help me understand credit scores.. ITT credit stuff.. :confused:

Penis Envy

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so i have a providian card that tracks my credit score and all my history and stuff

started off with the card near 640.. in august it dropped to 606 and now its back up to 618.

I'll be 0'ing out my cards in a few days.. start with a new strategy. but i'm not sure why it went down so drastically within a 2-3 month period. I payed all my bills on time, more then the minimum.

:confused:
 
Payment history (35%). Your score is negatively affected if you have paid bills late, had an account sent to collection, or declared bankruptcy. The more recent the problem, the lower your score -- a 30-day late payment today hurts more than a bankruptcy five years ago.
Outstanding debt (30%). If the amount you owe is close to your credit limit, that is likely to have a negative effect on your score. A low balance on two cards is better than a high balance on one.
Length of your credit history (15%). The longer your accounts have been open, the better.
Recent inquiries on your report (10%). If you have recently applied for many new accounts, that may negatively affect your score. Promotional inquiries don't count.
Types of credit in use (10%). Loans from finance companies generally lower your credit score. FICO says this is most important when there isn't a lot of other information upon which to base a score.
 
If you want to improve your credit score, Fair, Isaac offers these tips:

pay your bills on time
make up missed payments and keep all your payments current
maintain low balances on credit cards and other "revolving debt"
pay off debt rather than transferring it to a new account
don't close unused credit card accounts just to raise your credit score
don't get new credit cards that you don't need just to increase the credit available to you, and
see more tips in "Understanding Your Credit Score" on the Fair, Isaac website, www.myfico.com.
 
Coqui is totally right!

And don't go checking your credit score constantly!!!! By law you can check your credit score once every 365 days, but anymore than that and it will lower your score!
 
bananiac yellow said:
so i have a providian card that tracks my credit score and all my history and stuff

started off with the card near 640.. in august it dropped to 606 and now its back up to 618.

I'll be 0'ing out my cards in a few days.. start with a new strategy. but i'm not sure why it went down so drastically within a 2-3 month period. I payed all my bills on time, more then the minimum.

:confused:
I'd guess it was your debt to card max ratio. Did you charge stuff during that time?

Paging mr_brett to the thread...
 
elpmis said:
Coqui is totally right!

And don't go checking your credit score constantly!!!! By law you can check your credit score once every 365 days, but anymore than that and it will lower your score!
urban legend.
 
elpmis said:
Coqui is totally right!

And don't go checking your credit score constantly!!!! By law you can check your credit score once every 365 days, but anymore than that and it will lower your score!


The amount it lowers your score really is inconsequential though (like .1 points)
 
Coqui said:
The amount it lowers your score really is inconsequential though (like .1 points)
I think it's more than that

But if you check it say 5 times in two weeks, it will only count as checking it once (they give you a two week window for things like shopping around for best mortgage rates)

I only know this shit because I'm currently house shopping and I called a ton of banks
 
http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/WhatsNotInYourScore.aspx?fire=5

Certain types of inquiries (requests for your credit report).
The score does not count “consumer-initiated” inquiries – requests you have made for your credit report, in order to check it. It also does not count “promotional inquiries” – requests made by lenders in order to make you a “pre-approved” credit offer – or “administrative inquiries” – requests made by lenders to review your account with them. Requests that are marked as coming from employers are not counted either.
 
elpmis said:
I think it's more than that

But if you check it say 5 times in two weeks, it will only count as checking it once (they give you a two week window for things like shopping around for best mortgage rates)

I only know this shit because I'm currently house shopping and I called a ton of banks


Myth: Shopping around for a loan hurts your score. When you apply for a loan or get pre-approved the creditor checks your credit report, which shows up as an inquiry to your credit. While it's true that too many inquiries to your credit will lower your score, you absolutely can shop around for a mortgage, home equity loan or car loan without worrying about damaging your credit, said Sjoblad. "As long as the same kind of inquiries are made within 14 days of each other, they count as one inquiry on your credit score," he said. Take note: This grace period doesn't apply to credit cards.
 
fly said:
No, you pulling your score is different than a CC pulling a hard inquiry on an account.
Yeah I was talking about anyone pulling your actual credit score from say EquiFax
 
theacoustician said:
There is no law on how many times a year you can check your credit score.
There's no law against you pulling your credit score, I'm saying the law allows you to check your score once every 365 days FOR FREE