draexo Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 I came into a small amount of cash - about $4,000. My score is currently 708 (thanks mostly to advice I found here). I have two car loans neither of which can be paid off with this money.I have two open credit cards. One has a balance of 585$ out of 1200$ and the other has a balance of $570 out of $950. I also have a loan through Citifinancial which I had in 2010 stopped paying for 6 months. It shows as a negative on my credit as a past-due, closed account. It is still being administered by Citifinancial and from what my credit reports tell me, it will "turn positive in 2015". There is owed about 1700 on this loan. If I can get my score to 720, my interest rates on a mortgage drop. Any suggestions here? I was thinking to pay everything off, but I have read that I should leave 15% on my credit cards.I also have a PayPal credit card with no balance and only occasional activity. Should I cancel that? ThanksAndy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 First, read my signature... Second, pay off the loan and your CCs. You may see a drop in your "sucker score" because of less "utilization",but your FICO Mortgage score should rise.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 @draexo - I would pay down your credit cards, that will see a rise in your score. On the Citifinancial card that went to charge off, see if you can pay them in a settlement. I bet they would take 50% or less right now on that. If you get a mortgage they will make you pay off that card, so paying it off via a settlement will save you money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest usctrojanalum Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 Pay everything off, dump the rest into your retirement savings or portfolio if not already maxed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draexo Posted August 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 @draexo - I would pay down your credit cards, that will see a rise in your score. On the Citifinancial card that went to charge off, see if you can pay them in a settlement. I bet they would take 50% or less right now on that. If you get a mortgage they will make you pay off that card, so paying it off via a settlement will save you money. Will paying it off as a settlement lower my score? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
draexo Posted August 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 First, read my signature... Second, pay off the loan and your CCs. You may see a drop in your "sucker score" because of less "utilization",but your FICO Mortgage score should rise....What's "sucker score" vs "FICO score". FICO is for mortgages, correct? That is why I asked about leaving 15% of the balance on the CC's. Would throwing a 1000 down on my car loan help too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 Will paying it off as a settlement lower my score?@draexo - No. It should help things. An unpaid chargeoff is worse than a "settled account". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willingtocope Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 There are actually like 17 different FICO scoring algorithms. The one we are allowed to see is the FICO Consumer Score which is pretty close to the FICO Bank Card score (the one that CC companies use to determine who they will make money off...hence, "utilization"...they want people who will carry a balance and pay them interest...I call it the "sucker score"). There is also the FICO Mortgage Score...and, common knowledge says a "utilization" of 9% or less is optimum. In truth, utilization of 9% doesn't hurt much...but...utilization of 0% is better. There are also FICO scores for new cars, insurance, medical bills, employment...etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kutuzov Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 First, read my signature... Second, pay off the loan and your CCs. You may see a drop in your "sucker score" because of less "utilization",but your FICO Mortgage score should rise.... This, anything extra put it towards one of the cars (the one with highest interest, or one that is closer to paid off). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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