Question about figuring out which accounts are counting against my credit

[Anonymous]

I just looked at my FICO score for the first time in a while and noticed that one of the key factors affecting my score was "Too many accounts with balances." However, to the best of my knowledge, I should only have one credit account that the score is pulling from. I only have one credit card, my student loans are paid off (one of the reasons given for my score dropping as well--lack of recent installment loan information), my car is paid off and I don't have a mortgage. Is there a way to see what accounts FICO is pulling from to see if there is some long-lost balance I did not know about lurking out there somewhere, or worse if someone has managed to open an account in my name?  

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just looked at my FICO score for the first time in a while and noticed that one of the key factors affecting my score was "Too many accounts with balances." However, to the best of my knowledge, I should only have one credit account that the score is pulling from. I only have one credit card, my student loans are paid off (one of the reasons given for my score dropping as well--lack of recent installment loan information), my car is paid off and I don't have a mortgage. Is there a way to see what accounts FICO is pulling from to see if there is some long-lost balance I did not know about lurking out there somewhere, or worse if someone has managed to open an account in my name?  

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Obviously if you have only one credit card and its reporting with a balance, then that's 100 percent of your accounts with balances and it will be flagged as such.  Its the reason why its so often recommended in these forums to have three credit accounts, and allow only one to report a small balance (That translates to 33 percent of your accounts with balances and hopefully you'd avoid that reason code).

[Medic981]

Welcome to the myFICO forums!

The only way to check what accounts are being scored by FICO is to look at your credit report itself. When was the last time you pulled your credit report? creditchecktotal will allow you to look at all three credit bureaus for a $1 trial. Just be sure to cancel the trial before the 7 day period or you will be charged the full months subscription. 

[Anonymous]

There are many free tools out there that will allow you to pull your credit reports, which includes a complete list of all the accounts that a given credit bureau has on you, along with other data like inquiries.

The $1 trial at CCT is also a fine suggestion.

[Anonymous]

Once you pull all three reports (see above in this discussion so far) you'll want to go over them with a fine tooth comb.  You can help the broader community here by listing for us, for each of the three reports, the accounts that appear, including:

Whether it is closed or open

What kind it is (credit card, loan etc.)

Its current balance

Its credit limit (if it is a card)

The Date Opened

Also be careful to look for any derogs in the history of each account.  Remember, what matters to your score is what the reports say, not what happened in reality.  Thus, for example, don't assume that just because you have never been late on an account that your report doesn't say you were late.

Finally it would be great to hear the source of your credit scores and the negative reason statements (ranked in order) for each one.  If you truly have exactly one account with a balance (all others are at $0) and are still seeing the negative reason statement "Too many accounts with a balance" that is of interest.  Knowing where that reason statement falls (#1, #2, #3, or #4) would help a lot.