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just_curious wrote:I'm new to the board, but I believe it is the general consensus around here that the CCCs report the balance as shown on the monthly statement and do not report interim figures.
cheddar wrote:
just_curious wrote:
I'm new to the board, but I believe it is the general consensus around here that the CCCs report the balance as shown on the monthly statement and do not report interim figures.
... Most CCCs report the statement balance, but there are some that do not. HSBC, for example, reports the balance on the last weekday of the calendar month, regardless of when the statement cuts. The only way to know for sure when your CCs report is to look at your CRs.It may also be possible to call and ask, but I have found that for the most part CSRs don't know what I am talking about when I ask questions like this, and in some cases have given me flat out wrong information. Target, for example, told me they would report on the last day of the month, not the statement balance. I almost left my $130 balance / $200 CL when the statement cut, but thought better of it and went ahead and paid it down to $5. It was a good thing I did because when TNB showed up on my report for the first time, it turned out they report the statement balance after all. Nice.Chase told me they only report quarterly, and as far as the actual point in the cycle when they report, I was told "Nobody can tell you that information."Whatever. I just waited a couple of months and looked at my reports. Turns out they report monthly on the statement date just like almost everyone else.
Agree!
@Anonymous wrote:
If I apply for a mortgage a year from now, my util at the time those CRs are pulled is all that matters. FICO doesn't care if I kept my util at 9% for the entire previous year or maxed out the cards every month. Just like you can be obsessive about your scores and monitor them every day, but it doesn't matter whether they've gone up or down -- it only matters what your scores are on the fateful day the lender pulls them.
--your scores are higher if some cards report a balance than if they're all at $0. Go figure.So if you are not stalking more credit right away, you might want to do this for one 30-day cycle. After that, just keep everything at $0 but one or maybe two cards. Don't let your debt creep back up! Have enough in savings that if you do need to do a quick paydown, you're able to.
--you can start this at any point in the month
--only let half or fewer of your cards report; have the rest at $0
--those that report, let them show under 10%, or even better under 5%
--don't worry about installments (car loans, mortgages, etc.)--they're not part of this calculation
--if you have a home equity line of credit, it looks like TU includes it in revolving credit, but the other two CRA's don't. You might have a big score discrepancy there.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Agree!
@Anonymous wrote:
If I apply for a mortgage a year from now, my util at the time those CRs are pulled is all that matters. FICO doesn't care if I kept my util at 9% for the entire previous year or maxed out the cards every month. Just like you can be obsessive about your scores and monitor them every day, but it doesn't matter whether they've gone up or down -- it only matters what your scores are on the fateful day the lender pulls them.
It's fun for approximately 2 1/2 weeks to work the percentages, and then it gets to be a pain. I do still pay around 5 days before my CC's post, but I'm done trying to get a specific percentage to report, unless and until I'm getting ready to apply for something. If you get used to seeing the higher scores from this, but one month you have to have 60% on one card, it's kind of a kick in the gut to see the score dip.
If you are new to figuring out how all this works, it is really instructive to do this for one month anyway, both for practice and to get a feel for the impact on your scores. Things to keep in mind:--your scores are higher if some cards report a balance than if they're all at $0. Go figure.So if you are not stalking more credit right away, you might want to do this for one 30-day cycle. After that, just keep everything at $0 but one or maybe two cards. Don't let your debt creep back up! Have enough in savings that if you do need to do a quick paydown, you're able to.
--you can start this at any point in the month
--only let half or fewer of your cards report; have the rest at $0
--those that report, let them show under 10%, or even better under 5%
--don't worry about installments (car loans, mortgages, etc.)--they're not part of this calculation
--if you have a home equity line of credit, it looks like TU includes it in revolving credit, but the other two CRA's don't. You might have a big score discrepancy there.
When you are ready to look for credit again, I would start this "game" 6-8 weeks ahead of time, to give everything time to post, and allow for that one stubborn account to finally get with the program. (There's always one! )