How long until 700 club?

sandwich5027 · ‎03-19-2015

My current score is 665 TU Fico.I have no negative items on report Currently have a 55% utilization rate but paid approx 3k to get rate down to 40% utilization rate, has not been updated un report yet.

So around 9k in revolving debt and 23k total credit on all cards.$14k credit available after Fico update next month. I have 14 TU inquiries that will be off in Sept..9

AAA is 2 years and oldest account opened 6 or so yrs ago.

So are inquiries and aaa holding me back? I don't understand? You would think i would be higher.

Fico says my payments are exceptional, credit used fair, new accounts fair and other category fair too.

....Any feedback appreciated! !

Anonymous · ‎03-19-2015

So are inquiries and aaa holding me back?

Yes, but mostly it's your untilization that's hurting your score. Get it down under 10% on one card, and have the others report zero balances. That, and just a bit more age should get you to 700.

sandwich5027 · ‎03-19-2015

Would it be foolish to open another account to help get utilization down? Or should i just slowly pay cards off.

Anonymous · ‎03-19-2015

I would not open another account just to help utilization. It would further diminish your AAoA, add to inquiries and, with your current profile, the limit would likely be small.

tonyjones · ‎03-19-2015

@sandwich5027 wrote:
Would it be foolish to open another account to help get utilization down? Or should i just slowly pay cards off.

I would hold off, It might bring overall down but your individual utilization might be high still unless you do some BT. Try to pay them down to under 10% you should then see a big increase.

Current Fico Scores: (November 2024)

Anonymous · ‎03-20-2015

@sandwich5027 wrote:
My current score is 665 TU Fico.I have no negative items on report Currently have a 55% utilization rate but paid approx 3k to get rate down to 40% utilization rate, has not been updated un report yet.

So around 9k in revolving debt and 23k total credit on all cards.$14k credit available after Fico update next month. I have 14 TU inquiries that will be off in Sept..9

AAA is 2 years and oldest account opened 6 or so yrs ago.

So are inquiries and aaa holding me back? I don't understand? You would think i would be higher.

Fico says my payments are exceptional, credit used fair, new accounts fair and other category fair too.

....Any feedback appreciated! !

Your utilization is 40%, needs to be down to anywhere between 9 to 1 percent.

AAoA is fine, it will grow when it grows...but that is not what is keeping you below 700

Inquiries are too many, but if you have 14 that are dropping off in Sept, that means they are past a year old and aren't affecting your credit as bad any longer?

As mentioned, you have to do whatever it takes to get your utilization below 30% but if you are trying to optimize your score, you will have to get it below 10 percent. Utilization is 30% of your score. So everything, aside for making payments on time hinges on you getting this right.

My AAoA is currently at <1 year with my oldest account only 29 months. And my current scores are going up to 770s in coming months after taking a dip due to adding 5 new accounts since the end of January.

NRB525 · ‎03-20-2015

OP are you absolutely positively cross your heart sure there are NO negatives in your file? Ever?

If so, what is your INQ history? Month and year of the INQ in the last 12 months? Count of INQ? Any new CC resulting?

The scores are from MyFICO, not TU directly, is that correct?

In the mid 600's, one or more of the above three situations is most likely in effect.

Utilization may be an impact of a few points, but proposing reducing util from 40% as the solution, no, 40% simply is not strong enough to push a solid file that far below 700. Something else is the key.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765

sandwich5027 · ‎03-20-2015

Nothing negative on report now. I had 2 paid collections from years ago, but they were deleted over 3 years ago. I always seem to have high inquries year after year.All inquries are from sept 2014- Jan 2015

The score calculator says paying on time for 3 months will bring my scorw to 700. If i pay down 3k more too it also says score will hit 700. So i'm guessing i'm really close....

Anonymous · ‎03-21-2015

Our AAoA is pretty similar. I have one medical collection ($150); I only have 2 inquiries and my utilization is 2%. My TU score is 682. My medical collection is holding me back from that 700 club. My score would be closer to 750 without the collection. Utilization is 35% of the scoring model. You definitely need to bring that down. Getting more cards isn't going to help.

You stated your inquiries come off in September but then you stated they are all from 9-14 to 1-15. My understanding is they count in the scores for the first year but remain on your report for 2 years. If you have 14 inquiries in 4 months, I am sure that is one of the factors with your score. Did you buy a car to have so many inquiries? If they were for credit cards, your AAoA would be shot and "amount of new credit" would factor in.

Anonymous · ‎03-23-2015

I agree with what the others have said... You need to lower your utilization rate. I've found this out for myself. One time, I had a balance of $2,500 on a $3,000 card. I was doing the minimum monthly payments for a while. Then, I paid off $1,000 of it when once I got the money, and I noticed a large increase in my credit score.

Recently, I had a $3,400 bill on a $10,000 card. I paid $2,000 of that and also noticed a huge improvement in my credit score right after.

So, I highly recommend making larger payments once in a while if you can (even $500 makes a difference). ALso, perhaps opening a new card to increase your overall limit.