I was wondering the same thing. I recently paid a maxed out credit card to less than 10%. However, the same day, the credit card reported to the bureaus so I was too late for this month. The credit card still looks maxed out. The next time the CC reports my balance will be early May. My prepayment penalty expires in late June and I will be refinancing then. When the CC reports my credit card as less than 10% utilization next month, will that be plenty of time for a positive effect on my FICO before I refinance in June?