What would it take to jump 50 points?

[ScottL]

Currently, as of today MyFico 3B Report scores are 630-640 range.  However, there are a few things going to change in the very near future.  My goal is to get my score to the 680-700 range so that I can always get low rates on cars, house, etc.  I opened a savings account this week with DCU credit union in hopes to use them for my next car purchase.

1. Current credit utilization is around 80%.  I just requested a 401k withdrawal and paying this all off. Soon, my cc balances will be $0.  When I do the simulator on my account, everything jumps to the 650-660 range. Not sure how accurate this is?

2. Charge off on Equifax only (currently 640). I sent a GW letter and got a response from them this week, they are having it removed.  Not sure how this will affect my score, but already off of TU and EX.

3. Collection just paid off today in full and will be updated to PIF. Not sure if showing paid will bump up my scores at all? Going to attempt GW letters starting next week as they wouldnt do a PFD.  

4. Discover Card charge-off from 2011 for $5491.  Agreed to a settlement of $1700 this week and making 12 payments of $141 to pay this for less than owed.  Then I will try GW letters as they wouldnt do a PFD

then.....

5. RentDebt collection for $3891 for a broken apartment lease from 2012.  They will do a settlement but not with payments. I dont have the full amount right now. Doing nothing right now with this.

6. Late Payments with Shell Credit Card (1x30, 1x60, 1x90 back in 2009) - closed

7. Late Payments with Wells Fargo Dealer Services (4x30 back in 2011) - closed

8. Late Payments with Capital One Auto (3x30 back in 2009) - closed

9. Late Payments with Midland Mortgage (9x30 back in 2012-2013... went through divorce, got HAMP modification) - current mortgage

No other late payments on my mortgage, auto or other 6 credit cards that are all current/open. No late payments in 2 years.

[titanofold]

Getting the UTI down on the CCs is going to be your best bet. What you want to do is have all but 1 CC report $0 with the last CC reporting 1-9% UTI.

You're getting dinged right now for all CCs having a blance, plus another ding for each over some middle number, plus another ding for each over 80%.

Having a CA and/or CO showing as paid is good for a manual review, but will not result in a score bump. The fact that you had a CA and/or CO is what's hurting your score. (There was discussion about a new score model differentiating between paid and unpaid, but it probably won't be used for a while.)

[ScottL]

So if I do pay them all down and off do you think that simulator is accurate? It's giving me about a 15-20 point bump.

[redbeard]

Simulators are NEVER accurate, but, if you go from 80% utilization to under 10% utilization, you will get a good bump, 20 points is probably reasonable.  If any cards are over 90% utilized, then paying those down to under 90% will get you a lot of bang for the buck.  They do okay with some general guidance, but the points they claim are pretty fictitious.

Paying off collections will definitely help the score.  It isn't instant, but, everything credit ages in impact (good or bad), once its paid off.  

Now, I'm not a fan of 401k withdrawals, they get very, very expensive with the tax penalties.  If you can borrow and pay it back, over time, it would be much more beneficial.  If not that, can you stop your 401k contributions for a while and use the cash to pay down the cards?  Tax penalties on withdrawals are huge.....

Dan

[ScottL]

It was actually a 401k loan not a withdrawal. So I'm paying it back each check but not the big high interest rate

[ScottL]

Only 3 of my cards are carrying a balance. They are all 3 right around 80%. One is almost 89% but none are at 90%

[Rebuilding69]

For the cc's, you are getting dinged 3x, for having more than 1 card with a balance, for the util % for each card, and for the overall util % across all cards.

[Rebuilding69]

And when I say dinged, I merely mean your score is highest with regards to the cc's when all but 1 are at 0, with that 1 card between 1-9% util

[ScottL]

Okay. So I will try and leave a tiny balance on one card.
But other than my uti, what else can I do? Obviously I will try PFD on my newest collection paid off. If that does come off, hopefully that is a bump. Any ideas how much?
That would leave just the discover charge off and the rent debt collection left.
Then the late payments. How much do you think they are affecting my score considering most are many years ago? Should I try GW letters for those?

Let's say the uti does jump me to 650-660 range. What else do I need to do to get that last 20-30 points?

[WebGuru]

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@Rebuilding69 wrote:
And when I say dinged, I merely mean your score is highest with regards to the cc's when all but 1 are at 0, with that 1 card between 1-9% util

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I thought this was a myth, and that it really comes down to utilization. Interesting if true though, can you point to some additional resources about that?