rough estimation please
If somebody had 10 credit cards(7 v,mc,d,ax and 3 store cards) and they were all maxed out how much would it decrease your credit score? I'm asking because I was in this situation a few months ago. I have since payed down some of the cards. At the time I viewed my last credit report all the cards were maxed out and I had a credit score of 590. My goal is to make more then the minimum payment every month and pay off then get rid of all but 4 of the major cards. Also I have never been late on any of the payments. Any idea how much my score can improve with these goal and is 590 a decent score CONSIDERING the circumstances when the report was pulled?
Most creditors will look to see if your cards are over 69% of the limit. If you are making timely payments and get your balances down below 69% on all of them, your credit score should improve. 590 isnt bad, 650 and above is excellent.
Try and pay off more than the minimum every month. As I HATE paying interest on something redundantly I would just say pay as much as possible.
As nobleman said you want to get your cards under 70% of their limit. If you have $10,000 in charge card limit try to get it under $7,000.
Good luck,
CaChinGuy
Ok first of all you want your limits down to 50% of your total available limit. I dont know why the previous posters said 65 or 70%?? Thats not right. To see a drastic increase in your scores keep them below 50%. The goal here is to get your fico scores in the 700's eventually. 650 is ok but American Express blue for example wont issue to anyone under 700 preferably in the 720's and also depending on length of credit history. There are alot of loans you can get in the mid 600's but try to shoot for 700+. Your Fico score is most likely based on the computer thinking you have over extended yourself. The main thing is pay those balances down, if you dont have any other derogatory listings you will see a huge spike in about 2 to 3 months after you pay them.