Quick question on timing...

[Anonymous]

Apologies if this has been answered before - new member, been lurking a while and finally using myFico (awesome tool!).

How long does it take for the scores in the Simulators to kick in? Example - I reduced my utilization (from 35% to < 20%) and EQ just picked it up, but only moved my score by 3 pts. According to the simulator it was going to move it around 40. Do I need to keep the utilization down for a whole month? I guess my question is how long would it take between paying down all my balances for it to have impact on the scores? 

Neither TU or EQ have picked up the drop in utilization yet.

Thanks!!

[jamie123]

The simulators are not very accurate.

As far as how long it takes for the CRAs to change your scores because of lower UTI depends on when your lenders post your lower balances. If say, your CC due date is the 10th of the month, the credit card company will usually post your new balance sometime between the 13th and 15th of the month. It might take up to another 10 days for the CRAs to pick-up and post that new information on your reports and change your score.

So in general it takes about 2 weeks after your credit card's due date for your scores to change. Sometimes it is faster and sometimes slower.

Your scores will be highest if your UTI is under 10% but not 0%. If all your cards report 0% UTI your scores will be lower than if one card reports a balance between 1 and 10%.

Oh...And welcome to the forums!