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Scores not budging!

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babbles
Established Contributor

Scores not budging!

I am a little disappointed that my credit score didn't move after I paid off a 12 year home improvement loan with NFCU about 3 months ago and paid if off a year early.  I just paid off 2 mortgages yesterday so will those scores move at all in the next couple of months?

 

 

Also, how do I get a comprehensive FICO report, my vantage score through USAA is driving me crazy!  My new score for February  now says I've dropped to 693 down from 712!   Nuts!

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5 REPLIES 5
takeshi74
Senior Contributor

Re: Scores not budging!

Installments aren't assessed the same as revolvers.  If you paid off all your installments you actually may see a score drop.  Make sure you understand how credit is assessed before setting expectations.

 


@babbles wrote:

Also, how do I get a comprehensive FICO report, my vantage score through USAA is driving me crazy!  My new score for February  now says I've dropped to 693 down from 712!   Nuts!


Always consider the relevance of a given scoring model to a given creditor/product.  A VantageScore is only relevant to creditors that actually use it.  If you don't have creditors that use a VantageScore or intend to apply with one then it will not be relevant.

 

If you want FICO's and reports click on the "Compare Our Products" link at the top of every page and select the appropriate product.  You can also get a 3B report and FICO 8's from Experian though myFICO will provide additional FICO models (see the Compare Our Products" page).  Credit Check Total can also provide a report and FICO 8's but it is a service versus a one time purchase.  However, it has a trial and you can cancel during the trial.  Many have been able to get a reduced rate for ongoing monitoring by doing so.

Message 2 of 6
babbles
Established Contributor

Re: Scores not budging!

HOLLY SMOKES!!  Thank you for that suggestion!   Now that credit file seems like a more accurate respresentation of who i am!   I, like many have such an obsession with my credit file!  My goal is to some day make the 800 club but i'm still 34 points off.  Will those mortgages make the difference?

Message 3 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Scores not budging!

We can better help you guess the effect of paying off these installment loans (mortgages, home improvement loan) if you can tell us whether you have any other open installment loans.  An encouraging answer would be "yes."  For example, another mortgage, or a car loan, or a student loan.

 

If your goal was solely to improve your scores, then paying off your loans was not the best strategy.  As Takeshi observed, this may cause your score to drop, though it all has to do with whether you have any installment loans still open.

 

Do not pay off more loans, or open more loans, with the intent of improving your score -- not until you have had time to talk with us and understand the likely impact.

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babbles
Established Contributor

Re: Scores not budging!

I do have another mortgage along with 2 other installment loans, and 2 credit cards.

Message 5 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Scores not budging!

Great to hear! 

 

There are two big kinds of credit accounts: revolving (typically credit cards) and installment (typically things like car loans, mortgages, student loans, personal loans).

 

In terms of revolving accounts, FICO really likes it when you have three or more open accounts (e.g. three credit cards) but you also keep the total amount you owe very low compared to the amount of your total credit limit.  (This is called CC utilization: amount owed divided by credit limit.)  The simple rule here is: all of your cards at $0 except one, which should show a small positive balance.  That will get you all the scoring points you can from your revolving accounts.  You don't need to do this all the time, just when you are trying to get all the extra points you can.

 

As far as your installment accounts go, there is a less discussed but similar principle.  In the same way that for your cards you add up the credit limits on all your open cards, here you add up the total amount that your installment loans were originally for -- but only on your OPEN loans. Similarly, you then take the total amount you owe on your open loans.  Amount Owed divided by Original Loan Amount also gives a %.  For lack of a better phrase we'll call this "installment utilization."  FICO likes it a lot when you have at least one open loan (one is fine) but your installment utilization (counting all loans together) is low: ideally 1-9%, but you will still get a fair number of points when it is higher.

 

You just paid off three of your installment loans, so these are now closed -- and therefore they do not not count in that "installment utilization" calculation, which considers only open installment loans.

 

Now that you know all this, you can probably see that the best thing to do is to continue to keep a huge loan like a mortgage open, but just pay off most of it, since it will help you keep your installment utilization low.  (Obviously if it is a high interest loan, that it probably makes sense to pay it off regardless.)

 

Your next best step is to figure out what your current installment utilization is.  (Remember, open loans only.)  If you think you might be able to lower it to < 8.99%, that might help you out.  We can give you some advice if you are willing to tell us what your % currently is.

 

A huge help for you would be to lower your CC utilization to the 1-6% area, if you have not done that yet.  A long range step would be to add another credit card so that you have three.  (In the short term, adding the third card will cause you to take a score hit, however.)

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