topic Re: Utilization & score increase?? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Utilization & score increase??

medicgrrl — Sun, 03 May 2009 12:58:51 GMT

I have 2 CO's that are currently showing a balance and causing my utilization to be 187%. If those accounts show a 0 balance and utilization is less than 100% but still high will I see a score increase? Or do I need to bring my total utilization down to below 85% before I see any increase in score? I am trying to "find" 35 points and this is my last option of doing so.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

Anonymous — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:14:42 GMT

If I understand you correctly, you have 2 CO's from previous CC accounts. The CO's show a current balance and zero CL. They are causing you to have high utilization (187%).

If the above scenario is correctly understood, then yes, if you can get these to show a zero balance and thereby reduce your utilization substantially, you should see a FICO boost.

However, this will depend upon your current balances of open CC's. How high is util on current accounts? If the CO's go to zero balance, what will your util be? (Sum of Balances DIVIDED by sum of CL's).

My experience has seen the most movement at the following util thresh holds: 7%, 9%, 11%, 20%, 25%, 35%, 50%, 70%, 90% and 100%. Each time these thresh holds were breached up or down I saw corresponding movement in my FICO.

Also, util percentage is one factor, but total dollar of balances is a factor too. The higher the real dollar balance, the more your FICO will be affected, EVEN IF your util percentages are fine (example: 100k in CL with 7K balances is well within percentage standards, but you will see FICO improvement by reducing the dollar amount).

Re: Utilization & score increase??

medicgrrl — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:02:08 GMT

My overall utilization will be just under 70% with my visa at 75%. I can PIF on the 29th but unfortunately it will update again on 5/22 I am trying to figure out if I can make loan application at the end of this month or if I will have to wait until the end of June when my accounts are PIF. I had all the CA's deleted from my CR but still have the 2 CO's from 5 yrs ago that will be remaining along with 3x30 in the last 5 years. I am not sure if I will see any boost in score whatsoever for the CA's since the CO's are still there. I am trying to get those last 35 points on EQ.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

MizzB — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:13:13 GMT

@medicgrrl wrote:
My overall utilization will be just under 70% with my visa at 75%. I can PIF on the 29th but unfortunately it will update again on 5/22 I am trying to figure out if I can make loan application at the end of this month or if I will have to wait until the end of June when my accounts are PIF. I had all the CA's deleted from my CR but still have the 2 CO's from 5 yrs ago that will be remaining along with 3x30 in the last 5 years. I am not sure if I will see any boost in score whatsoever for the CA's since the CO's are still there. I am trying to get those last 35 points on EQ.

I think you'll see a boost. I had severe overutilization on one card (over 200%) and high-utilization on another. Even with CO's and CA's, I still saw a 50+ score boost with EQ and a 73+ score boost with TU. Good luck.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

Anonymous — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:23:22 GMT

Short of some sort of emergency, I always recommend waiting if you can expect or reasonably expect improvement in your FICO or CR even if FICO does not improve.

Remember that actual CR content is just as important. And if you can get a slightly better APR or terms, then a little patience pays dividends. So don't rush to the app line, wait, get it in your cross hairs, then "sqeeze gently" don't jerk Yeah, I like to shoot.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

medicgrrl — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:01:45 GMT

I am going for a USDA loan. I was in the mortgage industry for 15 years so I am comfortable with my plan. Not to mention the huge savings in payment vs rent and my 800 miles a week I drive now! Thanks for all the advise. Hopefully this will get me where I need to be

Re: Utilization & score increase??

medicgrrl — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:07:40 GMT

MissB,

Did you still have high utilization on the one card when you saw that boost? What was your overall utilization wheny you saw that large of an increase? Where there other things that caused the boost at the same time?

Re: Utilization & score increase??

MizzB — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:54:29 GMT

@medicgrrl wrote:
MissB,
Did you still have high utilization on the one card when you saw that boost? What was your overall utilization wheny you saw that large of an increase? Where there other things that caused the boost at the same time?

My overall utilization is 1% now on Equifax report and 0% on my Transunion report. Those were the last three cards to pay off. I dont believe anything else resulted in my increase. My overall utilization when I paid the cards off was 120% due to a CLD with one of the cards. I still have a CO and a couple of collections so I'm not sure how that affected my score boost.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

medicgrrl — Mon, 04 May 2009 01:59:19 GMT

So you paid all your cc off. Did you do it in a lump sum or did you pay it down and see an increase in score when you brought it down below 100%?

Re: Utilization & score increase??

MizzB — Mon, 04 May 2009 02:54:27 GMT

@medicgrrl wrote:
So you paid all your cc off. Did you do it in a lump sum or did you pay it down and see an increase in score when you brought it down below 100%?

I paid all the cards down at one time, but they updated on my credit file in 2 parts. The first two cards HSBC updated and I saw a 15 point increase. Then my last card updated and I got a major boost (50 on EQ and the 73 on TU). I think I would have gotten more than the 15 point increase if I wouldn't have had two medical collections added simultaneous to the first two cards being paid off.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

medicgrrl — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:12:51 GMT

tyvm for the info!! Hopefully I will get the boost I need this month. I guess if not then I will be waiting until June to make loan application. I just need to make this move ASAP...it's so frustrating! I know what you mean about being laid off sucks. That is what caused my credit mess too.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

MizzB — Mon, 04 May 2009 03:17:03 GMT

If its critical to have your updated score, can you pay to have a rapid rescoring done through your lender?

Re: Utilization & score increase??

Anonymous — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:36:21 GMT

You can also "dispute" balances online directly through the CRA's which has no cost. In the past I have had them respond with updates within days to a couple weeks. Each CCC will be a little different in response time.

This is a valid dispute since the reported balance is in fact inaccurate.

Re: Utilization & score increase??

medicgrrl — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:48:25 GMT

So everything has been updated on my report now (see scores below) I am down to 81% utilization on 3 cards. I paid off JCP today and will be paying off the visa at the end of the month and will have the MC down to 1% next month. Do you think I will get another 30 points by doing that?