Details:
FICO - 780
Credit Utilization - 9% - Grade A
On-Time Payments - 100% - Grade A
Average Age of Open Accounts - 3 years - Grade D
Total Accounts - 4 Open/9 closed - Grade D
(1 mortgage + 3 credit cards - soon to be 2 credit cards...)
Hard Credit Inquiries - 1 - Grade B
(Mortgage refi inquiry)
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I only share to re-iterate my griping about credit card myths. (Or, over-simplification of the rules). Dh and I both had scores well over 800 for a time, but this was due to having a traditional auto loan (for one month - but our scores spiked upwards due to that one month loan) and I think also because we had much older mortgages. With the refi, our scores are back to the high 700s. Our current mortgage is only one year old.
Anyway, considering there is no difference between a 780 score or a 850 score, I prefer to just keep things simple and only keep 2 credit cards open at a time. PArticularly after my ID theft. I don't like the idea of more cards open that can be breached - and that I might not even notice...
Anyway, I share to say that obviously, length of credit and number/type of accounts, are really the lowest part of your credit score. Have you ever applied for a loan with a credit score over 750? Lenders salivate over that.
I also can not find the answer to this anywhere - but recently learned that good credit stays on your credit report for 10 years. I did not know this, but makes sense since absolutely nothing has dropped off my credit report, ever. Some of my first credit lines were closed a decade ago though. Our very first mortgage ever will drop off soon, too. I just wonder if that info factors into your score somehow. The reality is that I have almost 17 years of good credit reporting on my actual credit report. I can't find anything that says whether that counts toward your FICO or not. Maybe, no one knows for sure. But I Don't see why it wouldn't. I mean, can you really get an excellent FICO rating with only "3 years of credit history"? Hmmmm.
Anyway, I know credit card companies are going to be re-introducing annual fees, people will be asking in the forums if they should keep their cards, and everyone will say, "YEs - you have to for a good FICO score." That just drives me nuts!
Credit Report Update
February 13th, 2010 at 03:38 pm
February 13th, 2010 at 03:51 pm 1266076318
Last time we got our mortgage, three years ago, we had scores of 815!