Here is my first response with a lot of questions. I will place in red the questions you still have not answered. I will add in blue partial answers that that you may have in given so far.
Can you describe, for your open installment loans only....?
(a) The sum total of what you currently owe
(b) The sum total of what the loans were originally for
That would include your student loans, auto loans, etc. Do not include closed loans.
Have you paid all your cards down to zero except one? (AZEO) The remaining card should be:
(a) A true credit card (not a "charge" chard)
(b) A card in your name (not an AU card)
(c) A card with a balance of at least $5 (but otherwise a small balance).
I think you said that all of your cards are reporting at $0 except a Citi card, which you said is reporting at $2. Is that right? You'll see that this may be too small of a number. A few dollars more would be safer. Also can you confirm that is not an AU card?
Can you tell me how many cards are reporting at $0?
A score in the mid 600s suggests that you may have "negative" items on your report. (Lates, chargeoffs, liens, collections, etc.) Can you describe those? There are ways to get those removed, though it may take a while.
You later point out that your score is in the 700s. However this is your FICO 8 which is not relevant to mortgage decisions. Good to know what you have no derogs except a paid collection that is 6.7 years old. Your collection is no doubt harming your mortgage scores (FICO 8 ignores paid collections < $100). Your collection will fall off your reports at exactly 7 years (might need one more month beyond that). Thus, if you are right that the collection is 6.7 years old you just need to wait another 4-5 months before you go through pre-approval. Is that doable?
Can you describe more fully why you want your mortgage scores to go up? Is this because you will be buying a house soon? If so, when?
