Even if I pay off all balances by the next reporting cycle and hopped in a time machine one year ahead I don't see how our scores would improve that greatly. And yet, I know people with very high scores near or above 800 and they're not even 30 years old. What, did they get a credit card when they were 10?
Something isn't adding up here. I'm wondering if the FAKO hints from Truecredit might actually have more value (if one can decipher the coded double-speak) than what I'm seeing here at myFico.
For example, the hints to improve my score for Experian at Truecredit says something to the effect that I have too much available credit and then it says in the next hint that I don't have enough revolving credit accounts. I forget which agency, but another hint states that I do not have a healthy mix of accounts. Sure...150K+ in unsecured credit cards from six banks, an auto loan I've had for almost three years paid down from 40K to 6K, $1000 per month like clockwork, and two mortgages totaling 1.1 million dollars. Yeah, I don't have a healthy mix of credit.
This is why I'm really wondering if the amounts of these mortgages are having an impact, or the large amount of available credit. With an almost 20 year credit history with no baddies as they're called here, our scores should be higher.
The entire credit reporting industry needs to be held accountable and made transparent. It's nothing but a shakedown right now. Standards for loans need to be re-introduced as they were prior to these models. But then, that would be too much work for the poor loan officers wouldn't it?
If anything, the financial crisis we're now in is partly a result of the industry wide acceptance and adherence and almost cult-like devotion to these scoring models instead of actually determining the risks of lending to individuals or businesses on a case by case basis.
That's why I miss the "old" Vegas for example. You would sit down and lose your shirt and the pit boss would come up and a comp you dinner, a show, your room, etc., all with the stroke of a pen. He was actually in charge and doing his job managing the tables and patrons. Now you have to put your little stupid card into a machine that calculates whatever it's calculating so you can get a 20% discount at the buffet. Today's pit boss? Busy coordinating the dealers' 15 minute breaks and putting those stupid little cards into the readers.
