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@Anonymous wrote:
How long to wait after paying down cards to apply for new ones / ask for CLI?
My utilization has been at 100% for over a year now, but I will now pay all cards off in full with the goal of getting further credit cards/increases. This will make my FICO skyrocket, but I’m wondering how long I need to wait for lenders to not deny me for “high utilization was too recent”, which I’ve seen before. After spending 12 months at 100%, do they want to see something like 3 months at low utilization before approving me again?
1. At present FICO's algorithms base utilization on a snapshot of a moment in time, and do not take into account "trending" data such as how long you were maxed out and how long you weren't.
2. So you should pay them all off, letting one report a small balance each month before paying it off.
3. Once they've all reported, see what your FICO scores are and be guided accordingly.
To expand on what others have said, if you plan on applying for credit products from different creditors than you already have, you could apply as soon as the lower UTIL has reported to the bureaus.
On a related note, do not be surprised if some of your current creditors balance chase you. If you've been at 100% util for a year, that is a very real possibility.
I agree completely with the 6 month rule I know some Cards do give an option to CLI after 61 days BUT be sure to research which ones will do a HP when you ask and which ones will do an Automatic CLI for you! Avoid the HP if possible to help you raise your score and show responsible use