topic Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

bronxboy10 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 16:21:32 GMT

Hello everyone!

Long time lurker, first post. I started working on rebuilding my credit scores in April 2014. I registered for Creditkarma and have only been tracking my TU score. I started with a 608 in April and am currently at 614. Here is a snapshot at my credit profile (according to TU):

Credit Card Utilization- 99% (D)

Payment History- 98% on time, 152 out of 155 payments (C)

Derogatory Remarks- 0 (A)

Avg Age of Credit- 4 yr 6 mo, oldest account 7 yr 9 mo, newest account 2 yr 0 mo (C)

Total Accounts- 9, 5 open 4 closed (D)

Credit Inquiries- 1 (B)

Now, I have used the credit score simulator and checked off "pay off my credit cards" and my score supposedly would go up to 698. I only have 1 CC, a Cap 1 Platinum with a limit of $1,250. I just had a CLI of $500 on this card through the luv button on their website (only a SP) to increase from $750 to $1,250.

If I pay off the balance down to 10% of the limit, would my credit score go from 614 to 698 in 1 - 2 months? I really need to app for a few more cards since I have such a low credit limit and therefore horrible utilization.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

gdale6 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:10:19 GMT

@bronxboy10 wrote:
Hello everyone!

Long time lurker, first post. I started working on rebuilding my credit scores in April 2014. I registered for Creditkarma and have only been tracking my TU score. I started with a 608 in April and am currently at 614. Here is a snapshot at my credit profile (according to TU):

Credit Card Utilization- 99% (D)
Payment History- 98% on time, 152 out of 155 payments (C)
Derogatory Remarks- 0 (A)
Avg Age of Credit- 4 yr 6 mo, oldest account 7 yr 9 mo, newest account 2 yr 0 mo (C)
Total Accounts- 9, 5 open 4 closed (D)
Credit Inquiries- 1 (B)

Now, I have used the credit score simulator and checked off "pay off my credit cards" and my score supposedly would go up to 698. I only have 1 CC, a Cap 1 Platinum with a limit of $1,250. I just had a CLI of $500 on this card through the luv button on their website (only a SP) to increase from $750 to $1,250.

If I pay off the balance down to 10% of the limit, would my credit score go from 614 to 698 in 1 - 2 months? I really need to app for a few more cards since I have such a low credit limit and therefore horrible utilization.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Credit Karma is a FAKO score you cannot use it to judge your true Fico. I can tell you that by paying down util of 98% to below 10% is going to give you a nice Fico score boost. There is no memory on utilization as soon as it reports to the CRAs there would be a score adjustment. There are what are known as buckets in Fico and it may take a few months to get into a better scoring bucket if you have been carrying high util for awhile, this boost would not be as dramatic as the first would be by paying the cards off and down.

Welcome to the board

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

TheGardner — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:12:36 GMT

Agreed, you will get a nice boost. Score will depend on how late you were and how long ago the lates were.

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 19:18:15 GMT

You mention having total accounts 9 (5Open/4Close) with a Dand avg age is 4 yrs- a C

I have 8mos of history and total 2 accounts? and get F and F

if you apped today and i apped who would get a credit card? Why just becoz D is better than F;

lol

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

alvon123 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 20:46:57 GMT

@gdale6 wrote:
@bronxboy10 wrote:
Hello everyone!

Long time lurker, first post. I started working on rebuilding my credit scores in April 2014. I registered for Creditkarma and have only been tracking my TU score. I started with a 608 in April and am currently at 614. Here is a snapshot at my credit profile (according to TU):

Credit Card Utilization- 99% (D)
Payment History- 98% on time, 152 out of 155 payments (C)
Derogatory Remarks- 0 (A)
Avg Age of Credit- 4 yr 6 mo, oldest account 7 yr 9 mo, newest account 2 yr 0 mo (C)
Total Accounts- 9, 5 open 4 closed (D)
Credit Inquiries- 1 (B)

Now, I have used the credit score simulator and checked off "pay off my credit cards" and my score supposedly would go up to 698. I only have 1 CC, a Cap 1 Platinum with a limit of $1,250. I just had a CLI of $500 on this card through the luv button on their website (only a SP) to increase from $750 to $1,250.

If I pay off the balance down to 10% of the limit, would my credit score go from 614 to 698 in 1 - 2 months? I really need to app for a few more cards since I have such a low credit limit and therefore horrible utilization.

