fast-tl

F900, remember that income in in play as well. Person Y may still be approved if they have acceptable income. Credit score is not the same as a list of assets. This may be a person who specializes in using cash rather than credit adn therefore hasn't opened may tradelines. Lack of tradelines doesn't mean lack of money any more than lots of tradelines means lots of cash. Think of a person fresh out of bankruptcy and the dozens of credit offers they immediately received. That could equal lots of tradelines even though they're BROKE!

I say both mythical BMW lessees could easily get approved with a 730 if their income would support the payment.

mt6forlife

They should really change the scoring system so the number reflects lenght of good credit history.

F900

Yes you are very much correct.... Cash is King...

But person X will not have lay out a security deposit and just pay Tax, tag title and not prove how much he makes etc..

Where as....

Person Y will have to lay out a large deposit, and most likey have to show some kind of documentation that he will have the ability to pay for the term of the lease... And BMW might some back and say they can't approve person Y for a 525, but only a 325.

As you know there is different ways to skin a cat.

The bottom line is a 730 FICO does not look as good if you don't have an established credit history with a diverse credit profile, Vs a 730 FICO with a med-long history and more important an estabilished and diverse credit profile

BadBadNeil

How often should your credit limit increase? I had a secured card a couple years ago (to build my first credit) and then it changed to a real credit card a little over a year ago. I then got an increase but it is still less than $1000...Should I ask them for an increase or does it happen automatically? I have perfect payment history and use the card regularly and pay it in full. I don't want to open another one although I'd like to have a much larger limit. I may consider opening a business card but not now for business expenses.

vp911

^ With citibank I requested an increase after 6 months and they granted it. Then again a few months later. I am 20 and my limit is 10k on the citi and more on a capital one card. Capital one I opened the account and came with more than 10k. No co-signers or other users on the cards.

BadBadNeil

jeez 10K. What where the increases by on the citibank? When My increase came it went I think from $360(which was the secured amount) to $720. In theory does it just keep doubling?

I have got stuff in the mail (now that I have good credit) for new cards with much larger limits, even the amex blue rewards cards that i originally wanted but the fuckers rejected me on when i didn't have credit, but I don't want to close my current one for risk of hurting my score and I don't like having more than 1 card.

I regret not getting a credit card eariler, I am 27 now and just started building credit really a couple years back. Before then I never had car or loan payments...

vp911

I started out with 800 then at 6 months moved to 6k then couple months later to 10k. I don't think they double it all the time. I think it is just what they feel like at the time. I do, also, however, have several auto loans which show I have been paying on time. well only one is open now, the TL and FX35 were closed out when totaled and bought back under lemon law.

o3jeff

803, 801, 783

mt6forlife

I have a car loan and a credit card, both with about the same balance. What affect would paying either off today have on my score? I'd prefer to pay off the car because its a higher interest rate, but would I be better off (FICO score) paying off the credit card?

moeronn

I think you're better off paying the credit card, since it is a revolving account with a preset limit, whereas the car loan is a fixed loan. This would increase your available credit, hence also improving your debt to income ratio.

My scores were between 720 and 760 when I refinanced a couple of months ago. Numbers should have gone up a little since some old inquiries have dropped off my record.

fast-tl

Better for your pocket to pay off the debt with higher interest rate. For your score, it's likely a toss up.

SakiGT

Just bringing this back up...

I applied for a store card to get a discount and the call got routed to fraud. The manager of the store got hung up on 2 times, then gave up and gave me the discount anyways and sent me on my way....

In any case the whole fraud thing freaked me out so I bought a credit check on www.creditreport.com

$20, All three reports and a credit score

It managed to pickup the inquiry from less than 6 hours ago. Im impressed. My bank cant even do that. In the end there was no abnormal activity.

Just an FYI, If you need to check out things fast this may be the website to go to.

And more on topic, mine's a 725. My major fault is that Im 22

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

My credit score goes to 11

Teh Jatt

617

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

you're allowed to get one free credit check annually from all three of the major credit reporting bureau's. But what is not included in the report is your credit score. The report is simply offered for free so that you can ensure that no one is using your identity to rack up bogus charges and open up fake accounts in your name.

SakiGT

Yes, but I had already received my free credit report for the year.

Id rather find out now and deal with an issue than wait a couple months when me free report is available to me again.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

I didn't know if you knew about the annual credit report thing so I mentioned it.

