Understanding FICO® Scoring

[st1]

I am looking at getting my credit score increased by bringing the best utilization to get a mortgage.  Following are my scores

EQ 675 TR 688 From My fico and EX 700 from lender pull. 

I have the following balances and the limits on these cards and line of credit

Chase 434 / 5100

Chase 401/4628 (Authorized user)

Discover 932/10500

View point LOC 1284 / 14356

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Total utilization < 9%

All these accounts are closed and I keep making payments on these accounts and these are counting towards my payment history.  However I do not have any open line of credit.  I brought the utilization down from 28% to < 9% but I have not seen any bump in credit score with TU.  All the new balances have been reported to the 3 agencies.  Chase 434 / 5100 is the only one showing a balance of 1434 / 5100 which is about 29%.  The statement closes tomorrow and it should report a few days after that.  Would my score get a bump when this new  balance is reported to all the 3.  Also there was a collection entry that was more than 2 years old that was deleted and it increased my EQ score by 11 pts and there was no change to TU. 

Do I need to apply and get a credit card to show open line as suggested by my mortgage broker to bump my score.  I am trying to get the score to over 740 to get the best mortgages.

Your input is appreciated. 
Thanks in advance.

[llecs]

Is there any way to reopen the CCs you have now?

[st1]

The Credit card companies have said that they are not going to open the closed ones.  I will have to apply for new ones is what they told.

[llecs]

Do you have any other CCs reporting beside these?

Unfortunately when those accounts hit $0, they will forever be removed from CC util calculations, per FICO. Probably the best way to handle it is to slowly pay them down, evenly per util, and fight any urge by your lender to have them paid off. Eventually you'll have to though.

Opening a new CC can hurt your FICO. It would also be counter-productive to your goal of 740. Eventually you'll need to open a CC or two if you don't have any opened ones now, but I'm going against your broker's advice in saying that opening a new CC now would not help, but hurt.

Are there any baddies reporting?

[st1]

Thanks for your input.  I do not have any additional open CCs reporting.  I have a lot of other closed accounts reporting zero balance.  I am trying to keep making just over minimum payments on these accounts to keep them reporting to my payment history. 

Baddies

I have 2 old paid off collections (2 1/2 years old) which I tried getting them deleted and have not been successful, some late payments which occured 4 1/2 years ago. 

Would it help in increasing the score, if I get myself added as an authorized user on my wife's open card that report.  Would that count as an open account for me. 

If I open a new CC account I know it will take some points off.  But if I make a minimal charge on that card and when it reports would it increase my score in 2-3 months. 

Thanks again for your help.

[Crashem]

3 open accounts ideally. Personally if you can wait 6 months for mortgages, I would get 3 open trade lines now. Score is likely to be higher with new trade lines. I doubt you can get to 740 with no open revolving accounts. Be smart on what cards to get as with your current scores, you aren't a shoe in for credit and don't want wasted inquiries. Btw, why did all those trade lines get closed?

[pakman92]

I'm going to be a nit here.  The subject line should read.  Minimizing Credit Utilization....

[Crashem]

Adding as au will help assuming good card history and minimal reported utilization. Questionable whether or not getting a couple more open accounts will result in higher score in a couple of months. I think higher in 6 months. I would guess higher in 3+ months. Maybe higher soon after. Also, no open credit accounts will look weird to lender on manual review. Better have positive explanation for it. At least with open accounts, you can say you got bad advice to close your credit accounts and open new ones.