care how you are handling the cards. To optimize your score, let all but 1 report a $0 balance, and have the last card report a balance of 1% - 9% of its CL. But, you don't need to optimize your score unless you're preparing to apply for something.

However, your greatest hinderence are the two COs. Get those resolved with a PFD and you'll see a good bump in your score.