Understanding FICO® Scoring

[mario_de]

Hello all.

I just heard about this website about a week ago and have found some very useful information and advice in your forums.  Well, now it's my turn to ask for some advice...

I'm about to purchase a home and I need to get my credit score to 650 and quickly (as in a few months timeframe.  It is currently at 604.   BTW, right now this is all dependent on the EQUIFAX score (kinda complicated so I won't waste your time)  I made some pretty bad decisions when I was younger and got under on a few credit cards and eventually had to settle them.  I am and have been on the right track for a while now and am trying to get over that 650 hump so I can get this house.  So what I am asking for is how to go about paying the following credit cards to help my score jump up as high as possible.  Here is what Equifax currently shows:

CARD                   BALANCE                 CREDIT LIMIT

Cap1                     492                                      0         (Why doesn't it show my 500 max limit?)

HSBC                   1491                                   1500

Dept store card     7094                                   7100   (normally pay about 200 a month)

Keep in mind that I have about 350 extra to put into these cards on top of my regular payments.  Which ones should I knock down first?

Another question.  I have a dispute over an old card that was sent to collections.  I paid off collections but the card shows a balance of 1800 w/ a credit limit of 1000   yet it also shows up as a charge off.  It looks like it will be coming off my credit report soon (that's what a supervisor told me... that they would have it removed because it was sent to collections and paid).  I am also working on getting an assumption letter from the collection agency... just in case.   Anyways, I had this card since June of '01 and it went sour on Oct '04.  They stopped reporting CO in Jul of 06.  Is there a possibility of this hurting my score by going away since I did have a good history from '01-'04?  

Ok, that's about it.   For those that made it this far... thanks for taking the time to read this.

-Mario

[Brammy]

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mario_de wrote:

Hello all.

I just heard about this website about a week ago and have found some very useful information and advice in your forums.  Well, now it's my turn to ask for some advice...

I'm about to purchase a home and I need to get my credit score to 650 and quickly (as in a few months timeframe.  It is currently at 604.   BTW, right now this is all dependent on the EQUIFAX score (kinda complicated so I won't waste your time)  I made some pretty bad decisions when I was younger and got under on a few credit cards and eventually had to settle them.  I am and have been on the right track for a while now and am trying to get over that 650 hump so I can get this house.  So what I am asking for is how to go about paying the following credit cards to help my score jump up as high as possible.  Here is what Equifax currently shows:

CARD                   BALANCE                 CREDIT LIMIT

Cap1                     492                                      0         (Why doesn't it show my 500 max limit?)

HSBC                   1491                                   1500

Dept store card     7094                                   7100   (normally pay about 200 a month)

Keep in mind that I have about 350 extra to put into these cards on top of my regular payments.  Which ones should I knock down first?

Another question.  I have a dispute over an old card that was sent to collections.  I paid off collections but the card shows a balance of 1800 w/ a credit limit of 1000   yet it also shows up as a charge off.  It looks like it will be coming off my credit report soon (that's what a supervisor told me... that they would have it removed because it was sent to collections and paid).  I am also working on getting an assumption letter from the collection agency... just in case.   Anyways, I had this card since June of '01 and it went sour on Oct '04.  They stopped reporting CO in Jul of 06.  Is there a possibility of this hurting my score by going away since I did have a good history from '01-'04?  

Ok, that's about it.   For those that made it this far... thanks for taking the time to read this.

-Mario

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Okay youre biggest problem right now is that all of your cards are technically maxed out. If there is anyway for you to get your utilization down,that would be the ticket.  NEver use more than 35% of your avail credit if you can help it.  From my calculations you are 99% maxed out across the board and because Cap1 does not report limits that one is viewed as 100% maxed.

Pay them down to belowe 50 for the first jump and if you get them down to 35 percent you'll probably get that bump you're looking for. 90% maxed can hurt your score almost as bad as a collection and you have three of them

[mario_de]

Thanks Brammy.  Then maybe I should take that Capital One and pay it off completely first?  Any advice on my second question about the old account that I'm disputing?  will it help me or hurt me if it comes off?

[Brammy]

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mario_de wrote:

Thanks Brammy.  Then maybe I should take that Capital One and pay it off completely first?  Any advice on my second question about the old account that I'm disputing?  will it help me or hurt me if it comes off?

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 I would just worry about it reporting a balance if it was paid.  IF it is your oldest card, it could very well hurt you by being completly deleted thus reaging your credit history. 

As far as Cap one.  If you pay it down below your current balance your high balnce will take the place of your creditl limit when figuring utilization.