Will Installment Loan Help My FICO Score?

[indiolatino61]

Hello all,

The only 2 items I always see as affecting my score are my inquiries (11) and lack of recent installment loan info. Will getting a small installment loan to landscape my house ($6-7K) help my score in the long run or would it be a waste of time and a HP? Where would be the best place to get a small amount like this...a bank, credit union? Thanks for the advice.

[GaTech]

Installment loans do more harm than good (short term). In the long run, they're not really worth the hard pull and count against your available credit to debt ratio.

Mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit cards are the way to go to build a nice credit mix in your portfolio.

[user5387]

One use for an installment loan is to pay off revolving debt.  This will typically boost one's score.  But you have high scores and low utilization, so I don't think it would do much for you.

Another use is in certain rebuilding cases, to establish a payment history.  For example, other threads here mention the "NFCU 1-2 Punch", which involves a secured installment loan that you take out and pay back.

[BearsAndTurtlesRtheBest]

dont car loans fall under the installment loans categories?

[too-much-time]

Probably not until you have paid off more than half, I would imagine. A versatile credit portfolio looks better when backed up by a solid track record.