util at 75%

[CS800]

I bought my TU score today from myfico and it says my util is 75%.

But one of my capital one card was missing from the report. In the past it was there. The strange part is that, in calculating my util, it did take into consideration the missing cap one card's limit of $500. I did my util calculation and included the missing card and also came up to 75% util.

I was wondering how much of a boost I could get if I paid it down to 50% or is it even worth aiming at a 50% util and I should aim at least 30%. COnsidering the magic util number tends to be under the 10% range?

Anyone seen good boost going from 75 to 50%?

[GregB]

My TU FICO has two cards completely missing, BofA NPSL card and a CapOne Business card. They do show in the totals but in the "what is hurting your score" are NOT included in util.

I have to say at this point that the TU FICO is not terribly valuable. It may be the best TU FICO you can get but doesn't mean much compared to your EQ FICO you get here, which is used by virtually all mortgage lenders.

I can tell you that my EQ FICO was 701 with my util at 79%. I just made it under the place where we think it hits the fan at 80%. As of this morning my util is down to 54% with not change in FICO. My various FAKO silly scores have all gone way up, some by 90+ points.

My last FICO showing 705 was at 47% util so I think I will see a boost when I get it below 50%. I'm working on it but each 1% for me is $2,000 and I'm running out of things to sell.

[RobertEG]

FICO scores based on your credit file.  Commercial credit reports notoriously lack some information.  FICO does not first order a CR from a commerial vendor and then score only that report, so I am not surprised if FICO scored information that is not being presented in this or that commerial credit report.

If you have not done so in the last 12 months, I suggest that order a more complete copy of your CR from the free annualcreditreport.com site, and see if the CL is provided there. 

High % util not only harms your credit score, but is often a trigger for creditors to initiate CL decreases.  Thus, there are more factors other than simple credit scoring that make it highly beneficial to maintain your util at a decent level.  I would personally suggest not going over 50%.

The FICO impact of % util will most likely vary depending upon your scoring bracket.  If you have major derogs in your CR, then FICO is most likely scoring you in a major  "dirty" credit file bracket, and % util is probably not the primary bracketing determination.  However, if you have a "clean" credit file, then the next most important FICO category  of util of credit (30% weighting vs 35% for payment history) may increase in scrutiny and importance.  It is hard to say, since we arent privy to the bracketing decisions made in the algorithms, but I would suspect that the bracketing parallels the importance in weight of the brackeing category.  Just my speculation.

[Anonymous]

It will help to pay to < 9% - so your question of 50% vs 30% means you may have the means to pay more?  If so, pay it off!  If not, then sure, paying less than 50% or less than 30% will help.

So will a clean report otherwise and time....

What do you need the score for?  If you need a loan soon, then people here can probably help you figure out the best way to use your money...if it's for a score boost, pay over time and wait.

Also, you can call the CC company and ask who they report to if it's changed - sometimes they only report to one or two and not all three...