New on here

[Anonymous]

I've been reading on here that Credit Karma isn't good to look at the score, just use it for the data in the TransUnion and Equifax reports.  I was wondering though, why it said a negative factor for me was "no inquires for credit?"

I haven't applied for anything for over three years.  My cards are listed below, all opened between ages 18-21.  I just turned 25.  I also have a paid off auto loan with Tower Federal Credit Union.  

Would that mean my fico score would be negatively affected if I haven't applied for anything in a couple years?

Sorry I'm 25 and learning what I'm supposed to do.  I'd like to be able to afford a home or townhome by the time I'm 28/29 (3-4 years).

Thank you

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been reading on here that Credit Karma isn't good to look at the score, just use it for the data in the TransUnion and Equifax reports.  I was wondering though, why it said a negative factor for me was "no inquires for credit?"

I haven't applied for anything for over three years.  My cards are listed below, all opened between ages 18-21.  I just turned 25.  I also have a paid off auto loan with Tower Federal Credit Union.  

Would that mean my fico score would be negatively affected if I haven't applied for anything in a couple years?

Sorry I'm 25 and learning what I'm supposed to do.  I'd like to be able to afford a home or townhome by the time I'm 28/29 (3-4 years).

Thank you

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That's something I might not ever see! If you are carrying balances, paying on time, no derogs, I wouldn't think that would be a negative. In fact, inquiries are only 10% of the total score. 

BTW - Semper Fi my friend (USMC 81-87).

[harinootsak]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been reading on here that Credit Karma isn't good to look at the score, just use it for the data in the TransUnion and Equifax reports.  I was wondering though, why it said a negative factor for me was "no inquires for credit?"

I haven't applied for anything for over three years.  My cards are listed below, all opened between ages 18-21.  I just turned 25.  I also have a paid off auto loan with Tower Federal Credit Union.  

Would that mean my fico score would be negatively affected if I haven't applied for anything in a couple years?

Sorry I'm 25 and learning what I'm supposed to do.  I'd like to be able to afford a home or townhome by the time I'm 28/29 (3-4 years).

Thank you

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Welcome! I just started reading threads recently as well. 

That "negative factor" looks to be a text equivalent of a FAKO numeric score.

No true credit rejection letter or counter offer is going to have that as a negative factor. 

The only way that can be viewed is they are saying that you're not going to grow

your overall credit footprint readily with no recent inquiries, and thus "negative". 

Mortgage underwriters see it as prudent, and no activity is what they want to see leading up to house purchase. 

The real FICO scores are just that, the real thing. Keep them strong, and save for a down payment for house. 

Good luck! 

[NRB525]

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@harinootsak wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been reading on here that Credit Karma isn't good to look at the score, just use it for the data in the TransUnion and Equifax reports.  I was wondering though, why it said a negative factor for me was "no inquires for credit?"

I haven't applied for anything for over three years.  My cards are listed below, all opened between ages 18-21.  I just turned 25.  I also have a paid off auto loan with Tower Federal Credit Union.  

Would that mean my fico score would be negatively affected if I haven't applied for anything in a couple years?

Sorry I'm 25 and learning what I'm supposed to do.  I'd like to be able to afford a home or townhome by the time I'm 28/29 (3-4 years).

Thank you

---

Welcome! I just started reading threads recently as well. 

That "negative factor" looks to be a text equivalent of a FAKO numeric score.

No true credit rejection letter or counter offer is going to have that as a negative factor. 

The only way that can be viewed is they are saying that you're not going to grow

your overall credit footprint readily with no recent inquiries, and thus "negative". 

Mortgage underwriters see it as prudent, and no activity is what they want to see leading up to house purchase. 

The real FICO scores are just that, the real thing. Keep them strong, and save for a down payment for house. 

Good luck! 

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Actually, in the list of Reason Codes, there's something like that, related to "Lack of recently established revolving accounts" so the CK reason is not too far off. Now, the thing to keep in mind is that there is always a reason code. Always. Even if it doesn't make any sense, they always give you a reason code. I'm guessing OP's credit is in pretty good shape.

[harinootsak]

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@NRB525 wrote:

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@harinootsak wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've been reading on here that Credit Karma isn't good to look at the score, just use it for the data in the TransUnion and Equifax reports.  I was wondering though, why it said a negative factor for me was "no inquires for credit?"

I haven't applied for anything for over three years.  My cards are listed below, all opened between ages 18-21.  I just turned 25.  I also have a paid off auto loan with Tower Federal Credit Union.  

Would that mean my fico score would be negatively affected if I haven't applied for anything in a couple years?

Sorry I'm 25 and learning what I'm supposed to do.  I'd like to be able to afford a home or townhome by the time I'm 28/29 (3-4 years).

