If I pay everything on my credit off, will it raise my credit score. If so, how long will it take?

Question

I have no credit cards. These are basically miscellaneous things, 2 cell phone bills, a small loan and a jewlry purchase totaling $1200.

I already know my credit score. These are not credit cards.

Answer 1

First, you need to go to Myfico.com and order your actual credit score. More importantly, this will show you if those items that you listed are actually on your credit report. If you pay off items, and they weren't on your credit report to begin with, it will have no effect on your score. By determining what items are on your report, you can tackle those first, and by paying them off you definitely will increase your score.

One word of warning, though - do not close the accounts that you pay off. One of the things that determines your credit score is your utilization, meaning the percentage of your credit limit that you are using. So, if you have an item on your report that has a credit limit of $1000 and you owe $500, your utilization is 50%. But if you close the account, that creditor may stop reporting completely and your score will go down, because the overall age of your credit report will decrease.

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Answer 2

Best thing to do is go to www.myfico.com. This is such a complex question because it is really individualized. I would need to see your credit report to help you more. In general the more credit you have available on a card to the amount outstanding will raise score. Meaning if you have 2000 limit and owe 1500 that is worse than if your outstanding balance is 500. Also a mix of credit will help. Car loan, credit card, mortgage loan. Is better than finance company, or all revolving cards. Also keep in mind that the three main credit bureaus are going to a new system that will now rate credit so that will be a change this fall.

Good Luck

Answer 3

my credit score did go up about 2-3 months after i paid off my debt. the credit bureaus also look at how MANY credit cards you have. even if you have a zero balance on all your cards, if you have 3 or 4, your credit score will be lower than if you have only one...as they consider you to have a greater potential for increased debt if you have several cards at your disposal. i had 3 cards, only one on which i owed. my credit score went up when i paid that balance. next i closed 2 of the remaining accounts and my score went up again. you should also check your credit report at least yearly. i found some items on mine that were my ex-husband's and we'd been divorced for over a decade. good luck!

Answer 4

Companies do like it better when you pay off in full but carrying debt long term isn't that bad either. Its how you manage that debt. If you appear out of control, (Maxed out, close to limit et.. ) that's when it becomes. a problem. Unfortunately cell phone bills don't show up on your credit report until you fail to pay and they send the balance to a collection agency so that wont help. Making on time payments on your loan and jewerly are what helps.

Answer 5

Yes, it will raise your credit score. You should see an increase the following month. You can also raise it by getting rid of any lines of credit that you don't need.

Answer 6

This is a question that comes up alot on Yahoo. Try the website below by CNN Money and it will give you the expert's advice on 5 things to do to elevate your credit score.

http://money.cnn.com/2002/02/15/debt/q_fivethings_creditscore/

Answer 7

Yes. about three months. do not close the card. do not max out, do not paying late. you should be fine

Answer 8

It will raise it some, the amount I do not know.