Score Increase

[wynona01]

Hi All,

I have quite a few bad accounts due to fall off this year Yaaaayy. Right now i have two active credit card accounts one is rewards 660 visa, credit limit is 500, 307 balance, available credit 198 (i cut the card up, I'm not using it just trying to pay it off. I also have a imagine master card credit limit 1,100, 1009.25, available credit 90.75 (i also cut this card up as well to pay the balance way down).

I know the balances on these are high, I plan on paying about 200 on my rewards 660 to get the balance down more, now for imagine I want to make a nice payment as well, how much should i pay to get the utilization down on these credit cards. I want  my scores to go up as well.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[fishbjc]

Get them below 10%.  Do you have any lates?  What are your current fico scores?

Don't close the cards.

[wynona01]

I do have one late payment showing in august for imagine but since then no lates, now as for rewards i have one 60 day late and two 30 day late of March 07, i  have not been late since then. My current scores are:

experian 567 equifax 561 and transunion 520.

I'm really trying to get  my scores up to at least the mid 600's at the end of this year because i want to purchase a new car and i want  a decent interest rate.  I have tons of student loans but they are in deferment until i finish school next year. I dont think they are affecting anything I think, i jus want to get my credit cards down.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@wynona01 wrote:

I do have one late payment showing in august for imagine but since then no lates, now as for rewards i have one 60 day late and two 30 day late of March 07, i have not been late since then. My current scores are:

experian 567 equifax 561 and transunion 520.

I'm really trying to get my scores up to at least the mid 600's at the end of this year because i want to purchase a new car and i want a decent interest rate. I have tons of student loans but they are in deferment until i finish school next year. I dont think they are affecting anything I think, i jus want to get my credit cards down.

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The lates are going to hurt for a while. The 30's fade pretty quickly --after the 12-month mark, they won't count as much. The 60 will count more like a 30 after its 12-month birthday, and then after another year, it won't be so bad.

I'm a little confused by the lates on the Rewards: are they like a chain of 30-30-60 that ended last March? Or are they sort of scattered around? If so, what are the dates on each?

Roughly speaking, your scores will get an improvement next month, if the most recent Rewards card late was in March 07, and another in August when the Imagine 30-day goes over 1 year. And then there should be a final bump in March 09, assuming that your 60-day was in March 07.

[wynona01]

Well my first late for rewards 660 was September 06, then it was reported another 30 day in Feb 07, March 07 it was reported 60 days late.  I have not been late since then. I was only late one time on the Imagine credit card that was in august 07, i wasn't late since then. I have been making more than just the minimum payments but both credit cards adds an 8.00 account maintenance fee which is a bummer, but I'm ready to get these credit cards balances down.

[fishbjc]

Try sending a goodwill letter to each credit, see if you can get anything removed.

[wynona01]

.........Sadly to say i tried that and i was turned down solid..............but i think i will try again just to see what happens, but until then I think my best bet is to get the cards down to a decent balance especially Imagine.

[Anonymous]

your situation is not as bad as it seems.  your fico score is on the down side.  I am not trying to out do you, but dont feel bad for having 1500- on your cards i have over double the credit debt youve got.  It takes time.  There are plenty of people who have overdone it to the extreme.  Keep your head up.  Throw in a few extra dollars a month, be conservative as far as your spending goes and give it time.However if you do have the money, cut them down to 10%.  I am working on getting their too.  I feel your pain!

[Anonymous]

Your best chance for a GW to succeed is probably after you have paid most if not all of your balance off. Reason being that you have shown that you are less likely to be late at that point and that you are using your credit more resposibly.