How long does it take for credit scores to go up???

[kkrxo 2]

My husband's credit is about 1 years old... so it's still new. He doesn't have any derogatory information on his credit report, has 11 accounts open and has paid all of them on time. But he has 3 credit cards that he has almost maxed out and his credit score went from a 725 to a 565 in a matter of 2 months.... He has other credit cards that have a zero balance that he never uses but was told that if he closed them, that it could impact his credit score in a negative way so he just left the accounts open. When he gets his Christmas bonus from his job, he's going to pay all of the credit cards off and make them all a zero balance.

How long will it take for his credit score to go back up if all of his credit cards are paid off?? He paid one credit card off a few months ago and the representative told him that they report things to credit bureaus once a month but I wonder how long it takes for the score to go up... I hope it doesn't take that long since it went down so fast. In the beginning his credit score was a 595, and it increased to a 725 pretty fast but I just don't know about these circumstances. We are moving soon and we're relying on his credit to get approved for apartments since I have no credit what so ever!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

post violating TOS has been removed

[littleadv 1]

My husband's credit is about 1 years old... so it's still new. He doesn't have any derogatory information on his credit report, has 11 accounts open and has paid all of them on time. But he has 3 credit cards that he has almost maxed out and his credit score went from a 725 to a 565 in a matter of 2 months.... He has other credit cards that have a zero balance that he never uses but was told that if he closed them, that it could impact his credit score in a negative way so he just left the accounts open. When he gets his Christmas bonus from his job, he's going to pay all of the credit cards off and make them all a zero balance.

How long will it take for his credit score to go back up if all of his credit cards are paid off?? He paid one credit card off a few months ago and the representative told him that they report things to credit bureaus once a month but I wonder how long it takes for the score to go up... I hope it doesn't take that long since it went down so fast. In the beginning his credit score was a 595, and it increased to a 725 pretty fast but I just don't know about these circumstances. We are moving soon and we're relying on his credit to get approved for apartments since I have no credit what so ever!

I've written a long and extensive post with answers to all your questions, but it was removed. Please talk to the moderator to ask her why helping people on this forum is a violation of terms of services.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I've written a long and extensive post with answers to all your questions, but it was removed. Please talk to the moderator to ask her why helping people on this forum is a violation of terms of services.

The post was removed because of the following TOS violation:

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As the member was financially gaining from the promotion of his website through his post, it was removed, and he was advised of the TOS violation.

Edited December 29, 2010 by Kathryn41

[Udella&Wiz 325]

My husband's credit is about 1 years old... so it's still new. He doesn't have any derogatory information on his credit report, has 11 accounts open and has paid all of them on time. But he has 3 credit cards that he has almost maxed out and his credit score went from a 725 to a 565 in a matter of 2 months.... He has other credit cards that have a zero balance that he never uses but was told that if he closed them, that it could impact his credit score in a negative way so he just left the accounts open. When he gets his Christmas bonus from his job, he's going to pay all of the credit cards off and make them all a zero balance.

How long will it take for his credit score to go back up if all of his credit cards are paid off?? He paid one credit card off a few months ago and the representative told him that they report things to credit bureaus once a month but I wonder how long it takes for the score to go up... I hope it doesn't take that long since it went down so fast. In the beginning his credit score was a 595, and it increased to a 725 pretty fast but I just don't know about these circumstances. We are moving soon and we're relying on his credit to get approved for apartments since I have no credit what so ever!

I don't have an exact answer to your question but it seems that it's easier for the score to go down then it is to get it back up . Having different credit cards almost maxed out is a big red light - there seems to be a fine balance between available credit and how much of it you've used at any given time. Just a side note that 11 accounts (not sure if that implies cards or something else) does seem a little extreme for any one individual. As you mentioned since his credit is new - it may be to his advantage to close some of those cards and keep just a few...it isn't going to hurt him that much..in the long run it looks better not to have piles of available credit.

Good luck

[Vivi6 12]

Hi OP,

I am not an expert but with what I learned in one year in the US and some common sense, I can advise you to do the following:

-Close a few- maybe 3- accounts. Doing it now when his credit is low should not impact the situation that much

-Try to keep a low balance on the cards. Ideally, a 35% debt and 65% credit is what you want to reach. So if you have a $1000 maximum, try not to spend more than $350. I have a secured credit card with only $300 max and for the past 6 months I have only used to pay my $29 gym membership. My score went up 10 points very quicky and now it is stable in the very low risk category.

-I suspect the number of accouts is a reason for his score to be low. Every time you request a card through a bank, the bank checks your score and that is considered a "hard enquiry". Those last a long time and affect your score negatively, so if he has requested a lot of credit cards, he certainly has a few hards enquiries that will stay on his record for at least 2 years.

-Maybe his job did a background check when he got hired. This is a soft enquiry and goes away within a month or 2, but it does make your score go down (silly, I know). When I was hired on my 2nd job they did that and I lost 3 points on my score!

-Finally, I would strongly recommend to request a statement from the 3 credit agencies. You are allowed to get one free report per year, and it would be important to see it and make sure there has been no identity theft. I think all the enquiries about your husband's credit should also be there.

One last thing...do youhave a credit history? You could get a "secured" credit card like I did, where the bank takes a certain amount of money from you for a year and that becomes your credit card limit. I chose $300, gave it to the bank last year and will be getting it back very soon since I have made all the payments in time. At that point I will have a "real" credit card and they will give me a higher limit. If you do that and really only use yoru card for very small expenses, your score will go up in a year or less!

I hope this helps!

Ciao

Viviana

[ryna 132]

My husband's credit is about 1 years old... so it's still new. He doesn't have any derogatory information on his credit report, has 11 accounts open and has paid all of them on time. But he has 3 credit cards that he has almost maxed out and his credit score went from a 725 to a 565 in a matter of 2 months.... He has other credit cards that have a zero balance that he never uses but was told that if he closed them, that it could impact his credit score in a negative way so he just left the accounts open. When he gets his Christmas bonus from his job, he's going to pay all of the credit cards off and make them all a zero balance.

How long will it take for his credit score to go back up if all of his credit cards are paid off?? He paid one credit card off a few months ago and the representative told him that they report things to credit bureaus once a month but I wonder how long it takes for the score to go up... I hope it doesn't take that long since it went down so fast. In the beginning his credit score was a 595, and it increased to a 725 pretty fast but I just don't know about these circumstances. We are moving soon and we're relying on his credit to get approved for apartments since I have no credit what so ever!

Assuming the credit score drop was caused by the 3 cards that were close to being maxed out, the score should return to normal within a month after paying them off (or at least back down below 10% usage.) The score is calculated based on the last reported balance/credit utilization percentage and that will be zero again within a month of paying them off. Don't close the other cards though. That part is true...

Good luck.