How to Increase FICO 5, 4, 2

[midwestmanor]

HELP!

We need a 640 to apply for a construction loan and are at a 619.

Current 5,4,2 scores are

EXP: 619

EQUIFAX: 636

TU: 605

We don't have a mortgage but have a few credit cards.

Credit card balances:

Chase freedom $1984/$2500 limit 

Capital One $1087/$1100 limit

Capital One $0/$300 limit

Capital One $140/$1600 limit

We have no late payments, and one older collection still reporting. We need to get it raised ASAP. I know Chase off cycle and reports. Will zeroing out our chase card be enough to boost it to 640? What else could we do?

TIA

[JoeRockhead]

Your best shot is going to be to pay down the two high UTI cards, Chase will usually off cycle report if you pay it to zero. Getting rid of that maxed out Cap One balance should also be at the top of your to do list.  

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@midwestmanor wrote:

HELP!

We need a 640 to apply for a construction loan and are at a 619.

Current 5,4,2 scores are

EXP: 619

EQUIFAX: 636

TU: 605

We don't have a mortgage but have a few credit cards.

Credit card balances:

Chase freedom $1984/$2500 limit 

Capital One $1087/$1100 limit

Capital One $0/$300 limit

Capital One $140/$1600 limit

We have no late payments, and one older collection still reporting. We need to get it raised ASAP. I know Chase off cycle and reports. Will zeroing out our chase card be enough to boost it to 640? What else could we do?

TIA

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Not the best approach and possibly not sufficient.

Fico looks at:

# of accounts with balances, aggregate utilization and highest individual card utilization.

Some card utilization thresholds for increasing score are: all below 49% and all below 29%. Also a card at 90% utilization or above is considered "maxed out" further increasing score penalties.

If one card is left high, you miss out on the card score boost although you can see score gains from reduced aggregate utilization

Paying off the highest balance card does reduce # cards with balances and aggregate utilization. However, the highest individual card utilization is not reduced and it is in max out territory.

A better approach is to pay off the small balance card and pay down both of the high balance cards to under 49% UT. (say $1100/$2500 & $480/$1100). That should be sufficient. [A $1580 remaining balance also drops aggregate UT to just below 29% which many consider a threshold as well].

However, for a more substantial boost pay down the 2 higher limit cards to under 29% UT each ($720/$2500 & $310/$1100) with the other 2 cards at $0. That should boost your scores 50 points and get your middle score to past 660 imo. [Aggregate UT drops from 58% to under 19%]

[SouthJamaica]

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@midwestmanor wrote:

HELP!

We need a 640 to apply for a construction loan and are at a 619.

Current 5,4,2 scores are

EXP: 619

EQUIFAX: 636

TU: 605

We don't have a mortgage but have a few credit cards.

Credit card balances:

Chase freedom $1984/$2500 limit 

Capital One $1087/$1100 limit

Capital One $0/$300 limit

Capital One $140/$1600 limit

We have no late payments, and one older collection still reporting. We need to get it raised ASAP. I know Chase off cycle and reports. Will zeroing out our chase card be enough to boost it to 640? What else could we do?

TIA

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1. Zeroing out your Chase card will help quickly.

2. Zeroing out your $140 Capital One balance will help.

3. Reducing your $1087 Capital One balance to $300 will help.