Can Score Boost Although UTI is 4% but CLI of 800 ? I need a quick boost!

[Anonymous]

hi All. I  am receiving a CLI on my Credit Card. All are at 2- 5% UTI right now and I still need about 5 more points for my mortgage :sigh: .. I just received noticed of a CLI Increase but my balances are already Low..

Can I still get a boost in Scoring with out anything else going on with my report ?

I did notice that My Eq Jumped 14 pts last month (don't know why.. i'm assuming just payment history) but I still need just about 5 more points..

Welcome to my roller coaster Ride .

Thanks for Responses

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

hi All. I  am receiving a CLI on my Credit Card. All are at 2- 5% UTI right now and I still need about 5 more points for my mortgage :sigh: .. I just received noticed of a CLI Increase but my balances are already Low..

Can I still get a boost in Scoring with out anything else going on with my report ?

I did notice that My Eq Jumped 14 pts last month (don't know why.. i'm assuming just payment history) but I still need just about 5 more points..

Welcome to my roller coaster Ride .

Thanks for Responses

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Everyone's situation is different and there is no one size fits all approach to this but what seems to work well for most people is to have only one of their cards report a small (<9% of it's credit limit) balance each month and then pay in full before the due date. You can use it as much as you want during the month but what's important is the reported balance because for most cards whatever is reported on the monthly statement is what is used to calculate utilization for the month.

You might have to play around with the percentages for a few months to see what works best for you. Some people say that 1-3% utilization helps the most. For others it might be 5-9%. As I said it's not one size fits all.

On any other cards always try and have them report a zero balance each month. That doesn't mean you can't use them just make sure that the desired zero balance on these accounts is achieved several days before their statements post.

Along with individual and overall utilization, FICO also scores the number of all types of accounts reporting a balance.at any one time Making sure less than half of all your accounts report a balance helps most people.

Now this approach really isn't necessary if you're not looking to apply for any credit in the near future or unless you are trying to tweak your score for maximum effect but some folks do this as a hobby just to see how high they can get their score.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

Thanks a Lot! I actually have a balance of  $32 but my next payment is only $19..... perhaps I should just pay it completely to Zero ?  I have another card with a Balance of $100 and the Limit is 6K ... 

the Card with the low balance of $32 is the one that I'm receiving a CLI tomorrow..

So you would just advise that I Zero this balance  for next reporting..  Keep the balance to $100 on my 6K card and see if that boosts my score ?

thanks for  your quick response

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks a Lot! I actually have a balance of  $32 but my next payment is only $19..... perhaps I should just pay it completely to Zero ?  I have another card with a Balance of $100 and the Limit is 6K ... 

the Card with the low balance of $32 is the one that I'm receiving a CLI tomorrow..

So you would just advise that I Zero this balance  for next reporting..  Keep the balance to $100 on my 6K card and see if that boosts my score ?

thanks for  your quick response

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It's your choice about which one card you want to report that small balance. Just try and make any others report a zero balance. I would think (no guarantees of course) that this might get you the points you need. Let us know what happens.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[CreditAble]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Can I still get a boost in Scoring without

anything else going on with my report ?

I still need just about 5 more points..

Welcome to my roller coaster Ride .

Thanks for Responses

---

I agree with everything MarineVietVet said.

Perhaps I can help with some specific suggestions

for your "optimum balance" fishing expedition.

First I would start by observing the rule of thumb MarineVietVet mentioned. Have a reported balance on less than half your cards. If you have only two cards your highest score might actually be generated by a $0  balance on both cards. Hopefully you have three tradelines or more.

I have had a lot of experience in tweaking scores playing with the optimum amount reported on one single tradeline. I know (in my case), having a balance that was too low on one tradeline (with all others reporting $ 0), actually caused a score drop of a few points. The conventional wisdom of an arbitrary 9% utility does not necessarily generate the highest score.

If you only have two revolving tradelines,

and if you can' get the points through the (optimum balance) fishing expedition outlined below, you have no other choice but to try a $0 balance on both cards. A 0 balance on two cards is the only way to have balances on less than half of your (2) credit cards. That might be the only way to get your 5 points.

If you have a few months to play with,

here are the balances you might want to try if you have two, three or more tradelines.

As you have already indicated you will let $100 report on one account then check your scores. My optimal balance reporting was somewhere around $250-$350 which was less than half of one percent (.5%) of my credit card limits.

The next month you could let that account report $50, and see what happens. The third month you might try a $150 reporting balance.

I would, in your situation, also use my highest credit limit card for the balance if possible. There is a distinct possibility of picking up 6-8 points with this tweak. When I had two or more cards reporting small balances, the score would generally be 6 or more points lower.

Having more than $0 balance on one card, will pick up a few more points, as long as that balance is high enough, to fall into a, to be determined, "optimum balance range". If the mystical optimum balance range is exceeded, the score will drop a few points. If you only have two cards, I'm guessing  $0 or 50 on one card might generate the points you need. If you have three or more cards with less than $10,000 CL total, your best balance might be between $0 and $50.

One final note.

It is not an exact number that you need. If for instance $50 works, it is likely $35 and $65 could provide the same results. $100 should be good to try first. I tended to have my highest scores when balances were in a range between $250-$350 or so.       

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much! Today  I realized that my balance on  my low card was $19  and this was exactly was is due on Oct 19th.  Today I received a CLI on this same card  of $800...

The Balance on my 6K Card is $100 as of today.  I did Zero out the Low balance card from $19 to 0 today

My Payment on the $6K Card was only $20 and that is actually the card with a small balance .

I'm hoping this works.

As far as tradelines are concerns.. I have perfect installment loans. My Lender told that I had to pay down my Car loan to $5K so that I wouldn't show a Car Payment for my loan

I live In IL so the Utilities Companies Report.

I also have Student Loans Reporting paid 

I had homedepot for 6 Yrs as AU  but they closed it due to non usage and when the credit bubble happened, they just closed it but I have 5 yrs of perfect payments on there

hoping this works.

thanks so much !

[CreditAble]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm hoping this works.

As far as tradelines are concerns.. I have perfect installment loans.

My Lender told that I had to pay down my Car loan to $5K

so that I wouldn't show a Car Payment for my loan

I live In IL so the Utilities Companies Report.

I also have Student Loans Reporting paid 

hoping this works.

thanks so much !

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Two paid off installment loans, with a payment history of at least two years each, is supposed to be relevant. I have verified that personally with my own experience. However do not pay off completely any installment loan between now and getting your mortgage. Paying off my second car loan caused my TU FICO to tank for a couple months. It might not happen to you but you don't need to take any chances.

Paying down your car loan is a great idea. Believe it or not there is a "utilization" factor for installment loans. It is called the percentage of original amount still owed. Get that balance under 30% and you might have more than an extra 5 points right there.

Just a footnote about installment loans:

Supposedly two paid off loans with two years each history is sufficient for highest benefit to FICO Scoring. You don't gain more by subsequent loans until one of the paid loans fall off the credit report 10 years down the road. Supposedly a current open installment loan especially with a high balance loses FICO points if the paid off two loans over two years minimum don't appear in file.

If you have your two (with two years) paid off student loans already, paying off your car loan will not help any more than paying it "almost off". Paying the loan off could actually hurt at least temporarily. Furthermore the open car loan with low balance might somewhat mitigate any temporary hit your score migh take when a new mortgage first gets reported.