Very confusing??? My Fico Score and System??

[Anonymous]

I just pulled my Experian and Equifax report.

My Equifax report: my score is 678

You have too many credit accounts with balances Total 4 account

I don't get this? They are counting my carloan as one of these 4 accounts. I thought It was supposed to be only credit card. So, Does car loans counts as an account?

You recently opened a new credit account.

This car loan is only 1 year old. When it will count as a good account?

The other 2 are: short credit history(3 years average); and 1 missed payment. How this 2 affects my credit in points wise?

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My Experian score is 665 and the report is different set of the Equifax

My car loan is counting as:

The remaining balance on your non-mortgage installment loans is too high.

As if this is a credit card balance going to its credit limit. Is this normal, and if is not, to whom should I complain?

***Any adviced of how to increase my score? My mother has collection agencies and jugdements against her and she has a better credit then I do.

**I only have 3 credit cards, and 1 year old car loan. Should I get more credit cards?

Message Edited by Redamagon on 09-07-2007 06:24 PM

Message Edited by Redamagon on 09-07-2007 06:25 PM

[smallfry]

Yep the car loan counts as an open account with a balance. Too many with 4 reporting open? Surprise surprise. Evidently you don't have many tradelines on your reports. Try to keep the open reporting tradelines down to 1 in 3. Say you have 9 credit cards and a car loan. Let 3 report a balance but pay before the due date. The car loan should start to help you shortly past a year. Actually if you take the advice they give to the letter you find FHA's have paid down c. 1/3 on the balance of their installment loans. Granted with a new mortgage this could be tough but with a car loan it is manageable. Got a 15K loan? Pay it down to 10K as quickly as possible. The car loan isn't killing you at this point but the faster you pay it down the better. Short credit history isn't killing you and only time will help that. One missed payment. Try to goodwill that off if possible. Good luck.