Mike 350Z

FYI, you can get 1 report for free from each of the 3 bureaus, every year. What I do is get one report every 4 months from a different one each time. That way you don't use them all at once and you can view your info equally spaced throughout the year.

zamo

I wish the credit reports offered free credit score.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

I'm sorry to say this but experts say that if you pay off your cards it's better to keep them and not close them. One reason being is that if you've had the cards a while it shows that you've maintained them (barring any late payments of course). So closing them actually takes away your credit status.

It'll take a little while to rebuild your credit when you open a new card because one factor, like I mentioned before, is how long your cards have been open. the longer the better. Since you cancelled them, you'll have to reapply and start over

Schadenfreude

805 last month. I have a mortgage and no other debt. Pay every card off in full each month, never owned a store card, never had a student/car loan.

Probably dipped a bit as I just applied for a home equity loan, then will take a major dive once it goes through, right?

TBone2004

835 and 809


p.s. in the previous posts from 12/2005 people were talking about 850 as max. The report I got from Equifax shows 950 is their max - what is the deal? Is it 850 for all three or are they different?
No matter, all three are going to an A-B-C-D... scale anyway...

zamo

720+ middle score opens any doors.

RyeCL

780

badboy

Just checked mine on experien: 825
The scale was from 401 to 990 though.

Why do they keep increasing the scale?

SakiGT

That reminds me...time for a recheck

March 2006 - 725

July 2006 - 717, 730 and 727

Changed: Paid off the car, paid down some debt

Curiously, my Mortgage hasnt hit the history yet.

Mike 350Z

^^Mine took like 3-4 months I think.

zamo

Just leased a new XC90, the middle score was 751. Fastest transaction I have ever made in a car dealer (2 1/2 hours from sitting down to driving the car)

CLPowersWife

I never read Dfreder's responses to this thread before, but he has some fantastic advice on Page 2. I mean, really fantastic.

I need to re-check; I never have done this, oddly. I suck at the money.

CrockPot

dave

solid advice, but he's mistaken in a couple points...overpaying CC bills, and paying down the mortgage.

overpaying the CC bills is a definitive mistake...why give the CC company an interest free loan when that money can be earning interest until the time comes to actually pay the bill?

paying down the mortgage...assuming the mortgage is a fixed rate with a low interest rate, it makes more sense to use that money you would pay down and invest in a moderate yielding mutual fund. you'll get a higher return.

Msnowdon

How do you know these sites are safe? I am always scared going to those site, that they may be a mirror image, and I have just given them all my information.

iamhomin

It was high 700's last year. I'll soon get another report by Sept 06.

BigPimp

Keep in mind, a score you receive at a car dealership might be different then a score for a mortgage, for example. Car loans are less risky.

zamo

Very true

badboy

Note: A friend of mine checked his experien score, which was 837.
He then checked his FICO score which was 766.

So my fico would be around 754 since my experien score was 825.

synth19

Just checked mine yesterday @ the Toyota dealership, 790.

Jonesi

Guys watch out for those scores from Experian and TransUnion they are FAKO scores.. They are Not your FICO scores, FICO is what most if not all lenders use.. There's no consitency between FICO and FAKO.. Don't expect some score on FICO b/c your FAKO is this.. Won't work..


Use www.myfico.com and the coupon code of CPPSAVINGS I think it brings them to $12 each score..


Since I'm going for a house.. I've been researching and monitoring mine Very closely and have improved my scores alot just in the past month..

Newst scores: (8-20-06)
TU- 770
EQ- 698
EX- 779

Original Scores: (7-16-06)
TU- 676
EQ - 656
EX - 677

moonraker

nice work, healthy raises in scores in just about a month what exactly did you do or do differently to create such a drastic change in only a month? pay in full for the month? pay off some debt or somethin?

moeronn

I'll agree with you on not overpaying CC bills, but paying down the mortgage is not a bad idea if you plan on staying in the house "forever". I'm not suggesting throwing every extra dollar at it, adding in a little bit every month or making bi-weekly payments instead of monthly can save you several years on the loan. I don't have time to do the math, but my guess is you would be farther ahead in the end this way - at least on paper. Doesn't do much for your liquid assets. That is damn impressive. Must have paid off some significant debt or something.

Jonesi

I'll make a seperate thread for it.. I was going to post my success results but just got the scores back this past friday and didn't have time to write something up.. Yet..