Pay off completely or leave a small balance?

[Anonymous]

I am in the process of paying off my credit cards.  Based on what I've read here I'm a little confused about whether I should pay these down to a zero balance or leave it at 7%-9% util.  I currently have 8 open revolving accounts with 100% util.    What is the best thing for my score?

[cobra19]

With 8 cards I would pay 5 of them off and leave a balance of between 3-5% on the remaining 3.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am in the process of paying off my credit cards. Based on what I've read here I'm a little confused about whether I should pay these down to a zero balance or leave it at 7%-9% util. I currently have 8 open revolving accounts with 100% util. What is the best thing for my score?

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Ideally, FICO scores like to see a 1-9% UTIL. It doesn't like to see maxed out cards, and it really doesn't like to see so many maxed out cards. You should pay off a few cards completely for a more immediate boost.

[Anonymous]

I have read(more than once) here on the forum, that a maxed out cc is almost as bad as a collection on your cr, with is a MAJOR derogatory mark against you. That can and will prevent many from getting any type of credit at decent interest rates.

So get those utils down asap. I agree with other poster. You have 8 cards maxed out...pif 5 of them...the remaining 3 pay down to below 10%.

Gosh, no telling how much of a score jump you'll see. But I went from 521 to 681 when I paid off all my cards(most of which were maxed out as well).