Community Chat

[151949]

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@Jaspersmom wrote:

What an interesting discussion.  In the year 2000, I took a loan on an auto purchase.  Finance person said she never saw such a high credit rating.  I was working full time then and always paid my bills on time.  Fast forward to 2015.  I have no debt.  None.  I am retired and have more money now than when I was working full time.  I purchased a new vehicle and took a very small loan.  Finance person read me my credit score and it was still high, but considerably lower than in 2000.  What????  Makes no sense whatsoever.  Only thing that has changed is I am not working full time.  Who are these people at these credit bureaus???  Something is off with the way they calculate scores. 

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You did better than I at stating the point I was trying to make. 

[KarenQVC]

For retired people it doesn't give net worth, so it is not all that accurate.

[vickie25]

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@Pook wrote:

If you financed through the dealer they submit your info to at least 3 or 4 different lending institutions and that puts 3 or 4 inquiries which will lower your score.  When I bought a new vehicle, I had a check from my credit union and the only inquiry was from them and one won't lower it.  Well the dealership trying to get incentives for procuring loans submitted to 4 other institutions for a loan I did not need and the week after I bought my vehicle I started getting rejection letters from these places saying I had too much outstanding debt (because the amount for my car loan was actually higher than I needed was showing).   Because of that my score went down 10 points and these inquiries stay on the reports for 2 years.  I was so angry and demanded they send me a statement explaining that they erred in submitting loan requests for a loan I didn't need to send to each  major credit reporting place.  It won't change my score but will be available for anyone accessing my reports for legitimate reasons to explain the drop.  I had to pay to have these put in my report and I called the dealership every few days so to complain and they finally gave me running boards to make up for it!

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That is true.  The number of hard inquires can have an impact on your score.

[Hayfield]

I've always had a great credit score, rarely borrow money and always pay my credit cards off in full each month and on time.  Once when we did take out a loan for a car the lady told me I had better credit than 98% of the population, I'm good!  If it changes a few points one way or the other, it's no big deal.

[Drythe]

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@151949 wrote:

My point is - if your credit score is in the 820's and you go and make a large purchase - and don't even take a loan for the entire value of the purchase - it should not bring down your score. If your crediut score is high and you have a history of paying your bills you should not get penalized for making a purchase.  I don't think they calculate these credit scores as they should.They have taken something that is very simple and made it very complicated.

I had an Uncle who passed away a couple years ago, he was a rocket scientist - literally , he worked for NASA - and he would often say even a rocket scientist can't figure out how they do these numbers. 

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@151949

The company from whom you borrowed the money did what is called a "hard credit inquiry" on your credit history. every time a HCI hits your credit report it lowers your score, even if you have perfect credit.

Every time you pay off a debit it counts against your credit too.  Just paid a partial loan on DH's SUV and it lowered my credit 5 pts.  Go figure.

[151949]

I realiy don't understand why paying off a debt or not carrying balances on your credit cards lowers the score.Those are the very things we should be striving to do. 

When we bought our home 6 years ago we applied for a mortgage for 2 reasons - in case our house didn't sell and because the builder was offering to pay all closing costs if you took a mortgage with them.When we got that mortgage we had a slight hit to our credit - maybe 10 points but when we paid it off 2 months later - geez then our FICO really got a hit.