Our credit-scoring expert answers common questions - Blog

[Cindy_FICO]

We've been doing a blog series from forum questions. Our credit scoring expert, Tom Quinn responds to common questions ranging from closing accounts, credit utilization to small changes in your FICO Scores and loan deferments. 

Recent posts: 

Do FICO® Scores consider historical revolving utilization in the calculation?

Will a deferment or forbearance on my student loan drop my FICO® Scores?

Is a small change in a FICO Score (such as 1 or 2 points) significant?

Check out the series here: https://blog.myfico.com/tag/ask-fico/

Cindy_FICO
myFICO Admin

[Subexistence]

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@Cindy_FICO

• A reported closed trade is still eligible to be included in “length of credit history” type characteristics until it is no longer reported (generally about 7-10 years after the close date).

https://blog.myfico.com/recent-questions-on-myfico-forums-missing-payments-revolving-utilization-and...

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So are you saying it can fall off after 7 years rather than 10? What would specifically cause it to fall off after 7 years rather than 10?

[HeavenOhio]

A closed account could fall off at any time, but if you're going to place a bet, bet on ten years.

I think that accounts likely to fall off at the seven year mark are items like collections and some bankruptcies.

[Thomas_Thumb]

A closed account falls off your report before 10 years if the creditor decides it is in their best interest to stop reporting the account.

I had an error on a closed account that was showing a $300 CL when it had been $5000. The account had been closed 6 years. The creditor decided to stop reporting the account rather than correcting the error . So, the account disappeared after 6 years instead of 10.

[SouthJamaica]

I had 5 closed accounts drop off of Equifax within a year of their being closed.

[Anonymous]

According to your website I have a 'FICO score' for each bureau.  It is commonly seen on the dashboard page.  What is the point of that score when there is a different score for each credit type ie real estate, credit card, etc. AND every score for each credit type is always lower than the FICO score shown on the dashboard?  What is its purpose when no lender ever sees that score?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

According to your website I have a 'FICO score' for each bureau.  It is commonly seen on the dashboard page.  What is the point of that score when there is a different score for each credit type ie real estate, credit card, etc. AND every score for each credit type is always lower than the FICO score shown on the dashboard?  What is its purpose when no lender ever sees that score?

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1. The score on the dashboard is FICO 8, which is seen by lots of lenders.

2. It is rare that "every score for each credit type is always lower". Invariably, some of my other FICO scores are lower and some are higher.

[Anonymous]

Great response by SouthJ as usual. 

BTW, the Auto and BankCard versions of the score are often higher than a person's more generic "classic" score -- if the person has good scores to begin with.  So it's not just sometimes true but often true.

The Classic flavor (as SouthJ also observes) is indeed used by many lenders depending on the situation.  Some use it for Auto loans.  Some use it for credit cards.  And it is almost exclusively used for personal loans -- almost no lender would use an Auto or Bankcard score for a personal loan app.