I agree with JM-AM. Most are brought to this site to repair their scoring based on old, prior, self-inflicted harm!
If credit score repair is your primary goal, the very first thing I would suggest is not to first look at your CR in terms of "accounts," or even balances on those accounts.
Balances are important to fnancial recovery, but not so important when it comes to FICO recovery.
The biggest factor in FICO scorng is past payment history, and thus would be my first item for consideration. That requ8ires an analysis of derogs, not accounts or balances.
I suggest that you put together, on one sheet of paper, the basic information needed to address your credit score repair plan. Don’t focus, for FICO reasons, on accounts. Focus on individual derogs.
First, go to annualcreditreport.com, and get your free annual CR from each CRA. This report is far superior to any CR you can buy through any commercial vendor. Free. Just don’t buy scores on the site.
I would then first focus ONLY on your original credtior (OC) accounts.
Under each OC account, list each and every delinquency in your CR by date (e.g., 30/60/90+ ;lates, and any CO)
Underline the first late. That is, in most cases, your DOFD for fhat account.
Then turn to collections and charge offs. For each CA or CO, just locate the related DOFD on the OC account that led to the collection or charge-off..
Finally, know your state statute of limitations on each account.
With all of that in hand, you then know, one page, when each derog is scheduled to drop from your CR due to its own age, without any action on your part (i.e., 7 years for each monthly delinquency on an OC account, and 7 1/2 years from DOFD on the OC account for each CO or CA).
Accounts still within SOL requrie particular attention, as they could result in legal action.
For accounts with unpaid debt, you have four basic options. If outside of SOL, and you can wait tor their derogs to drop from their CR, you can choose to do nothing. If you want eariler deltion, you can PFD them.
If still within SOL, take heed! Those are the accounts that need immediate attention. You can just pay in full. That stops the possibility of legal action, but does no result in any deletion of anything they have reported to your CR. Or you couild offer a PFD. But that does not do anything, should they either decline, or choose to not evern respond. IT is a gamble with a potential of CR deletion, but with the risk that they may escalate their actions. Yuu take your chances.
For accounts that have been paid, you can send then good-will pleas for deletion.
I know that is a lot of work, but that is the information I feel you must have in order to make a comprehensive plan for credit score improvement of your prior payent history.
Where to put the money to effect recovery depends on the current status of each account, and also its potential, if remaining unpaid, to wreak further FICO damage.
The next thing to focus on is your % util of existing credit. The balances on each CC are not directly scored by FICO. FICO scores your % util of your CL on each card. So what is your current % utiil on each card? Closed cards continue to be included in your % util calcualtion until paid, after which the then disappear from this category of credit scoring.
