Single Card high utilization- Impact?

[Anonymous]

We are in the processing of paying down debt spread across 5 CC accounts.

One of the CC accounts (0% balance transfer) has an utilzation of 88%.  The remaing accounts have utilization between 18% and 50%..

Is the utilization on this single account impacting the FICO score more-so than another? 

Would it be prudent to consider changing gears for a month and paying this card down to say 50%, then go back to paying highest interest to lowest?

We are nearing a purchase of a home and each point of the FICO I gain could add up $1000s of mortgage interest gains.

[marty56]

Welcome to the forum.  IMHO the 88% util CC is effecting your FICO score and since you are going for a mortgage, might raise some flags on a MR as well.

You best plan would be to pay down that card and then use the debt snowball approach were you pay minimum on all CCs except the one with the lowest balance and on that one you pay extra till it is PIF and then attack the card with the next lowest balance.  This method is FICO friendly.

Forget the interest rates on your cards for now, at least till you get your mortage.

[RobertEG]

FICO scores both overall % util, and the % util on each individ revolving acct.

Obviously, scoring of overall % util is the same regardless of which card you pay.

Scoring of % util is generally considered to be non-linear, meaning in English that higer utils have a greater neg. impact.

Thus, by paying the same amt on a high util card as a lower util card, you will improve util scoring more on the individ accts part of scoring.

The other, non-FICO, reason for paying the high % util cards is that high util can be a trigger for CL decreases.