Personal Line of Credit and Your Credit Report?

[mattmix36]

I haven't been able to find a good answer to this questions so far while searching through this forum.  How does a personal line of credit show on your credit report? Is it considered a different type of credit (different than credit cards/auto loans)?  Would applying for a personal line of credit have the same type of affect on your credit score as a credit card--small inquiry dip at first?  Also, would it be smart to aquire a personal line of credit to show diversity on your credit report...in effort to raise your credit score?  Thanks for the help!

[user5387]

I have the PSECU LOC, as well as the Visa.

The Visa says "Credit Card" for "Account Type", and the LOC says "Check Credit Or Line Of Credit".

It counts as a revolving account.

It might be good to have an LOC for emergency purposes and so on, but I don't think I'd get one simply for diversity.  The same is true of installment loans -- get one if it's a natural fit, but not to gain a few more points.

[RobertEG]

A line of credit provides a pre-approved limit that you can use at your discretion, with payments then revolbing based on the amount used.

It is a revolving line of credit, as opposed to an installment loan, which provides the consumer with a fixed amount of cash with fixed monthy installments for repayment.

They are scored as part of revolving credit, with the exception that HLOCs at a a higher level, which I believe is around $35K, are scored as installment since they are based on your primary installment loan.