topic Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

crocpa — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:54:29 GMT

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre24.shtm

How many and what types of credit accounts do you have? Although it is generally good to have established credit accounts, too many credit card accounts may have a negative effect on your score. In addition, many models consider the type of credit accounts you have. For example, under some scoring models, loans from finance companies may negatively affect your credit score.

Scoring models may be based on more than just information in your credit report. For example, the model may consider information from your credit application as well: your job or occupation, length of employment, or whether you own a home.

To improve your credit score under most models, concentrate on paying your bills on time, paying down outstanding balances, and not taking on new debt. It’s likely to take some time to improve your score significantly

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

MidnightVoice — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:58:36 GMT

Don't forget that applies to "scoring models".

In the case of the most important scoring model (Thanks to Tusk):

What types of information are NOT used in calculating my FICO score?

1. Your race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status

2. Your age

3. Your salary, occupation, title, employer, date employed or employment history

4. Where you live

5. Certain types of inquiries such as promotional, account review, insurance or employment related inquiries

6. Any information not found in your credit file

7. Any information that is not proven to be a predictive of future credit performance

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

ilovepizza — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:11:13 GMT

I only worry about FICO for the moment. I know some of the things I do to raise my FICO will lower other model scores. It can be true about jobs with other models too. Gieco would not give me a quote unless they could title my job position in the computer. I wanted to give them some answer like Freedom Frog Sweeper to throw them off, but they should have a category for misc/unknown.

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

MidnightVoice — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:13:52 GMT

ilovepizza wrote:
Gieco would not give me a quote unless they could title my job position in the computer. I wanted to give them some answer like Freedom Frog Sweeper to throw them off, but they should have a category for misc/unknown.

I am not sure Gieco would insure someone who did not know what their job was :)

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

ilovepizza — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:15:12 GMT

I wonder how many people in other score systems (like auto) that base risk information take in to account that people like me do things to improve their scores? My FICO score went up a lot, and my auto risk score went way down. I was only applying for credit to improve my score, while they say people that apply for credit are higher auto risks? Sometimes I would like it if they would just score each of us alone rather than in a group. I don't really fit in and get burned by it.

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

fused — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:16:09 GMT

MidnightVoice wrote:

ilovepizza wrote:
Gieco would not give me a quote unless they could title my job position in the computer. I wanted to give them some answer like Freedom Frog Sweeper to throw them off, but they should have a category for misc/unknown.
I am not sure Gieco would insure someone who did not know what their job was :)

I disagree! Don't you think they would insure a caveman!:smileysurprised:

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

ilovepizza — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 02:04:16 GMT

fused111 wrote:

MidnightVoice wrote:

ilovepizza wrote:
Gieco would not give me a quote unless they could title my job position in the computer. I wanted to give them some answer like Freedom Frog Sweeper to throw them off, but they should have a category for misc/unknown.
I am not sure Gieco would insure someone who did not know what their job was :)

I disagree! Don't you think they would insure a caveman!:smileysurprised:

I heard the caveman saved money too :) I wonder what the other insurance companies quoted him? lol

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

Noah_Bodie — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 04:28:54 GMT

MidnightVoice wrote:
What types of information are NOT used in calculating my FICO score?
1. Your race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status
2. Your age
3. Your salary, occupation, title, employer, date employed or employment history
4. Where you live
5. Certain types of inquiries such as promotional, account review, insurance or employment related inquiries
6. Any information not found in your credit file
7. Any information that is not proven to be a predictive of future credit performance

For calculating your FICO score, true. However, to get a mortgage, more than a few of these items DO go into the calculation.

Date employed and employment history. In a nutshell, have you been in the same job for 2+ years and in the same career field for 5+ years.

Salary will definitely count for determining how much mortgage you can afford.

They will look specifically at util and number of CCs. You could have an 800 and a prime lender might ask you to pay everything down to X percent util and close cards.

Might want proof of X months income in the bank.

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

MercyMe — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 14:02:34 GMT

Freedom Frog Sweeper, huh? This made me laugh! I once held the official position of Super Duper Pooper Scooper! Even wore a sign proclaiming the fact. Of course, I was only about 10 years old, at the time, and following behind a proudly prancing assembly of horses (not too closely I might add -- a lesson learned the hard way) bearing Yakima Indian tribal chiefs and wannabe warriors, in full leathered and feathered attire. It's not something I am generally proud to admit to -- but your mention of Freedom Frog Sweeper brought it back to mind. I made all of five bucks, for the half day's work. I wonder how much a Freedom Frog Sweeper might be paid! :smileyvery-happy:

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

crocpa — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:19:43 GMT

Does anybody know if Credit Watch plans to issue instant alerts regarding score changes? This is a statement in their support section:

If a new Equifax report is obtained by the subscriber, and this new score represents a change from the previous score received via a Score Alert or Credit Alert, this new report is then considered the “Score Alert” for this score change and no other Score Alert will be sent for this particular change. (This process will be changing shortly so that anytime there’s a score change a Score Alert will be sent, whether or not the subscriber has obtained a new Equifax report and score in the meantime.)

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

algorithmslave — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:26:57 GMT

I would argue age is worked into the score. How this is achieved is through ones oldest account. Now, perhaps this is an indication of when one first obtained credit but nonetheless it does indicate a possible age group of the individual being scored. Stands to reason someone from the Baby Boomer Generation has older accounts than that of someone from Generation X...This may not prove age but does indicate a portion of ones demographics and age group.

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

cashnocredit — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:54:59 GMT

ilovepizza wrote:
I wonder how many people in other score systems (like auto) that base risk information take in to account that people like me do things to improve their scores? My FICO score went up a lot, and my auto risk score went way down. I was only applying for credit to improve my score, while they say people that apply for credit are higher auto risks? Sometimes I would like it if they would just score each of us alone rather than in a group. I don't really fit in and get burned by it.

I've noticed that my auto insurance risk score was extremely sensitive to recent Inqs. Much more so than a new loc. I have also seen these scores go in opposite directions as a result.

Re: Somethings you might not know about how FICO is calculated

compassion101 — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:48:45 GMT

algorithmslave wrote:
I would argue age is worked into the score. How this is achieved is through ones oldest account. Now, perhaps this is an indication of when one first obtained credit but nonetheless it does indicate a possible age group of the individual being scored. Stands to reason someone from the Baby Boomer Generation has older accounts than that of someone from Generation X...This may not prove age but does indicate a portion of ones demographics and age group.

Age of accounts is a large part of the score. Age of the Human Being is not. While an older Human is obviously more likely to have older accounts reporting, this isn't always the case, and when it isn't, the age of the person does not have any affect on the score.