How can I raise my score 40 points?

[greent]

I have 24 late payments. Have been paying good for the past year and a half. Three collections, one is paid and the agency said they would delete it but. That it would come off sometime in mid August. 8% UTIL . I have 17 inquiries one clears on August 24th. The rest don't come off until October 2017 and May 2018. FICO EX 661 TU 675 EQ 672. Suggestions are welcomed.

[Anonymous]

i want to know how your credit is still decently good for 24 late payments earliest being 1.5 years ago.  lol

[bourgogne]

Paying on time is huge but I cannot believe how good your scores are with some of the stuff you have pulled lol – lates, collections, inqs, decent amount of util – what source did those scores from and how recent?  How many tls do you have?  You must have some long standing good stuff for your #s to be getting close to 700…I dont think you need any suggestions, really.  very impressive imo

edit, oh to answer your ?, just drop your util - done

[Anonymous]

For one, stop applying for credit.  For two, let those new accounts age.  Inquiries affect your scores for 12 months but remain for 24.  You will gain quite a few points when all those inquiries hit the 12 month mark.  Your utilization of 8% is really good.  Do you have any large balance on one card that exceeds 50% of the credit line?  If so, focus on that balancce.  As others have stated, your scores aren't reflecting 24 late payments so I tend to think they are at least 5 to 6 years old, based on what I have seen in my husband's report from his prior divorce issues.

There isn't much that will give you a 40 point jump, other than a charge off with a balance or the last collection falling off.  Scores climb like a marathon, not a sprint.  Good luck!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

For one, stop applying for credit.  For two, let those new accounts age.  Inquiries affect your scores for 12 months but remain for 24.  You will gain quite a few points when all those inquiries hit the 12 month mark.  Your utilization of 8% is really good.  Do you have any large balance on one card that exceeds 50% of the credit line?  If so, focus on that balancce.  As others have stated, your scores aren't reflecting 24 late payments so I tend to think they are at least 5 to 6 years old, based on what I have seen in my husband's report from his prior divorce issues.

There isn't much that will give you a 40 point jump, other than a charge off with a balance or the last collection falling off.  Scores climb like a marathon, not a sprint.  Good luck!

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Great advice.  Absolutely essential is thoughtful self-criticism: e.g. why I am I applying for so many credit cards?  How did I run into problems with making payments that caused collections and 24 (!!!) lates.

You should make a vow to apply for no more credit cards for a couple years and to implement clear money and payment management strategies that will prevent any lates in the future.

Continuing to work on your lates (i.e. getting them removed via good will letters, etc.) will be a help.

If you currently have many credit cards showing a balance, you will benefit by creating $0 balances (but keeping at least one positive balance).

Finally, if you have no open installment loans, you will benefit from adding one.  This is easy to do, very cheap, and it requires no hard pull.  Let us know if you have no open installment loans and any number of people can recommend your next step there.

[righthererightnow]

new credit card (or lower utilization on cards you already have)?