FICO is doing better - a couple questions.

[ALUMINEX]

I have been working on my FICO score for a while.  I still have a couple collections and a 5 year old judgement from medical bills on my report.  However, my transunion was 697 yesterday.  I don't think that is great but it isn't terrible.  Agree?

My question is:  What do I need to push it to the next level?  I am trying my best to manage doctor bills so they don't get reported.  That is pretty much the only thing that was ever on my report and it was below 600.

I have a few credit cards that are high interest that I had obtained in an effort to help boost my credit rating.  Should I cancel those and try for something with lower interest now or will that hurt me more than help?

[llecs]

Keep plugging away at the baddies.

I wouldn't do anything w/ the CCs. The APR doesn't play into it because you can have 0% if paid in full. If util is high, then I'd focus on that.

[InvincibleSummer3]

+1. Are the balances on your cards high?

[nickf4rr]

Another tip to mention that seems to not be mentioned here very often is keeping a small balance on at least one card.  A consistent 0% utilization across the board seems to hurt people's scores.

If you aren't using your cards at all, keep at least one card with a statement balance that is (correct me if I'm wrong) 10% of your total credit.  Using your cards, AFAIK also helps when you want to go for a CLI after your baddies drop.  Your score will also pop once those judgements fall off in a few years.

And yes, 697 is good!  I just paid off everything, have 3x 30 day baddies and I went from the mid 600s to a 703 with two TLs left to report paid/zero balance!  I wish my TU said 697 today and your baddies are way worse than mine.

[guiness56]

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@nickf4rr wrote:

Another tip to mention that seems to not be mentioned here very often is keeping a small balance on at least one card.  A consistent 0% utilization across the board seems to hurt people's scores.

If you aren't using your cards at all, keep at least one card with a statement balance that is (correct me if I'm wrong) 10% of your total credit.  Using your cards, AFAIK also helps when you want to go for a CLI after your baddies drop.  Your score will also pop once those judgements fall off in a few years.

And yes, 697 is good!  I just paid off everything, have 3x 30 day baddies and I went from the mid 600s to a 703 with two TLs left to report paid/zero balance!  I wish my TU said 697 today and your baddies are way worse than mine.

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It is mentioned here daily.  Maybe more on the Rebuilding side but, keeping all but one card reporting 0 and the other at 9% or below is very common advice for help in raising your score.

[HiLine]

Why is it 9% or below and not 1%?

[nickf4rr]

I'm guessing it's because 10% is the guideline thrown out there most frequently on MyFico, etc.

Also 1% UTI is pretty unrealistic unless you're pulling a card out of the drawer to buy coffee.

[HiLine]

Or spend 10k and pay off 9.9k before the statement cuts, assuming $10k credit limit.

[nickf4rr]

(A little OT, but...)

That's a quick way to get screwed depending on the product.  There are lots of situations where you can spend up to (or well past) an available balance, but only pay what's actually settled.  If the timing is at all off, and you have pending charges that settle prior to the statement getting cut AND before you can pay...voila!  Accidentally high UTI.  

[llecs]

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@HiLine wrote:

Why is it 9% or below and not 1%?

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I can recall a couple of posters, psychic is one, who went in depth about changes to their FICO(s) when they let 1% report, 2%, 3%, and so on. At least one found their sweet spot at 5%. But it's certainly a YMMV thing. It might be 1% for one or 9% for another.