Need to Pull my score up 3 to 4 points fast

[SPAUG26]

I am trying to get preapproved for a fha loan.  One lender told me my score was 576.  This site told me 577.  Anyway after the lender told me 576 - I did pay off 3 credit cards that had fairly low balances.  Maybe this is why the score jumped up a point - i don't know.  But I just paid 600 on my discover card which had a 700 balance and I paid 400 on my capital one which had a 500 balance. So within 2 weeks I have paid 1600 towards my credit cards. Will this give me the boost I need to get to a 580?   I just made these payments this morning.....when can i expect to see any change.  Does anyone have any idea how much of a change that will give me?

[Lel]

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SPAUG26 wrote:
I am trying to get preapproved for a fha loan.  One lender told me my score was 576.  This site told me 577.  Anyway after the lender told me 576 - I did pay off 3 credit cards that had fairly low balances.  Maybe this is why the score jumped up a point - i don't know.  But I just paid 600 on my discover card which had a 700 balance and I paid 400 on my capital one which had a 500 balance. So within 2 weeks I have paid 1600 towards my credit cards. Will this give me the boost I need to get to a 580?   I just made these payments this morning.....when can i expect to see any change.  Does anyone have any idea how much of a change that will give me?

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What was your utilization before and after you paid off your balances?  As it stands now, how many open credit card accounts do you have, and how many have balances remaining?

Shortly after your credit cards' statements close, they CC companies will report the statement balance to the credit reporting agencies.  Once that happens, then you could check your score again to see if it has improved.

If you haven't done so already, you should go over your entire credit report for accuracy.  A significant proportion of credit reports contain errors, which may or may not affect your score.  Since the majority of mortgage lenders pull scores from all three credit bureaus, you should check the reports from all three, since the information contained at each may be different.

Qualifying for an FHA mortgage with a 580 may be very difficult.  There are still scattered lenders out there that will do this, but for the most part FHA lenders are looking for a score of 620 or better. 

[SPAUG26]

Hello and thanks for your reply.  To answer your questions, I rarely used these cards ....maybe every 2 to 3 months.  I used them more the past 2 months because i got married last month and had wedding expenses. 

i have 11 charge accounts -all are store cards except for the 2 that i paid today

3 - zero bal

2 - 100 bal (discover & c1)

2- 300 bal

2- 500 bal

1- 800 bal

1-computer pmsi - 2300

All are open accounts

There are 2 items showing up on my credit report as bad debt but each time a lender has asked about those accounts...I have provided proof that those accounts were paid off and they were okay.  I was preapproved for a mortgage 5 months ago by 2 lenders.  But my credit took a hit since then as a result of me pushing the cards near their limit

[AndySoCal]

Also, keep in mind the 580 or better score needs to tne mid score (middle score) . So find out which bureau is the mid score and  who has the highest socre of the three. You need to raise the bureau reporting the middle score higher. Or raise the lowest score to point where it becomes the middle score or the highest score. You do not want to work on the bureau that is reporting the highest score.

[Karatz]

You're also going to only get minimal or no score improvement until the lower balances on your accounts make it to the credit bureau's. I just did a similar thing, between having a closed account reopened, a unauthorized inquiry and unauthorized account removed, and a bunch of payments made, my score went from 681 to 743 in less than  60 days. The big hinch was getting Equifax to post a 4500 bike loan as zero and paid off. I got my free and clear title from the California DMV only 3 days after Equifax updated. They should be embarrassed having a California gov thing almost beat them like that.

So: Look at your previous statements, either if you keep them, or online and get yourself a range of statement dates over the past few months. Credit cards generally report whatever your balance is on the statement date to the credit bureaus on that same date. The credit bureaus may take anywhere from a couple days to 18 days in my experience to update your file.

You might also look at the balances and get them strategically in a lower braket. I've heard alot about 75% of your total credit used on any specific account being a bracked you don't want to be above. I've heard of 90% and 10% alot too, but in between that I'm not so sure of. If you have, say for example, 52% used, consider getting it to 48% by statement date. Also remember to figure your interest because that will be added to your account too.

Just stuff I've had the opportunity to experience 1st hand over the last 60 days.

[RobertEG]

Balances are not the issue, it is % util of those balances against your CL.

FICO scores revolving % util under three criteria.  Approx half is based on overall % util. of all cards.  FICO then also looks at % util of each indiv card, and also the % of accounts reporting any balance.

Shoot for overall % util under 10%, and also % util of each indiv. card under 10%, with less than half of cards reporting any balance.  That should put you in good shape in the %util category of your score.