Your One Stop Resource for Saving Money.
Information about credit rating and paying off credit card debt - The Bills.com Blog
Bills.com Blog > Credit Questions > Credit Rating and Paying off Credit Card Debt
Information about credit rating and paying off credit card debt
Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
Question: My credit score is 542 and i have 2 delinquent credit cards will paying these off raise my score enough to get me out of the very high risk category?
Answer: First, I'll give a short discussion of the "score" that you are concerned about. I will assume that your reference to your credit score means your FICO score. The FICO (Fair Issac Corporation) score is the most widely used and is said to be the most comprehensively derived score. That means that more relevant factors are used to make the score more reliable than others. Also, other score methods are usually weighted to result in a number close to the FICO number. A FICO score generally ranges from 300 to 850. The US median score is around 725. Generally, 660 is regarded as potentially sub-prime and represents an important break point for credit worthiness. So, your first goal will be to get your score up to, or hopefully, above 660.If the accounts are not too far behind you could call each creditor, offer to bring the accounts current by paying the arrearages, and ask the creditors to "reage"
the accounts (if you haven't asked the account to be "reaged" within the past 12 months). Then you will make all future payments (at least the minimum payment) to be RECEIVED by the creditor on or before the due date. The combination of the reageing and current payments should convert these two items from a drag on your score to a positive influence within about 6 months. Keep in mind I do not know anything else about the reasons for your credit score; there are too many factors that go into credit scoring for me to tell you whether or not bringing these two accounts current will bring you out of the high-risk category.
Since you are asking about credit updates, you might also be interested
Since you are asking about credit updates, you might also be interested
in how your credit score is calculated. Your credit rating is calculated based on several variables, including: your payment history (do you have any late payments, charge-offs, etc.), the amount and type of debt that you owe, if you have maxed out any of your trade lines, and then several other secondary factors like the length of your credit history and how many recent inquiries have been made to look at your credit history. Paying off delinquent or maxed out trade-lines will almost always help your credit score.
If you would like more information please visit the Bills.com Credit Resource page.
We hope that this helped you to Find, Learn, and Save!
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com
If you would like more information please visit the Bills.com Credit Resource page.
We hope that this helped you to Find, Learn, and Save!
Best,
Bill
www.bills.com
Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!
Submit questions/comments about this post:
Bill has answered all sorts of questions and has been able to provide those in need of financial guidance with helpful and valuable advice and information on their specific financial area of interest. If you need specific guidance on any of the above mentioned financial areas, feel free to Ask Bill your financial questions and get better informed. Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!
Information provided by Bills.com is for general informational purposes only and is not be
construed as legal, financial, bankruptcy, tax or other professional advice. Should you
require more detailed information or specific professional advice tailored to your situation you
should consult an attorney, financial planner or tax advisor.
While we believe all information provided by Bills.com to be accurate as of the date of its posting, we cannot ensure its accuracy. Use of this site and any information contained on or provided through this site is provided without any representations, warranties or guarantees. Bills.com is not responsible or liable for any decisions or actions anyone may take based on the information provided. Please see Terms of Use.
While we believe all information provided by Bills.com to be accurate as of the date of its posting, we cannot ensure its accuracy. Use of this site and any information contained on or provided through this site is provided without any representations, warranties or guarantees. Bills.com is not responsible or liable for any decisions or actions anyone may take based on the information provided. Please see Terms of Use.
© 2006 - 2009Bills.com LLC. All Rights Reserved.