Thanks in advance for the help!
Credit Karma is a FAKO score you cannot use it to judge your true Fico. I can tell you that by paying down util of 98% to below 10% is going to give you a nice Fico score boost. There is no memory on utilization as soon as it reports to the CRAs there would be a score adjustment. There are what are known as buckets in Fico and it may take a few months to get into a better scoring bucket if you have been carrying high util for awhile, this boost would not be as dramatic as the first would be by paying the cards off and down.

Welcome to the board

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

bronxboy10 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 21:34:09 GMT

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah the TU is a FAKO, 614 right now. I have 3 90 day lates, all of which are 3+ years old. On EX I have no lates in the past 3 years. On EQ and TU, I have 3 lates in the past 3 years. The last 3 lates were on an auto loan & I have been on time the past 11 months. I'll try a goodwill letter to see if I can get those off. Not sure if I should try to goodwill the 90 day lates from 2011- all were credit cards that I fell behind on right out of college. How would you all suggest I approach the goodwill letters?

I've had my Cap 1 platinum since 2011- not a single late payment. That's my only card right now.

I'll pull my 3 FICO scores when I pay this credit card off next week.

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

gdale6 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 22:02:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You mention having total accounts 9 (5Open/4Close) with a Dand avg age is 4 yrs- a C

I have 8mos of history and total 2 accounts? and get F and F

if you apped today and i apped who would get a credit card? Why just becoz D is better than F;

lol

You cannot give one bit of credence to CK, the ratings of ABCDF are absolutely useless and do not apply to the Fico scoring system.

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

gdale6 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 22:06:07 GMT

@bronxboy10 wrote:
Thanks for the replies!

Yeah the TU is a FAKO, 614 right now. I have 3 90 day lates, all of which are 3+ years old. On EX I have no lates in the past 3 years. On EQ and TU, I have 3 lates in the past 3 years. The last 3 lates were on an auto loan & I have been on time the past 11 months. I'll try a goodwill letter to see if I can get those off. Not sure if I should try to goodwill the 90 day lates from 2011- all were credit cards that I fell behind on right out of college. How would you all suggest I approach the goodwill letters? That is your only option, you want the 90 day or better lates gone over the 30-60s, 90+ affects your Fico the entire time the they are on record, 30-60s typically just 2 years.

I've had my Cap 1 platinum since 2011- not a single late payment. That's my only card right now.

I'll pull my 3 FICO scores when I pay this credit card off next week. You will need to wait for the bank to actually update the balance(s) at the CRA with Cap-1 they report on the statement cut day or soon there after.

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

Anonymous — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 22:37:32 GMT

I paid mine down from 99% to 31% overall utilization and went from 587 to 622, I still have 3 cards showing maxed so once those get under 61% I imagine it will go higher. I'd say you could expect a good jump. My scores are from equifax score watch. My Credit karma score was 40 points higher than my true lender pull for my transunion report.

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 02:11:04 GMT

@gdale

Thanks i understand creditkarma isnt exactly reliable score but is a good indicator.

Is it any different with TUPlus or SmartCredit?

Myfico TU and TUFico Banks have differences in score points? have you noticed so?

Is scores from Cap1 for TU any reliable. I know they are FAKO too but anywhere near TU myFico

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

burghpa — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 02:48:25 GMT

You will definitely see a big score boost, but you can't always go with the Simulator number, it is just a ballpark figure.

Since none of the GW letter had any success, i paid off all debts, and brought down the util to below 3%, thats how my score jumped this much in 18 months, plus no *new* lates, and only one account reporting balances, rest reporting zero. (once in a while a second card reported a small amount as well, but didn't decrease any points yet).

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

bronxboy10 — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 18:14:07 GMT

Thanks again for the replies!

Sorry to hear none of the GW letters worked for you. After doing more research on these forums, I have decided to ask to have the TL's for my 3 lates from 2010 deleted from my reports. One clarification- I have 2 90's and 1 120. The 90's are with Discover and BoA. The 120 is with First Premier Bank. If I am able to get these 3 TLs removed, not only will I have 0 60/90/120 day lates on my report, but my avg age of credit will significantly increase! I will be sending all the GW letters this weekend, I will make sure to update this post if any TLs are removed.

