I've been holding 98% debt ratio for 3 full years...how fast will my scores recover if I...

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone...I used the heck out of all my cards, about 70k worth for a new biz.  After 3 years, my biz is finally very profitable, I've only had 1 late across a dozen cards.  My scores tanked from 650-670 to exp 596, eq 595 trx 615.  So my question, how much can my scores jump after I pay everything down to $0 balance.  I also only have 2 inq...while holding all that debt for 3 years and paying on time...will I be able get new cards?  I'm 5yrs from my BK discharge too.  thank you

[Anonymous]

Paying down revolving balances is one of the quickest ways, if not the quickest, to give your scores a major boost.

Going from 98% across all your cards to under 8.9% will give you a substantial increase.

I’m excited for you!

[mikesonthemend]

Perhaps you  could just get your utilization down to under 30% for each account and then look for some 0% BT offers to assist in getting your utilizations down further.

May help you to keep a little dry powder for your business.

Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

I am assuming you put the business expenses on a business credit, so it will not effect your personal score. If it was the other way I am not sure how it is possible to gain and/or kept ~70,000 worth of credit within 7 years of bankrupty. In any scenrio it always to possible to get a credit card. There is a bank out there somewhere that be welling to loan to anyone.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, so I should keep under 9% across several cards?  Basically, I’m curious if a known formula exist, after holding so much debt, for such a long time?  Thank in advance to everyone.

[Anonymous]

All personal credit, my bk never burned any credit cards, I finally started using nfcu after being a member for 31 yrs.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey everyone...I used the heck out of all my cards, about 70k worth for a new biz.  After 3 years, my biz is finally very profitable, I've only had 1 late across a dozen cards.  My scores tanked from 650-670 to exp 596, eq 595 trx 615.  So my question, how much can my scores jump after I pay everything down to $0 balance.  I also only have 2 inq...while holding all that debt for 3 years and paying on time...will I be able get new cards?  I'm 5yrs from my BK discharge too.  thank you

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Stoked for your business finally being very profitable!!! That's awesome!!!

You should see a substantial increase score-wise by paying down those balances. Just to keep it real, though....if you've had your cards maxed out for that long, I wouldn't be surprised if they balance chased you once you pay them down. If that happens, call & explain your situation. You may be able to combat AA that way. 

I would hold off getting any new cards for at least 6 months after you pay these off just to see how everything pans out. 

Good luck!!!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thank you, so I should keep under 9% across several cards?  Basically, I’m curious if a known formula exist, after holding so much debt, for such a long time?  Thank in advance to everyone.

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You only need concern yourself with reported balances and not current balances and/or spend which are completely different.  If you keep your overall [reported] utilization below 8.9% and no individual card above 28.9% you'll be putting yourself in a great place in terms of FICO scoring relative to where you are now.  Whether you hit those numbers on just one or two cards verses more/all of them is very secondary to simply keeping utilization in check as described above.  While "number of accounts with a balance" can slightly ding your score, it's not significant and you can always drop down several accounts to $0 reported balances if you're looking to squeeze out extra points for an upcoming app, for example.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hey everyone...I used the heck out of all my cards, about 70k worth for a new biz.  After 3 years, my biz is finally very profitable, I've only had 1 late across a dozen cards.  My scores tanked from 650-670 to exp 596, eq 595 trx 615.  So my question, how much can my scores jump after I pay everything down to $0 balance.  I also only have 2 inq...while holding all that debt for 3 years and paying on time...will I be able get new cards?  I'm 5yrs from my BK discharge too.  thank you

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I would not be surprised to see your scores go up to 700.

And I do believe you will be able to get new cards, but I would proceed slowly there.

[expatCanuck]

And, yes, there's a formula. Sort of.
https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-Truth-about-Credit-Card-Utilization/...