Understanding FICO® Scoring

[jdogi]

I noticed that my EX report shows positive values in the Monthly Payment field for many (5) accounts that have a zero balance and thus no monthly payment.  These accounts have all reported multiple consecutive zero balance statements in a row.  But for some reason, EX seems to be using the minimum payment as it appeared on my last non-zero balance statement (from months ago).  Most of them are really low, but added together, they inflate my total monthly payments by over 10%.

If the behavior does in fact follow the rules I've observed, the only way that I can get them to go down is to allow a $1 balance to report on a future statement.  So that will make the impact on my "Monthly Payments" total negligible, but I still don't like this.  I'm a bit OCD about some things and my credit is one of them, so this really bothers me.  Also, I'll be applying for a mortgage at some point and I shouldn't have this affecting my DTI, even if it is a really small amount.

Has anybody else noticed this?  I'm surprised that I couldn't find anything on here already.  But I guess, given the "less than good" (<-generous) search function of this site, I shouldn't be.  Any suggestions.

And I'll throw in my feel good story for today,  I got approved for a $15k Pen Fed Rewards card 9.9% variable today.  It's my biggest ever, by quite a bit.  Yeay me!

Thanks

[haulingthescoreup]

EX keeps reporting minimum payments on my cards with $0 balances, too. I just shrugged and wrote it off as another EX weirdness.

I can understand the concern with a mortgage app coming up. I would just point it out to the lender, who is probably very familiar with EX's eccentricities.

I wouldn't try to mess with EX on it. They have a nasty habit of overreacting to perfectly reasonable requests.

[jdogi]

Thanks hauling, I guess I'm glad it's not just me.  I suppose I'll just let them all report a $.25 balance and see if they round it down to $0.  It's just a bit of a PITA to micro-manage it.  I probably won't be apping for a mortgage for another 6+ months, so I suppose I have time to tinker with it.

[llecs]

OP, same happened to me to come mortgage time. I didn't say anything to the lender, but none of the listed minimums on $0 balanced accounts were included in DTI. Post calculations, the lender told me their software automatically excludes these accounts.

[Kappa1911]

Congrats on your 15k approval!

I wonder if I should apply........Can you tell me what your credit score is along with what's your highest limit credit card before you applied

[jdogi]

I was at 793 EQ with

~10% utilization

5yr AAoA

16yr oldest account

no negatives

one new account 6mo ago Citi Fwd

highest limit $10k AMEX BCP 16yr old due to backdating

only 2 inquiries in last year, both for mortgage in August (should treat as one)

2 inquiries >1yr old one auto, one store revolver

That's all I can think of.  If I missed anything, let me know.

[Duke-of-Earl]

I have not seen this, personally, and I'm probably as OCD as you about my zero balances.  They (EX) do report a non-zero "Mo. Payment", weirdly $15 for my two highest-limit cards, and $25 for one lower-limit one.  And they do report the high balance more or less accurately.  But the balance, the one that's totalled and highlighted in various report formats, has always been correct, and usually zero in my case.  Something else to worry about now, feh.  Good luck tweaking it down.

[haulingthescoreup]

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llecs wrote:

OP, same happened to me to come mortgage time. I didn't say anything to the lender, but none of the listed minimums on $0 balanced accounts were included in DTI. Post calculations, the lender told me their software automatically excludes these accounts.

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Good to know.

Maybe the tweaking isn't necessary after all!

[Sarasro]

I'm curious how this all turned out. I went in to get pre approved for a mortgage and was told to lower some of my monthly debts by $300. I printed the experian credit report and see that $175 of my monthly debts are on paid off revolving accounts (paid off for many months)... Weird thing is that not all my revolving accounts had the monthly payments listed. About 9 months ago, I printed my equifax report and it did not include these amounts. I added up my monthly debts and the bank had to of considered this $175 in its calculations. Did you experience that the mortgage lender was able to remove these charges when factoring your monthly dti?

It would be nice to know if I need to reduce my debt by $300 or just $125!

[Iincognito]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:

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llecs wrote:

OP, same happened to me to come mortgage time. I didn't say anything to the lender, but none of the listed minimums on $0 balanced accounts were included in DTI. Post calculations, the lender told me their software automatically excludes these accounts.

---

Good to know.

Maybe the tweaking isn't necessary after all!

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Bringing this thread back to life since I am considering apping for a mortage in the near future....

I like what I am hearing that $0 balance revolving accounts that report minimum payments are not taken into a DTI consideration, however I would be curious to know if the Experian scoring system excludes minimum obligations on zero balance accounts for scoring purposes -- meaning does the score "drop", even by a few points, if you have a minimum payment showing...