Hello all, I have been rebuilding my credit for a few years since losing my job due to an injury (non work related). I have a solid grip on making payments on time and above my minimum requirements. I am looking to break the 700 club so that I can buy a house. I know 700 is not needed for a mortgage but it is my desired score for that type of purchase. A little background on my situation. The last score update was on 2/17/21 showed EQ 631/TU 641/EX 644. Mortgage score versions are a little lower but have not pulled them since Late 12/2020
Negatives:
-- 3 unpaid Coll from 2018 (2 of these have since been paid, and should be deleted from reports within 30-45 days, I have this in writing to dispute if not deleted)
-- CC uti of 56% (have 4 CCs balances: 46/500, 0/200, 20/500, and 1671/1900-- this one was used for a major purchase, will have this paid of in 3 bi-weekly payments, so end of March) I plan to pay the open credit cards down to an overall uti of 9% and maintain them on a low reported uti.
-- Repo from 2018 (car was sold in aution and the remaining balance of $6781 is with a CA but they have not reported to credit yet. Keeps being sold to different agencies.)
-- A few 30 & 60 day lates from 2016, and 2018.
Positives:
All CCs paid as agreed
Student loans paid as agreed, deffered due to being in school
Car loan since 9/2020 Paid as agreed
Kikoff installment loan since 11/2020 paid as agreed
I have read other forums that there isn't any benefit to paying negative items in FICO scoring but if a manual review is done it can look better. My question is should I focus on paying off the last collection and the Repo accounts from 2018 or use those funds for my active CC accounts? If I can pay the collection account and it is deleted then the only major negative will be the repossession and the 30/60 day lates. Any and all tips are welcomed.