Thank you

---

Welcome! I just started reading threads recently as well. 

That "negative factor" looks to be a text equivalent of a FAKO numeric score.

No true credit rejection letter or counter offer is going to have that as a negative factor. 

The only way that can be viewed is they are saying that you're not going to grow

your overall credit footprint readily with no recent inquiries, and thus "negative". 

Mortgage underwriters see it as prudent, and no activity is what they want to see leading up to house purchase. 

The real FICO scores are just that, the real thing. Keep them strong, and save for a down payment for house. 

Good luck! 

---

Actually, in the list of Reason Codes, there's something like that, related to "Lack of recently established revolving accounts" so the CK reason is not too far off. Now, the thing to keep in mind is that there is always a reason code. Always. Even if it doesn't make any sense, they always give you a reason code. I'm guessing OP's credit is in pretty good shape.

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Good specific info thanks, and I do remember seeing a "lack of recently.." at some point, and yes you are so right, always a reason code! 

Even if no recent inquiries is a non-zero % of the 10% of FICO, it certainly could not nesc bring the scores down, but limit their the speed of increase. 

[Anonymous]

I'm on my phone and don't know how to quote but thank you for the advice!

[Anonymous]

I don't have fico scores but my transunion credit karma is 778, equifax credit karma is 761 and credit.com Experian is 801 but my dad said my fico scores are probably much lower because I only made my minimum payments when I was deployed, even though I've paid off all my cards now. I never have been late on anything so I guess that part helps

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I don't have fico scores but my transunion credit karma is 778, equifax credit karma is 761 and credit.com Experian is 801 but my dad said my fico scores are probably much lower because I only made my minimum payments when I was deployed, even though I've paid off all my cards now. I never have been late on anything so I guess that part helps

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It doesn't matter to FICO scoring that you only made minimum payments, as long as you never missed a single payment. The CK scores are FAKO, not real FICO, but being that high, they imply your FICO scores are probably pretty good as well (within a range of 40-50 points , CK is THAT bad!)

If you decide to get your CR from MyFICO, you'll get a list of the different FICO scores with that.

[jamie123]

Welcome to the forum!

You have done a great job so far!

If you plan on buying a house in 3 to 4 years these are my suggestions on what you can do now to improve/maximize your scores:

1. Apply for 2 more really good quality credit cards right now. Credit cards are the foundation to really high and rock solid credit scores in the future. You want to end up with 5 to 8 credit cards that you can keep open for the rest of your life. Don't ever close a credit card unless you think long and hard about it. One of the credit scoring categories is age of accounts and good scores in this category can only be achieved with time. You are young, time is on your side!

2. Shift your day to day expenses to your credit cards but ALWAYS PAY THEM OFF IN FULL EACH MONTH! Do not carry balances month to month on credit cards!

3. WHEN APPLYING FOR NEW CREDIT you need to groom your scores to achieve the highest scores you are capable of getting. You do this by having one card report a small balance of less than 10% of its credit line and all your other cards report $0. You NEED to have one card report a small balance. If all your cards report $0 your scores will actually drop for not using credit. In my case my scores drop 18 points when all my cards report $0 versus one card reporting a small balance.

You have plenty of time between now and your mortgage application to work on building some really high and rock solid credit scores.

If you post which credit cards you currently have along with their credit lines I can suggest which new credit cards I think you should apply for. You want to get quality credit cards from the so called "prime" banks which are:

American Express

Bank of America

Chase

Citi Bank

Discover

Wells Fargo

Credit cards from these banks will grow with you for life. Long standing customers of these banks can expect credit lines in excess of $20K.

EDIT: Oops! I saw your credit cards listed in your siggy!

I would suggest you apply fot the following cards:

Bank of America - Cash Rewards Card

         You get cash back on your purchases

Discover - Discover IT Card

          You get cash back on your purchases

And perhaps if you shop on Amazon...

Amazon - The Amazon Store Card

          You get 5% cash back on all your purchases done on Amazon

[Anonymous]

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@NRB525 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
I don't have fico scores but my transunion credit karma is 778, equifax credit karma is 761 and credit.com Experian is 801 but my dad said my fico scores are probably much lower because I only made my minimum payments when I was deployed, even though I've paid off all my cards now. I never have been late on anything so I guess that part helps

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It doesn't matter to FICO scoring that you only made minimum payments, as long as you never missed a single payment. The CK scores are FAKO, not real FICO, but being that high, they imply your FICO scores are probably pretty good as well (within a range of 40-50 points , CK is THAT bad!)

If you decide to get your CR from MyFICO, you'll get a list of the different FICO scores with that.

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Thank you I ordered the 1 time on each for 19.95 each and it said my Fico 8 was 765 on TransUnion, 761 on Equifax and 793 on Experian as of today 6/27/2015