Paying off credit cards: 75+ points ??

[Anonymous]

Hello all!!

I have FICO scredit scores of 600 / 619 / 629.

I've never been late on any payments, however, my scores are so low because my credit cards were about 95% maxed.  Also, I have some open installment accounts open (several student loans in repayment, as well as an auto lease).

As far as credit cards go, here is what my current report looks like as of this week:

Bank of America Visa -->            $8055 / $8100     (MAXED)

CitiCard -->                             $6000 / $6600     (ALMOST MAXED)Wells Fargo -->                       $1500 / $1800     (ALMOST MAXED)Amex -->                                $2800 / $3000      (MAXED)

Orchard Bank -->                    $250 / $300          (MAXED)

Capital One -->                       $475 / $500          (MAXED)

So basically, im about $19,000 out of $20,000 MAXED OUT

A few days ago -- I finally paid down my credit cards !!!!

On about July 2nd, I will be applying for a NINA NO-DOC mortgage, and need a 680 for 5% down!!.. worst case scenario 660 for 10% down - (or i'll have to withdraw my accepted offer on my dream condo)                    

 =(

Here is what my credit card reporting will look like on about July 2nd:

Bank of America Visa -->         $7255 / $8100      (ALMOST MAXED)

CitiCard -->                             $200 / $6600        (CLEAR !!)Wells Fargo -->                       $200 / $1800        (CLEAR !!)Amex -->                                $200 / $3000        (CLEAR !!)

Orchard Bank -->                    $250 / $300         ACCOUNT PAID, AND CLOSED

Capital One -->                       $475 / $500         (MAXED! AHHHH.. it wont show as paid off until 7/7/07 when its reported............ do you guys think this little maxed credit card will hurt me?)

So the question is:

Do you think my credit score will go up 75+ points for paying these cards down?!

Thanks!!!!!

[Tuscani]

Easily... I am guessing 100+ if you can get your util under 10%.

Message Edited by Tuscani on 06-16-2007 09:55 PM

[Anonymous]

As far as the $7255 B of A acct that is still high balance-- I might put $4000 into it to get it down to $3255

The only thing is... I need that $4000 for the 7/6/07 P&S date!! ... so I am going to see if I can knock it to $3255, have that reported to the credit agencies for a higher FICO score...... and then see if I can get a $4000 cash advance back from that CC to go towards the P&S (but im not sure I can get one that high!)

Message Edited by MedfordMan on 06-16-2007 08:33 PM

[Anonymous]

I would think that your scores would drastically improve.  However, seeing that the Capital One CL is so low, I would just go ahead and pay $350 to get it down to around 11% utilization.  Regarding the Orchard Bank, hopefully this line was openned a long time ago as that could hurt you.

I know someone who got a stated income no doc loan (2/arm).  Their scores was around 670-680- no lates but credit history less than 2 yrs.  The bank was a little skittish but they did require them to have $4k in the bank and verified etc. 

p.s. I hate arms.

Good luck

[Anonymous]

It looks like Im going to have about 71% available credit..... rather than 10% available credit

Do you think my credit score will go up at least 75 points?

Also.. I paid the Orchard Bank $300 CL down to $0... and closed the account.. I had it open about a year... would that actually hurt me?  I figured it was just another "account with a balance"... and it had such a tiny CL i didnt need it and it was cluttering my credit report!

[MM1234]

Since you closed the Orchard you cant do much there but that was a low CL so the Util may should not hurt you.

I paid off all my debt around May 1 on ALL my cards and just this week they are still showing a balance but only $23 bucks each. My point is you may not see a score jump till around Aug 1. Sometimes it takes 2 complete months so hopefully this is ok for you. But I think it has something to do with timing and paying off before the statement dates.

About a score jump. I too was about 90% Maxed and once paid off all to ZERO and my FICOs are currently 180-192 Points higher than last year. I think the UTIL was what did it not so much the time frame of a year. So in your case, you should see nice jump of at least your needed 75 if you paid down that much. Keep us updated. Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

The thing is... Im hoping for a 75 pt. jump on my NEXT credit report (Jul 2ndish)

I hope it happens, otherwise im screwed :-(

I have an accepted offer on a dream condo........ got denied a NINA mortgage because my scores were 600, 619, 629 w/ maxed credit cards (10% credit avail.)...... I just paid the credit cards down (about 70% credit avail)... if paying off my CC's could take me to AT LEAST 660, i'd be ok... because with 660 i could do 10% down.....

I hope it works out! -- what do you guys think??

[Anonymous]

I would borrow some money and get that other card WAAAAAAAAAY down. At least long enough for you get the score up and the loan closed.
IMHO the only way you are gonna see 50-100 points is to get that utl under 10%

[CreditBob]

Here is how you get a higher credit score and unless you have the money now to pay them all down you will have to be patient. When you pay down the total combined revolving debt to 1% then your score will go up a mimimum of 25-30 fico points. Do keep in mind that the fico scoring system looks at what else is on your report such as a bankruptcy, tax lien, late payment, etc. Loans have a lower impact on your score. So just keep making the payments on time on your student loans. I paid off a personal loan and my credit score only went up 3 points. The best thing tht you can do is when you have lowered your balances pull one report & score at MYFICO and see what causes your score to chnage. That is what I have done and it really helps me.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you need a good loan broker who has experience dealing with rescoring.  30% of your score is based on utilization.  If you had a perfect score it would be (850-350)*.3 = 150pts.  So you might well get that 100 pt jump, but getting it to update by Jul 2nd, may be impossible.  There's sometimes a big lag (30 to 60 days) between pay down and reporting.

With an experience loan broker, he would be able to work it with the lenders to determine your new FICO score before it hits the CRAs.  You may have to get each CC to give you current account status (they'll do it).