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Why is my FICO score not higher!!

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Why is my FICO score not higher!!

I don’t understand what is going on with my FICO score, it is only 670-685. For the past 10-15 years,  I have 100% on-time payments with 7 or more credit cards , I have less than 20% utilization on 3 of my credit cards and the others have 0$ balances.  I have owned a home for 7 years miss zero payments, Paid off 3 brand new vehicles.  And I have had an income of over 140K a year for the past 4 years.  My score should be higher!!  Every standard indicator should point to me having a higher score.   I hope someone can help point out an answer, before I start indicating other social factors and start playing certain types of cards (if you know what I mean).  Because my friend’s credit isn’t as good as mine he has a higher FICO score than me.   Everything on my report is correct and there is absolutely nothing negative on it,  What is the issue? .

Message 1 of 38
37 REPLIES 37
LionLaw
Frequent Contributor

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

It could be a few things. What factors does your FICO report list as bringing your score down?

If you get all but one of your cards down to $0, and the last one down to 1%-9% of its CL, you will maximize your score on that front.

Do you have any new accounts/inquiries in the past year? What is your AAoA?

Do you have any negative marks on your credit report--bankruptcy, late payments, charge-offs, collections (either paid or unpaid)?

It sounds like there are a lot of positives on your credit report. If you give us a more complete picture, we might be able to tell you how you can get your score up to where it should be.
Message 2 of 38
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

Great questions above...

 

I'll add, where are you getting your scores from?

 

Have you purchased a FICO report from here? If so, what are the negative descriptions on the 2nd page? It'll rank them in order from what hurts the most to what hurts the least.

 

Are any accts new? If so, how new?

 

You mentioned 20% utilization. You could bump up your score a bit by paying these down to under 10%. Ideally for max points, get all CCs to report $0 except for one and get one to report under 9% of the CL.

 

Are you certain the CCs are reporting 20% and 0% respectively? You can pay them down to 20% and still have a higher balance reporting.

 

Finally, ignore the income. It doesn't matter per FICO.

 

ETA...welcome to the forums!

Message 3 of 38
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

 No new accounts within the past 3 years. There is absolutely nothing negative on my report.  I checked everything.  I had a car loan balance that still shows. But I just paid it off about a month ago with 100% timely payments and its the third car within 10 yrs, all were brand new cars .  There are 2  inquires on my report from a company called "LandSafe".  Within the past 2 years.   I was online and requested a inquiry only about re-financing to get a lower rate. I never applied for anything or even signed anything  But for some reason they ran my credit. They told me that it has "no impact", they were partially right because my score was still around 685.   Also, my credit cards balances have been even higher in the past.  But my score has stayed around 685 it maxed at one point at 700. With even high balances.    I used the "credit simulator" too simulate how my score would improve if I paid off everything it still only went up 20 points.   Basically my credit Is perfect and has been for 10 years.   What am I missing? 

 

Message 4 of 38
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

Also, yes I used this site to retrieve my score, and it  was 675 another site had me at 685. 

Message 5 of 38
guiness56
Epic Contributor

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

Have you pulled your reports from annualcreditreport.com?  If you haven't I would.  They tend to be more detailed than the ones from 3rd party sites.

Message 6 of 38
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!


@Anonymous wrote:

 No new accounts within the past 3 years. There is absolutely nothing negative on my report.  I checked everything.  I had a car loan balance that still shows. But I just paid it off about a month ago with 100% timely payments and its the third car within 10 yrs, all were brand new cars .  There are 2  inquires on my report from a company called "LandSafe".  Within the past 2 years.   I was online and requested a inquiry only about re-financing to get a lower rate. I never applied for anything or even signed anything  But for some reason they ran my credit. They told me that it has "no impact", they were partially right because my score was still around 685.   Also, my credit cards balances have been even higher in the past.  But my score has stayed around 685 it maxed at one point at 700. With even high balances.    I used the "credit simulator" too simulate how my score would improve if I paid off everything it still only went up 20 points.   Basically my credit Is perfect and has been for 10 years.   What am I missing? 

 


OP, list out the negative reasons on your FICO report. It's on the 2nd page. That's where you'd want to start.

Message 7 of 38
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

I purchased the basic credit report directly from all 3 major bureaus and went over them  they are all exactly the same.    I did not purchase the FICO score from any of them it just expensive .  But the score and reports are just about consistent from even the third parties.   The reason this is important to me is because I have tried hard to as responsible as I can to make sure I do what I am supposed to do by paying my debts on time for years.  Now with my history I expect better inertest rates.  I am looking to buy a new car in about 3 months.  There shouldn't be any reason why I shouldn't get the lowest possible rate. Prime rate!  .  Plus, you can't shop for rates because if you do it shows up as an inquiry then that drops your scores even more.  This is very Frustrating.  

Message 8 of 38
LionLaw
Frequent Contributor

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

agreed with llecs. The FICO score that you got from this site should list the top 3-4 factors that are bringing your score down, and provide some explanation of those factors. What does it say for you?
Message 9 of 38
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Why is my FICO score not higher!!

I checked the second page.  It listed no activity ,  in fact its a very short page

Message 10 of 38
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