topic You noticed that too? Yes, there seems to be something ma... in Understanding FICO® Scoring

My Experian just increased 17 points this month

antredd67 — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:14:35 GMT

I just wanted to let you all know that after paying down $7,000 in credit card debt in February and paying down an additional $2000 in March, being taking off my wife's gas card as an authorized user, closing my recently opened AMEX card, and not charging anything last month, my Experian profile finally updated increasing my fico score from 650 to 667.

Right now my scores are as follows:

Exp 667

Tu 662

Efx 663

My scores in February were

Exp 619

TU 636

Efx 647

Hopefully, if I slowly close my recently opened accounts (that I don't need), and continue to get my UTI to 30% on all of my older cards, as well as continue to pay my bills on time. I should continue to raise my score.

Message Edited by antredd67 on 04-08-2007 09:14 AM

WTG!!! Just waiting till all my cards post for the month...

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 17:39:25 GMT

WTG!!! Just waiting till all my cards post for the month to see the final tally on my score increases From Jan to last week I'm at a grand total of 60 points +.

Its nice playing the game when you at least know SOME of the rules

Message Edited by Brammy on 04-08-2007 01:39 PM

Well done!!! Congrats!!! I'll be posting my own update l...

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:39:33 GMT

Well done!!! Congrats!!! I'll be posting my own update later today when I get my 'official' report from my lender.

antredd67 Congrats!!! I am guessing 17 points is the magi...

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:59:06 GMT

antredd67

Congrats!!! I am guessing 17 points is the magic number when paying down some of the CC. For the past two weeks I have received 17 point bump-ups for the same reason (paying down debt). Is the a pattern?

You noticed that too? Yes, there seems to be something ma...

Nuggy — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:27:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
antredd67
Congrats!!! I am guessing 17 points is the magic number when paying down some of the CC. For the past two weeks I have received 17 point bump-ups for the same reason (paying down debt). Is the a pattern?

You noticed that too? Yes, there seems to be something magical about this mysterious "17"... I have had a few score changes that differ by this exact number too, and I believe mine were also due to credit cards reporting with a 0 balance after having a really high UTI.

Hmmm...

Thanks for your point boost info

antredd67 — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:57:56 GMT

Now that we know that there seems to be a pattern by paying more than the minimum payment each month. When I get my bonus check sometime before July (I hope), I will pay down my highest line of credit balance that its hovering around 70% UTI, getting it finally below 50% UTI. I am sure paying that balance down will get me in the 700 club sooner than I thought, at least I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Re: My Experian just increased 17 points this month

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 21:49:23 GMT

That's funny my score watch came back with an alert that was a double digit increase I think it was just for paying on time and slightly more than the minimum on cc. I'm still waiting for the effects of the massive paydown I did a few days ago.

Re: My Experian just increased 17 points this month

roscoe211 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 01:39:35 GMT

Paying down balances really helps a lot. I have a relatively short credit history, I opened up 3 CC acounts last november and have been charging them up/paying down. Last month I was at 90 utilization, I paid all down to zero and had about 8% utilization when teh companies reported. Going from 90% to 8% had the following effect.

Exp: 607 to 665

Efx: 653 to 680

TU: 643 to 695

Kind of amazing.

Re: WTG!!! Just waiting till all my cards post for the month...

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:47:01 GMT

My mortgage banker advised me NOT to close any accounts as this might cause my credit score to go DOWN, however, at one point the balances were too high, he said to pay them down, and I paid $5,000 to $10,000 on each of them and the score went back up. My score seems to linger right around 650. How do I bring it up? What are the best steps to take to increase a FICO score?

Re: WTG!!! Just waiting till all my cards post for the month...

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:03:05 GMT

The best way to increase your score is time. Pay more than the minimum due each month. If you are required to pay down 35.00 then pay 75.00... always pay more than the minimum due. Closing accounts does flag and can decrease your score. Stability is the most important followed by low balances. Do you have any "yucky" older debt you can work on ridding your report of? If you have an account that is 6+ years old and it is a not so hot one you can dispute based on timing. They say 7 years since last activity but sometimes they will take them off your report sooner. Does not hurt to try!

Re: My Experian just increased 17 points this month

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:13:37 GMT

Hello and congratulations on your score increase! I've recently raised my score, too, by making a significant pay down on my revolving accounts. One thing, however, that I think you should know is that closing your unused revolving accounts can actually lower your score since doing so will lower your overall available credit to balance ratio. I read this somewhere on the MyFico website as well as on other websites providing credit tips.

Continue with the paydowns and you will soon be in the 700+ score range. I know this from experience. One year ago my fico score was 585 and today it is 718 (a huge leap from "poor" to "good"). My goal is to get my score to 750 and watch it climb from there. I am a student and would like to take out a private student loan in about a year at a decent interest rate. At the rate things are going, I will surely see my dream become a reality!

Re: My Experian just increased 17 points this month

vrocks — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:05:26 GMT

Good job... But one thing, stop closing accounts! Doing so will hurt your score instead of help it! By closing your accounts you are shortening the gap between your balances and your available credit. Keep them open. Creditors enjoy extending credit to people who aren't maxed out. Having only 1 or 2 forms of credit is a sign that you probably aren't a good candidate for more credit.