Credit Bureaus

[Joe Bagadonuts]

My biggest issue with credit bureaus and agencies is how we, as consumers, are completely in the dark as to how they came to the number for our credit score that they came to. It really should be pretty simple. Use this equation based on your credit history and here is your score. But it's not. And the fact that we have no idea as to how they came to that score or how we can even truly improve upon that score is complete and utter ******** and in my opinion illegal. Maybe not according to the letter of the law. But it should be.

You honestly have no idea how they came up with the score? Pay your bills on time and it won't matter to you how they come up with the number.

 

[franklin]

817 is insanely good. To good to believe tbh.

I recently got a credit card and am playing that same game. Get a tank of gas then pay it off when the bill shows up. Does wonders for your credit.

It takes a long history to get into the 800's. It's hard to do it before your 30's from what I understand.

 

[franklin]

If you want to raise your credit, take out 3-4 no fee credit cards and cut them up. Call every six months or so and ask to have your limit raised. This seems counter-intuitive to a lot of people until you think about the cash flow aspect to it. If you can live on cards for a few months of hardship you are much more likely to have the means to pay your bills if you are laid off or have a medical emergency. They can cushion you through until you can refinance, get a heloc, title loan, whatever to set yourself straight.

 

[Siro]

If you want to raise your credit, take out 3-4 no fee credit cards and cut them up. Call every six months or so and ask to have your limit raised. This seems counter-intuitive to a lot of people until you think about the cash flow aspect to it. If you can live on cards for a few months of hardship you are much more likely to have the means to pay your bills if you are laid off or have a medical emergency. They can cushion you through until you can refinance, get a heloc, title loan, whatever to set yourself straight.

This is embarrassing, but I never requested credit line increase before. After I read your comment, I went on one of my CCs website and requested a credit line increase, and they gave me an extra $3500.

 

[fishonjazz]

It takes a long history to get into the 800's. It's hard to do it before your 30's from what I understand.

Good point

 

[Miggs]

You honestly have no idea how they came up with the score? Pay your bills on time and it won't matter to you how they come up with the number.

It's not even remotely that simple.

 

[Joe Bagadonuts]

It's not even remotely that simple.

Your score is not contingent on your payment history? My career started as a mortgage loan officer. At the time we made credit decisions based upon analysis of the credit report. Credit scoring just started coming along as I was thankfully able to leave that business behind. I've never had a problem with credit and I assumed it was because my score was high as a result of paying my bills on time. That's always been very important to me. I've never missed a payment. If you're saying the score is predicated on something else then I guess I accidentally did that something else right, even though I have no idea what it is.

 

[leftyjace]

Your score is not contingent on your payment history? My career started as a mortgage loan officer. At the time we made credit decisions based upon analysis of the credit report. Credit scoring just started coming along as I was thankfully able to leave that business behind. I've never had a problem with credit and I assumed it was because my score was high as a result of paying my bills on time. That's always been very important to me. I've never missed a payment. If you're saying the score is predicated on something else then I guess I accidentally did that something else right, even though I have no idea what it is.

Your score is also based on number of loans taken out in your past, whether they were paid in full on time or even early, total funds borrowed and repaid, if there were any delinquencies, total outstanding debt (and in the same vein, debt-to-income ratio), and a few other things.