High Utilization Killed Me

[Amber-Lissette]

Hello all. So I started my credit building and repair in December. Scores were low 500s, I got them up to 600 by Aprilish. I have no bankruptcys, medical collections of less than 10,000, and 3 old cellphone bills. I have student loans in deferrment (one reported late 90 days even though it wasn't supposed to). I have 6 credit cards- all 250 limit except Capital one which is 500 and NFCU which is 1600. I moved for work in June and got up to 90% utilization (it's 90% as of right now but I've set up payments for next wednesday to pay all off except the 1600 balance, which will be down to 1000). My score is back down to low 500s!! I have collections that have fallen off since January but I suppose its my high utilization that has completely decimated me. I'm very discouraged at the moment, just looking for any insights or options- will it take forever to get them back up or can I expect to see a measurable change after paying them next week (once they report)? Obviously I won't be letting this happen again

[Anonymous]

Utilization has absolutely no memory, so your scores will rebound extremely quickly.

Cornelius has $0 in CC debt and credit scores around 700.  He has 3 credit cards with $1000 limits and maxes them all out, bringing his CC debt up to $3000 and his scores tank to 550.  If he pays off that $3000 the following month, once those accounts report his score will be right back at 700.  That's the good news about utilization, that it can be fixed very quickly... less than 30 days, or however it takes your creditor(s) to report once being paid down/off.