596 FICO score and total debt

[Anonymous]

My $93,000 mortgage is incorrectly labeled as an installment equity loan.  When added to $12000 student loans and credit card balances of $12000 it looks like I have high debt.  My car loan is paid off and I have some lates on closed store credit and some collections for tiny amounts that I'm disputing.  Does mortgage on secured real estate compute better on FICO than an equity loan, even when it is also secured credit?  It has been open almost 7 years without a late payment.  Do I really deserve such a low score?

[Anonymous]

---

LuckyLucy wrote:

My $93,000 mortgage is incorrectly labeled as an installment equity loan.  When added to $12000 student loans and credit card balances of $12000 it looks like I have high debt.  My car loan is paid off and I have some lates on closed store credit and some collections for tiny amounts that I'm disputing.  Does mortgage on secured real estate compute better on FICO than an equity loan, even when it is also secured credit?  It has been open almost 7 years without a late payment.  Do I really deserve such a low score?

---

While the FICO score does look at utilization on revolving debt, it also takes into consideration how much you still owe on installment debt to score you as a good candidate.  Open collections always hurt you.  I would contact my broker and ask that they report the mortgage as a mortgage loan not an equity.  Equity implies you borrowed against your home don't knwo how that figures with FICO but from a lenders point of view unless it was home improvement most frown on turning unsecured debt into a debt tied into your home as collateral FICO probably does the same as large equity loans can be a sign of financial trouble. 

You mentioned 12000.00 in CC debt what's your total credit line on all your card? Remember if they are reporting no credit limit such as C1 you have to use the highest balance charged to the card shpwing on the report.  How old are your lines?  If your cards are over 10-30% utilizaed you could drastically improve the score by paying them down.