Not enough info for FICO score?

[nickeypoo72]

I just tried to purchase my credit report & FICO score through transunion & equifax.  I got an error message that my credit report doesn't contain enough info to get a FICO score! Yikes!  I've paid all my credit cards off a year and a half ago and cancelled them and never use credit cards anymore.  I don't want to get back into the terrible place I was before, so I use all cash now. 

If I go to buy a new car or house will this be a problem?  I have no debt, no credit cards.  I had no idea this could be a potential problem. I thought the longer I went with no debt, the higher my score would be!  I checked it oh, several months ago and it was up to like 650.  Now nothing?!?!  That's awful.

Can someone please explain how this works to me?

Thank you!

[haulingthescoreup]

What are the minimum requirements for a FICO score?

Credit Q&A

What are the minimum requirements for a FICO score?

There's really not much to it; in order for a FICO® score to be calculated, a credit report must contain these minimum requirements:

* At least one account that has been open for six months or more
* At least one undisputed account that has been reported to the credit bureau with in the past six months
* No indication of deceased on the credit report (Please note: if you share an account with another person this may affect you if the other account holder is reported deceased).

If you're not using credit, there's no way to assign you a credit score, which is a risk score. They have to have some sort of track record on you.

If you are genuinely terrified of being able to control yourself with a card (I'm not trying to sound judgmental! You need to do what's right for you), consider getting one card from a credit union, put one recurring charge on it --phone bill, utilities, cell phone, cable, whatever) and physically give the card to someone you trust, with instructions to not let you have it back. Having a monthly bill on it will keep it alive, it will show you using credit responsibly, and it will get a score back.

After six months of reporting, you'll be back in business.

For more understanding of all this, read these:

Understanding Your FICO ® Score

Credit Scoring 101 (at least the first post.)

These will give you the background knowledge you need to understand what you read here on the forums.