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

burghpa — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 01:32:52 GMT

Those 90 day late and 120 day late will hurt you for 7 years. Keep sending them GW letters. Good luck.

i have so many baddies (several 120 lates, 2 collections and 3 charge offs), i keep sending GW letters every month.

Discover GW success!!!

bronxboy10 — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 18:58:47 GMT

UPDATE-8/26/2014

I have some fantastic news on my first round of GW letters. I sent 3 GW letters on 8/11/2014. The three companies I sent letters to were Bank of America, First Premier Bank, and Discover. Yesterday, when I came home from work, I noticed I had a letter in my mailbox from Discover. Holding my breath, I opened the letter, which read:

Dear (my name),

Thank you for your recent inquiry concerning your Discover card account.

We have updated your Credit Bureau file to reflect the following change(s) to the above referenced account:

UPDATED THE ACCOUNT HISTORY TO:ZERO LATE PAYMENTS

If you have questions about your account, please call 1-800-DISCOVER (1-800-347-2683). Knowledgeable Account Managers are available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sincerely,

Account Review Department

This is so exciting because I had 7 missed payments on the Discover tradeline- 3 30s, 2 60s, and 2 90s. Just pulled my Experian credit report, the Discover tradeline is now listed under "Accounts in Good Standing"

One down, two to go!

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

dursty87 — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 19:19:21 GMT

That's awesome. Congrats on the success with Discover. Good luck with the others

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

bronxboy10 — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 12:58:38 GMT

Well,

On Friday I got a letter back from First Premier Bank stating they report accurately to credit reporting bureaus and will not be removing my tradeline.

On Saturday I got a letter from BoA saying they investigated the account and found no inaccuracies, so they will not be removing the TL.

A positive note- I sent my second round of GW letters to these agencies on Friday. The only other negative on my report is an open 3 yr Chase auto loan set to mature in Jul 2015 with 3 30 lates about a year ago. Sent a GW to Chase on Friday for this as well, asking to remove the 3 30 day lates. Crossing my fingers this go-round!

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

bronxboy10 — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 18:23:58 GMT

Update: 10/8/2014

More success! I got a letter on Monday from Chase Auto Finance stating they will be removing 3 30 day late payments from all credit bureaus!!! Now my 3 year car loan, which is set to mature in July 2015, is completely clean and appears under "Accounts in Good Standing"

UNfortunately, I have also sent 4 GW letters to both First Premier Bank and Bank of America to have 2 credit card tradelines removed, since the TLs are 4+ years old. So far, they have refused to delete the TLs, but I will keep trying!

To recap- I started back in August with 4 accounts listed under "potentially negative remarks". Now I only have 2 accounts listed under "potentially negative remarks", and both accounts were closed 4+ years ago!

Question to the community- since I now have 100% on time payments for the past 4 years on 1 credit card, 1 auto loan, and 3 student loan accounts- do you think credit card companies would still put a major focus on those 2 remaining negative accounts?

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

kjel — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 22:45:53 GMT

@bronxboy10 wrote:
Update: 10/8/2014

More success! I got a letter on Monday from Chase Auto Finance stating they will be removing 3 30 day late payments from all credit bureaus!!! Now my 3 year car loan, which is set to mature in July 2015, is completely clean and appears under "Accounts in Good Standing"

UNfortunately, I have also sent 4 GW letters to both First Premier Bank and Bank of America to have 2 credit card tradelines removed, since the TLs are 4+ years old. So far, they have refused to delete the TLs, but I will keep trying!

To recap- I started back in August with 4 accounts listed under "potentially negative remarks". Now I only have 2 accounts listed under "potentially negative remarks", and both accounts were closed 4+ years ago!

Question to the community- since I now have 100% on time payments for the past 4 years on 1 credit card, 1 auto loan, and 3 student loan accounts- do you think credit card companies would still put a major focus on those 2 remaining negative accounts?

How long has it been since you have been delinquent on an account?

Re: Discover GW success!!!

Blessed221 — Wed, 08 Oct 2014 23:06:21 GMT

Congrats
bronxboy10 do you mind sharing your good will letter by pm me please I need so much help with a short time to do it in Im applying for a mortgage in a few weeks. Thanks in advance

Re: Decrease Utilization- Instant Score Increase?

bronxboy10 — Thu, 09 Oct 2014 01:15:50 GMT

kjel- My last late payment was September 2010.

Blessed221- pm sent