How much of an affect would paying down two credit cards that are above the limit have on my FICO score and how soon after paying them down could I expect to see an increase in that score?
I'm not sure what the point difference would be exactly, but mine went up 10 pts. after zero balancing out one card and paying down two others. As far as the amount of time, 2 mos? maybe 3. They tend to report what you owe on the most recent billing date so the following month MIGHT reflect what you paid off. If not, definitely the month after that. At least that is the pattern I've been seeing with my cards and the CRA's.
