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Back in 99 I had to file chapter 7 I was young and dumb! I did learn from the mistake....
I have no open credit cards and really don't want or need them!
I have no car loans and don't need a new car as I already have 2 nice ones!
I have a few open jewelers & department store accounts that have not been used in years or ever at all about 20K combined limit!
I pulled my reports 09/08 the scores were in the upper 670-690's when the BK and mortgage was on there now in 09 the BK is gone and mortgage is satisfied as agreed never missed or was late with a payment in 10 years now I am not over 510 on any of the reports.
The only changes since 09/08 was paying off my mortgage and the BK dropping off!
As a result my Home owners insurance went up, so did a few of my other bills because they pull annual reports.
What Up With This!!! Did paying off the mortgage kill my credit? Anyway to fix it without having to get credit cards, a car loan, or generating debt?
When the BK dropped, you were likely switched to a different bucket.
Also, have any old accounts dropped off? This would lower your age.
How long has it been since you used those jewelers and department store cards? If it has been awhile, FICO may be ignoring them in utillization calculations. When you bring an account out of inactivity, you will sometimes see a slight decrease in your score, only for it to rebound in the next month or so.
Also, once the mortgage was paid off, it wouldn't be counted in your mix of credit anymore. Once it was paid off, it left you with no open installment loans.
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=creditcard&thread.id=50068
That thread may explain a few things for you.
I would also read Credit Scoring 101 and the article from the Credit Education section titled What's in your FICO score?
It also seems that you do not have any major CC. I would consider adding one. Even if it was a BoA Secured or other secured card.
I know you don't want no debt or CC, but you can have CC without having debt. Use it for a small purchase every so often that you would normally pay cash for and PIF before the statement to avoid interest charges.