advice first steps rebuilding

[lmjhen]

I have been lurking and learning for a couple weeks. Thank you all for the education!! I would like to ask for advice on my first steps rebuilding. I am struggling with where to start. here are a few of my details;

Fico scores

Equifax;637

TU:        655

Exp.      649

I have one credit card in my name it is Home Depot $500 limit, $300 utilized. I am an authorized user of two of my husbands' cards. We also have a mortgage. 

As of now all of our credit accounts are in good standing and have been paid on time for quite some time. In the past we have had financial difficulty and some negatives on my credit report;

Cap One: my report  show several lates and paid in full for less than full balance, this was in 2014

Cap One (different card) my report show several lates, the most recent was 2013

Car loan; late once 2013

Car Loan (different car) shows several lates, most recent was 2013

My reports also show: 

0 inquiries

0 in collections

0 public records

I would really like to get my scores up so in future should I need cars, homes etc I won't have to panic about my scores!! I think I need more credit lines- but not sure? How would you proceed? 

Thanks in advance!!

[rmduhon]

What is the UTI for the cards you are an AU on? GW letters for the lates. Your scores are actually pretty good

[lmjhen]

Utilization is high right now, not sure exactly. I would say about 75%. we are getting ready to pay off a chunk in the next couple months. Will try letters. Thanks

[Anonymous]

 Pay down the balance on the cards that will give you a big score increase.  With your scores now, you would have no problem getting a good interest rate with Navy Federal or a Credit Union in general.

[medicgrrl]

You may want to open 2 more cards in your own name after you pay down the current cards. 1 of the bureau's does not consider AU accounts on mortgage scores. I'm not sure about FICO 8 scores. Also, the baddie that's really hurting you at this point is the "settled" account. Try to GW that one.

[lmjhen]

Thank you!  From your replies, my plan is to pay down the cards, write a gw for the Cap One negative and then open a couple more lines of credit.

I have done business with a local credit union I will probably try there for a credit card.For the 2nd card, I would like to have a card that helps me with reward points for flights- do you have any suggestions?