I've had a theory that (at least on Experian) the amount of debt you have carried in the PAST is part of the formula they use to calculate your score. PROOF--
Rina-- See my "continued" post for the long answer. Short answer-- even after paying down (over 40K!!) balances to approx $500, reason code is still showing "balances too high" This shows me that the formula looks at your average balances over the last 6 months/ year/ ? and factors in more than just what you currently owe.