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Yeah, I have been letting a couple of cards report small balances. One only has a $5k limit, and I let it report a $30-40 balance, so that's working. But I'm still stuck at 774 on FICO-8 for some mysterious reason. However, I gather FICO-2 is the mortgage score and it's doing well so I guess that's fine. FICO-8 is weird though.
@Anonymous wrote:
By the way, I can’t remember exactly the limit. I thought it was $35,000 but then I think somebody at $29K was excluded, but if you use a card with a CL under $25K, it should work fine for FICO 2.
I was looking at this recently - the EX2 (Auto and Bankcard, anyway) threshold is definitely lower than the EQ5/TU4 threshold (assumed to be $35k) - I've verified that a $26k limit does count, but a $30k limit does not. I haven't dialed it in more exactly than that (yet).
The reason codes end up looking really odd when testing this - you can get "There are no recent balances on your revolving and/or open-ended accounts." at the same time as "You've made heavy use of your available revolving credit.".
Due to MyFICO hiding reason codes when within 50 points of max, I've only been able to test EX2 Auto and EX2 Bankcard, but the base EX2 ("mortgage") version is likely using the same thresholds.
Replying to this necro thread.
I was stuck at this bucket that was limiting me around 745 for my FICO score. Stayed there for a year, no matter what I did it moved only a couple points up and down. So the "bucket" concept seems real.
I got a mortage which reported for the first time in October, and was the first installment loan on my file - instant 15 point boost to my score. So, looks like I'm out of the bucket.
I suppose to depends on how you define "bucket." Many people use the term bucket to mean scorecard assignment. In other words, if someone is "rebucketed" they are said to move from one scorecard to another. Using that terminology, since absence/presence of an installment loan is not a scorecard assignment factor, I would say the addition of one would not change your bucket. Of course one exception to that would be in going from a thin to a thick file, which wouldn't necessarily have to come from an installment loan.
Now if we're loosely using the term bucket to indicate a scoring plateau reached within a scorecard, it would make sense that a profile-changing event such as the addition of a first installment loan aiding credit mix could help push past it.