Question from newbie

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone.  I'm new to the board and I have what I hope isn't a dumb question.  I was just looking at a copy of my credit report and I have an installment loan through beneficial that is showing a current balance of $7740 and a high balance of $6000.  My question is, how can my high balance be lower than my current balance? 

Is this something that can be disputed through the CRAs?  I've been paying on this loan for almost two years and how it is being reported on my CR doesn't make any sense to me.  I have never paid a lot of attention to my credit reports before now, so I'm not that knowledgeable yet, but it looks to me like this would hurt my credit score.  Again, this is an installment loan with set monthly payments, so shouldn't it show my original loan amount as the high balance and my current balance be a lower amount after almost two years of payments?  It shows my original loan date as 06/27/06. 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks! . 

[Anonymous]

The balance on installment loans matters little if at all to the FICO scoring system. Now revolving accounts (like MasterCards) are different matters entirely. But what FICO scoring looks for on an installment is whether it has been paid as agreed (i.e., have you ever been late?) If you haven't been late, the FICO gods will smile on you, at least a little. If you have been late, then the loan may count against you.