HELOC, Utilization and FICO Scores

[ozgirl]

If I substantially pay down a HELOC will it have a positive effect on my scores? Or is it just an exercise in futility (other than making myself feel better-- I am trying to be debt free). I am paying down all credit card balances to below 3% (only two cards with minimal credit limits) I am just looking for a big bump in my scores...is it just a function of time and getting rid of lates?

[Anonymous]

Yes it will. In short, helocs are looked at like a giant credit card

[Anonymous]

"is it just a function of time and getting rid of lates? "

Generally speaking, yes ozgirl. Unless of course you can write goodwill letters, and have the lates removed. Case in point: I had a total of 34 lates(all 30 days) on my CR's back in August. Now the lates stand at 27. So 7 have fallen off, by pure aging off the reports. And I saw a slight increase in the scores.