Credit Score
 

Can any one tell me is a good credit score, or what the ranges are. I got my credit report today and I am not sure about it. Everything was accurate and it just gave me a score with out tell me if it is good or bad.

AFAIK, a score over 700 is excellent credit. Everything under 600 is bad credit. Oversimplifying it a lot but that is basically the gist of it.

It really matters on what you're trying to do. I use to be a mortgage underwriter, and we take more than just your credit score into consideration. It all depends on your situation...like how much you have in income/savings vs your debt. Typically, I have underwritten loans with credit scores in the 600s and they still qualified for a low interest rate.

Lower 600s to very upper 500s in considered fair, and the mid 600s is good, upper 600s is excellent. Anything under 600 starts to look poor to bad. I got a free credit report from lendingtree.com and it told me what my credit score was, and what that range meant. Not only that, but it told me what I had going for me and what I had going against me. For instance, I haven't had an inquiry in a year and a half...which is good because it means I'm not out applying for everything and getting hits on my credit score.

Yes, the more hits your credit report gets the lower your score gets so be careful when "shopping" for a mortgage or home equity loan. I was looking for the best interest rate on a home equity loan and one place warned me that it was lowering my score as I shopped around and each place was pulling my report. I think that's just unfair! Try to get information about their loans WITHOUT letting them get your credit report!

Dee

Some places have a lot more ability to define what your loan looks like by looking at a detailed version of your credit history. If they see it's just got a few dings because of credit checks while you were loan shopping, I doubt (if you ask) they'll penalize you for it. Especially if you're just going somewhere else if you don't get your way.

thanks every one, I know know I have good credit (according to my credit score) I am I working on making it better.


Christia

Does anyone know if it is wise to close unused credit card accounts if you are trying to improve your credit score?

My credit card companies keep raising my available credit and now I have more than $40,000 worth! Will that hurt me when I apply for a mortgage in about a year? I've heard that you are seen as a risk if you have too much available credit.

Other than that I have low balances on my cards that I will have paid off in the next few months, I always make payments on time and have a decent credit score. I plan to buy a house in about a year and a half.

Having too much open credit can be seen as a risk. Closing accounts that aren't used isn't the best idea to do either. You could close one or two within the next six months or so but if you close five or six within that same time frame then your score may take a tiny tiny hit.

Of course these are just very minor things that shouldn't be reflected a year away when you are considering to buy a house.


Another tip about paying credit cards. If you have paid credit card bills late it doesn't mean that it will look bad on your credit score. Many credit card companies will not report you to a credit bureau if you make a payment within 30 days of the original due date. Other companies will give you a "grace period" of 60 days. Some credit unions will also give you an extended grace period.

Most banks and lending companies will report you if you pay one day late (beyond grace).

Who did you call to get a copy of your credit report? I've been trying to figure out who, because all people tell me is there are three major companies that can do it. What three comapnies are they?

the three companies are TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. just go to their websites. you can actually get a 3 in 1 credit report that reports your credit from all three agencies. i do it once a year

To get credit reports from all three, go to www.myfico.com .

Thanks for the advice! I would probably close a maximum of three accounts with the highest credit limits. That would knock off around $28,000 of the available credit. If I did it now I would have a long time to recover if it affected my credit score.

Does it look bad on your credit report to have a closed acct? I don't want it to appear as if the accounts were closed by the creditors because I was a bad account holder.

It really only affects you if you have a bunch of accounts that were closed in a short time frame. Other than that there isn't much to worry about because most creditors realize that people open and close accounts frequently.

From what I'm aware, there is only a notation placed on a closed account when the creditor closes it. It will usually give a reason as to why (fraud related, identity theft, bankruptcy, legal proceedings, death, etc.) Your score will only be hurt if the creditor closed the account because the holder of the account went into default, the account defaulted itself, if the company takes legal action against you or if you file for bankruptcy.

Other than that you should be good to go.

To echo what others are saying...yes it's wise to close lines that you aren't using. I'm an insurance underwriter and I've had agents who tell me that their insured has a wonderful "lifestyle" and owns everything outright (no loans/leins) but has a "bad score." After they close a few open lines the scores do go up some, so I would definetely feel this is a factor.
Another thing about those raised limits your getting, just because they are raising them doesn't mean that you have to take them. I have a friend who actually calls her credit card companies and request that they lower her limits back to what they were or to what she is comfortable with having.