% of Available Credit Used

[jamie2066]

I am using 89% of my available revolving credit, which is the major factor why my score is so low.  I only have a few lates and they are 6 years old.

Would it help if I asked for credit line increases from a few of my credit cards/store accounts to lower the utilization % of my available credit?  Or will the inquiries they may do to determine if I can get an increase, negate the positive effect of a credit line increase?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Raising your limits would help your utilization and most cards only do a SP. However, with your current utilization so high you may not get enough to make a difference. Can you pay them down? Doing so and then asking for CLI would give your scores a boost.

[Anonymous]

It all depends on what your goal is. If you want to get your score up to apply for a big purchase, then you'll probably need CLIs plus significant payments. If your goal is to be able to apply for more revolving credit or something other than a major purchase, then consider a bank/CU loan. Take out a loan to pay the cards down. That way your utilization goes down dramatically and you'll likely pay much less interest (depending on how good your overall credit is and assuming you're not having to use a loan shark company).

Why do you want to reduce your utilization?

[Anonymous]

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@jamie2066 wrote:

I am using 89% of my available revolving credit, which is the major factor why my score is so low.  I only have a few lates and they are 6 years old.

Would it help if I asked for credit line increases from a few of my credit cards/store accounts to lower the utilization % of my available credit?  Or will the inquiries they may do to determine if I can get an increase, negate the positive effect of a credit line increase?

Thanks

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I have a hunch that requests for CLIs won't be too well received with your current utilization. The answer here (I'm afraid) is to get them paid down.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that if you float at such a high UTI some of your creditors might actually lower your limit which would be real bad.

This happened to me one time and put my overall UTI at 120%

I'm afraid the best answer is to start paying them down, once you have them down then asking for an increase is more likely to be approved.

[lynseysmom]

I'm in a similar situation, I have 2 30 day lates one from May 2010 and one from August 2010 and those,  along with my high utilization are still holding me down.  Despite that I have paid 3 mortgages off, have not had a late payment on anything for over 6.5 years, have a great credit mix, my mortgage FICO's are sitting at 597, 603 and 635.  Was hoping to sell my current house this spring and move but I'm not willing to do that to have to work with bottom feeders to get a mortgage when I already have a good mortgage.  In February my total credit card utilization was 66% with 10 of 13 cards reporting a balance.  Since then I have paid off 4 cards entirely, so now have 6 of 13 cards reporting a balance, and have brought my total utilization down to 50% and did not get a single point from any of the three bureaus.  So I thought, well I'm doing good, I'm not in a lot of debt given my income, so tried for two credit line incresases, both were declined.  So I'm thinking I will garden for a bit, let the last two baddies fall off, throw everything I have towards my credit cards and maybe reconsider moving next year.  However, it does get frustrating when you see poeple post that have bankruptcies, charge offs, collections and 60+ day lates more recent then my own and have higher FICO scores, I sometimes think I'd have a better score if I just filed BK on it all and then rebuilt from there.  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Why do you want to reduce your utilization?

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Why wouldn't he?

I agree with the others above that with 87% utilization any requests for CLIs will not be well received and could in fact result in CLDs.  Classic case here of don't poke the sleeping bear.

[medicgrrl]

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@lynseysmom wrote:

I'm in a similar situation, I have 2 30 day lates one from May 2010 and one from August 2010 and those,  along with my high utilization are still holding me down.  Despite that I have paid 3 mortgages off, have not had a late payment on anything for over 6.5 years, have a great credit mix, my mortgage FICO's are sitting at 597, 603 and 635.  Was hoping to sell my current house this spring and move but I'm not willing to do that to have to work with bottom feeders to get a mortgage when I already have a good mortgage.  In February my total credit card utilization was 66% with 10 of 13 cards reporting a balance.  Since then I have paid off 4 cards entirely, so now have 6 of 13 cards reporting a balance, and have brought my total utilization down to 50% and did not get a single point from any of the three bureaus.  So I thought, well I'm doing good, I'm not in a lot of debt given my income, so tried for two credit line incresases, both were declined.  So I'm thinking I will garden for a bit, let the last two baddies fall off, throw everything I have towards my credit cards and maybe reconsider moving next year.  However, it does get frustrating when you see poeple post that have bankruptcies, charge offs, collections and 60+ day lates more recent then my own and have higher FICO scores, I sometimes think I'd have a better score if I just filed BK on it all and then rebuilt from there.  

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Have you considered asking for EE from the CRA to remove those lates?  

[Anonymous]

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@medicgrrl wrote:

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Have you considered asking for EE from the CRA to remove those lates?  

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Good idea since they have about a year left on them, this could work and help your scores quickly.  Make sure you pay that utilization down significantly, though.

[NRB525]

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@jamie2066 wrote:

I am using 89% of my available revolving credit, which is the major factor why my score is so low.  I only have a few lates and they are 6 years old.

Would it help if I asked for credit line increases from a few of my credit cards/store accounts to lower the utilization % of my available credit?  Or will the inquiries they may do to determine if I can get an increase, negate the positive effect of a credit line increase?

Thanks

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How much is your outstanding balance? Can you list out the cards you have, their limits and current balances?

Often times it depends on which bank the cards are with, as to options for increasing CL.