Help :(

[Anonymous]

I'm 21 years old & about 3/-4 years ago I started working. I have a few credit cards & usually pay them off. I recently applied for an auto loan & only got accepted by my credit union for an amount less than I wanted. My credit score is 713. The reasons Experian listed were:
-length of time accts. have been established
-too many accts. with balance
-too many inquires last 12 months
-too many accts. recently opened

I keep paying my cards off & I get my limit raised to I hope I'm doing something right, but I need to know how to improve it & how to avoid these reasons showing up again. Also, I don't know if it's better to cancel my (first) secured card I get charged $50/y for since I qualify for better ones now. Thanks!

[laz98]

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@Anonymous wrote:
My credit score is 713. The reasons Experian listed were:
-length of time accts. have been established
-too many accts. with balance
-too many inquires last 12 months
-too many accts. recently opened

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Welcome to the Forums! 

Where did you get your credit score from?  It's very difficult to get a true Experian score these days.

Sounds like you need to stop applying for now, & let the inquiries age off of your reports & your new accounts get to the 1 year mark so they won't be considered new anymore.  Also, sounds like you tend to carry your balances over month to month, so that's what that particular "ding" is for.

[Anonymous]

Thank you!

My credit union listed they got the information from them on a letter. Thanks for the reply!

[RobertEG]

This is what I speculate a creditor would be concerned with:

With a relatively short credit history, it is difficult to assess your delinquency risk by definition, so you go into the game with some reluctanct on their part.  That's just the price the young must pay...

Efforts to establish multiple new lines of credit with others is a two-edged sword.  You need established credit to move up to more and better lines of credit, but over-applying sends up a signal alarm.  By lending to you, seeing a pattern of also seeking new credit with multiple other creditors raises concerns that you might establish debts with others that would impact your ability to repay your debt with them.

Yes, young consumers need to establish new credit to improve their score, and thus get new credit, but it is a fine line.  It's not all just about a three-digit FICO score.

I would suggest reserving new inquiries for only better lines of credit that you have a higher probability for approval, which will require waiting a bit to build a longer history on what you have.

[clocktick]

Hello and welcome! 

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Kareng330 wrote:
 The reasons Experian listed were:
-length of time accts. have been established   time - let your accounts age
-too many accts. with balance  - pay your balances before your statement cuts - that way they won't be reported on your credit reports
-too many inquires last 12 months - again, time - let them age and don't apply for new credit before you try for a loan.  After one year your inquiries will stop counting toward your score (but will still be on your reports for an additional year)
-too many accts. recently opened - well you can't change this, so again, time - let your accounts age

...but I need to know how to improve it & how to avoid these reasons showing up again.

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[LS2982]

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@laz98 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
My credit score is 713. The reasons Experian listed were:
-length of time accts. have been established
-too many accts. with balance
-too many inquires last 12 months
-too many accts. recently opened

---

Welcome to the Forums! 

Where did you get your credit score from?  It's very difficult to get a true Experian score these days.

Sounds like you need to stop applying for now, & let the inquiries age off of your reports & your new accounts get to the 1 year mark so they won't be considered new anymore.  Also, sounds like you tend to carry your balances over month to month, so that's what that particular "ding" is for.

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+1