@VALoanMaster wrote:
@Mgilbert8605 wrote:VaLoanMaster, I do plan on applying for an FHA loan. Now that I know my scores, and have a target purchase date in mind, I'm trying to decide when I should begin working with a broker. In regards to your comment about becoming an AU on a family member's credit card....I thought that I was already getting the maximum amount of points available, since I have 4 open credit cards. Is that not true? I was under the assumption that at least 3 cards are what's required, to avoid a FICO scoring penalty.
I'm not aware of any penalty for having too many credit cards. Since 15% of your score is based on the length of your credit history, it will help to add an account that's in good standing, that pre-dates your BK. In addition to that, 30% of your score is based on how much owe and how much available credit you have so adding another account with available credit will help your scores.
There's a minor reason code on some versions of FICO where "too many revolving accounts" is a thing; however, it's a lot more than 4, more like 14+.
4 is good and maxes out what we understand of the scorecards today though the older mortgage scores aren't as well tracked TBH.
