Community Chat

[stilltamn8r]

On 3/27/2014 ------ said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought checking your scores frequently will have a negative impact on score. Or is it only credit checks done by third parties? I always found the credit score system confusing.

only if you are actually applying for credit...

[LilacTree]

On 3/27/2014 ------ said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong but I thought checking your scores frequently will have a negative impact on score. Or is it only credit checks done by third parties? I always found the credit score system confusing.

Not if you join a reporting company like ScoreSense. I am allowed to check every day if I want to, and they have a function that one can "refresh" their score every 28 days. I believe it's if other organizations, banks, loan companies, credit card companies, etc. check your credit often that is what affects your rating because it makes it look as though you are constantly looking into getting more credit. So it's not the same thing.

[gazelle77]

Our credit score has been at 830 for years. All we owe is our home which will be payed off in 4 years. I pay my credit card off each month. What is the highest score possible?

[------]

Thanks for the replies!

[stilltamn8r]

On some bureaus its 850 on some its 900

[LilacTree]

On 3/27/2014 stilltamn8r said:

Yes, in my business we understand the "foibles and idiosyncracies" of the different bureaus and act accordingly...

Also remember that the numerical score is only one PART of the credit granting process- you can be high 700's and have very light credit, for example, and still be considered a greater risk than someone with a lower score and MORE past credit...

Not everyone 700+ is considered a brick...

Yes, that is true. I have a friend who pays cash for everything and because of that, she has a very low FICO score. She is actually very well off and doesn't want any bills, so it irritates her immensely.

[straykatz]

On 3/27/2014 bathina said:

Most of the major banks have their own proprietary internal score based on the 3 bureau scores.

Agree...and many companies use 2 bureaus not all three (transunion and experian are th emost commonly used)

to the OP....if your Experian report is substanially different it is possible they may or may not be reporting exactly what the others reports show......not all companies report their loans to all 3 credit bureaus...for those who don't know it costs money for a company to store their loan/payment data at these burueas....it also costs money for companies to pull your report when you apply for credit....most major creditors use 2-3 or the credit bureaus.

When I worked as an auto loan underwriter the company system auto-denied those who had credit scores too low to qualify for a loan...your credit score is just part of the loan applicaiton picture.....then the underwriters reviewed the credit report for debt to loan ratio, late payments, write-offs, bankruptcies, liens, etc. There are many factors within your report that can cause you to be denied for a loan or get a loan approval.

[gazelle77]

Yes- it is kind of confusing... you can have too much credit and look bad, or not have enough or any and look bad. Having a good income does not hurt. Owing a lot on your cards even if you pay on time can really knock your score down. Better to have just a few cards, not have too high a limit on each card, and not owe a lot on those cards.

[SydneyH]

It there is a significant difference from one agency, I would be checking to see what information they have that is drawing the score down. In general they should be pretty close in terms of scoring.

[straykatz]

On 3/27/2014 gazelle77 said:

Yes- it is kind of confusing... you can have too much credit and look bad, or not have enough or any and look bad. Having a good income does not hurt. Owing a lot on your cards even if you pay on time can really knock your score down. Better to have just a few cards, not have too high a limit on each card, and not owe a lot on those cards.

ITA....credit cards are classed as revolving credit....owing more than 50% in revolving credit is a major credit score killer.