Credit Mix...

[GFer]

I pull credit apps all the time at work. Ever since I started reading/learning on the forums I started really studying them. I pulled some guys today (TU).  He had 3 mortgages, 1 unsecured line or credit, and one auto. His score was was 791. There was a remark from the bureau that stated flagged him for lack of revolving credit!

I just started laughing.

So I guess they will 'ding' you for that. But his scores and others I have seen prove it IS possible to get high scores without them. He was a senior though. So I'm sure his average age was better than most.

[haulingthescoreup]

It's true that if you have crazy long credit, many of the usual rules don't seem to apply. For instance, it seems to be OK to not have a mortgage, to have $0 balance on all cards, etc.

And this was a FICO TU, right?

With long history, clean payment records go a long, long way.

[RobertEG]

GFer, I can see  your first impulse to scoff at the comment that the account you referenced was criticized for lack of revolving credit history.

But remember that FICO is NOT an overall evaluation of credit worthiness.  It is an evaluation of risk of repayment of debt over the next two years.  Millionaires with yachts and four homes can have low FICO scores.  Income and assets are not a part of FICO scoring.  Establishing and timely paying various types of credit obligations is what FICO is all about.

FICO is a debt repayment risk analysis, and historical data has shown that the very first type of credit that one is most likely to abuse, ignore, and/or default upon is revolving credit.  So FICO places great emphasis on a showing of establishing and properly using revolving credit.  I am not surprised at all by one with no revolving credit receiving a negative comment from the FICO scoring gurus. 

[GFer]

Yes, Fico TU.

And Robert; you are right. I guess I just lost sight of that. Thanks for reminding me. I guess we as consumers working on our credit get too 'emotionally involved' and tend to take these scores and the system 'personal', whereas it was really developed from business point of view for risk assessment.