FICO Score Recheck?

[Anonymous]

I spoke with a mortgage broker who ran my report and said there is nothing on there that should put my score at below 600 (yes... 600... sigh) yet two of the agencies have it sitting at about 574.  She said she has seen people with bankruptcies on their credit with higher FICO scores than they gave me and told me to have it rechecked.  Is there any way to request that they recheck my score?  

I can't seem to find anyoe I can ask.  I need to be over 600 to even consider trying to buy a home.

[sammyfire2001]

How long is your credit history? 

What accounts are on your reports?

I'm assuming there are no lates or other negative information.

[Anonymous]

I have very few lates (and they are over a year old) - 2 stupid collection accounts (one is a medical bill for $39 and the other for an electric bill from over 2 years ago that is disputed) and that's pretty much it.  I have over 20 years of credit history - most of it very clean.

i checked it in December and it showed EX at 640 but now says 604 and the other two agencies are 574.

[wilee]

What are the balances and limits on your credit cards? 2 Collections and multiple lates less than 3 years old will give you a pretty good ding, but there must something else going on.

[haulingthescoreup]

mslover, what are the balances reporting on your credit cards, and what are their limits?

If you're waiting for your statements to pop up before paying your bills (as normal people would naturally do), it makes it look like you're carrying a lot a debt on your cards. If so, pay them before their statement dates, and they should report $0. If you have US Bank or HSBC/Orchards bank cards, they report on the last business day of the month, so change your payment date accordingly.

It will take a month for all of this to cycle through on your reports, but if you're getting penalized for high util, this will help a lot.

Also, if you haven't already, read the HIPAA/ medical collections thread stickied near the top of the Rebuilding Your Credit board. You might be able to get it off your reports entirely.