Does a Home Equity line count towards credit card utilization?

[heckofagator]

Hi everyone,

I recently enrolled in AmEx CreditSecure.  They are showing my total available credit and utilization % much higher than it should be.  I started to go thru everything last nite and realized that they are including a home equity line in this equation (which is around 90% utilized).  On this account, I've been paying just a litle more than the minimm and have been focusing on credit card debt.  Is FICO seeing and scoring me similar, or do they make that distinction between a credit card and equity line?

[pizzadude]

What is the credit limit on your LOC ?   Sometimes FICO does consider these types of loans to be revolving, sometimes I believe they can be classified as installment ~ it may depend on the CL.

[heckofagator]

Credit Limit is $20,500.

The other frustrating thing with respect to the utilzation is the fact that the banks keep lowering the credit limits.  I had a score in the high 700's before and because of a short sale and the problems associated with that, I'm down to the lower 600's now.  I keep chugging away at the credit cards, but in turn, they keep lowering the credit limit to just above my balance.  It's really keeping my utilization very high.

[pizzadude]

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@heckofagator wrote:

Credit Limit is $20,500.

The other frustrating thing with respect to the utilzation is the fact that the banks keep lowering the credit limits.  I had a score in the high $700's before and because of a short sale and the problems associated with that, I'm down to the lower 600's now.  I keep chugging away at the credit cards, but in turn, they keep lowering the credit limit to just above my balance.  It's really keeping my utilization very high.

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Yea, it's probably reporting as revolving ~ if you check your credit reports you can see exactly how it is classified.    

Unfortunately when creditors see something on your reports like a foreclosure or short sale they can get very nervous and start chopping your credit limits like you are experiencing.

What is your credit card utilization right now ( excluding this home equity LOC ) ?

[heckofagator]

I guess this is just going to take some time to clear up.  I was at about 20% util before this all started.  Now I'm about at 70% without the credit line. One of my credit limits fell from $35k down to $18,500 (and the balance on there now is about 17k) so that's really hurting me keeping it maxed out like that.

[pakman92]

HELOC's with CL over 50K will not be counted in your util calculation for FICO score purposes even even if they are marked as revolving.  Someone can confirm.  I believe this also means that Credit cards with over 50K CL will not count either.