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Question about utilization

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kcos194
Regular Contributor

Question about utilization

Long time lurker here with a question about utilization. I currently have one Cap 1 card with a $500 limit and $89 balance (18%). I also have a closed Barclaycard that’s in collections with a 2k limit and $2,924 balance (146%). When I look at my Experian FICO it says my utilization is 121%, so it’s obvious that the Barclaycard is still factoring into my utilization even though it’s a closed account showing as a charge-off. $3,013 balance / $2,500 of limit is 121%.

DW added me as an AU on her Comenity card and her cap 1 card, with CL’s of $4,350 and 3,000 respectively. Balances of ~$1,100 on Comenity and $0 on Cap 1.

My question is this: will those CL’s from my wife’s accounts show as utilization for me, therefore bringing my total utilization down to ~42%? I figure it like this:

Limits: Cap 1 $500, Barclaycard $2,000, Cap 1 (AU) $3,000, Comenity (AU) $4,350 = $9,850

Balances: Cap 1 $89, Barclaycard $2,924, Cap 1 (AU) $0, Comenity (~1,100) = $4,113.

Sorry for all the math but wanted to give all the data I have. Am I right in this assumption, or will the limits and balances as an AU not affect me? Appreciate the help, I know this was long.

Thanks.
9 REPLIES 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about utilization

Your assumption is correct, sorry for the short answer.
Message 2 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about utilization

The AU accounts will help lower your utilization.  You are probably taking a fairly significant score ding from your single account (closed one, maxed out) being at peak utilization.  It would definitely be in your best interest to pay that account off ASAP, as it will do wonders to your utilization.

Message 3 of 10
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: Question about utilization

The $3k balance on the closed account is in collections. OP likely has some other lates due to difficulty paying.

Whether it is in the OP best interest to pay off that $3k just to improve score, if income is still limited, is not really easy to answer.
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
Message 4 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about utilization

True.  We would need to know about the presence of other negative items to determine if eliminating that one piece would result in a significant score gain.

Message 5 of 10
kcos194
Regular Contributor

Re: Question about utilization

It’s one of my bigger negatives. Have a 30 day late on my car lease from 10/2016 and 150’s on 6 student loans as recently as 1/2018, current as of 2/2018. I’m not expecting any miracles here, just trying to get my scores above 600 sometime soon, and thought this would give me some kind of immediate boost. I don’t want to try to GW the student loans until I have some more on-find payments under my belt.
Message 6 of 10
kcos194
Regular Contributor

Re: Question about utilization

*on-time. Dumb autocorrect.
Message 7 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about utilization

If you have major delinquencies (anything 90+ days) like 150 day lates as recent as a few months back, the elimination of any other major negatives like a collection that's older would likely have zero impact at all on your score unfortunately.

Message 8 of 10
kcos194
Regular Contributor

Re: Question about utilization

Right, which I understand totally. I just want to control what I can now so that I’m well positioned in terms of utilization, account mix, on time payments, etc as the late payments age and gradually weigh less and less.
Message 9 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Question about utilization

Might I also suggest hitting up the rebuilding forum and looking into ways you could possibly clean up some of your dirty accounts, thus reducing the amount of time they'll adversely impact you.

Message 10 of 10
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