What is a good credit score?

My credit is 886. At ADT you need at least a 600 {650 soon} to have a system. I'm guessing that is the bottom of the bucket for passing credit in/on most things. I'm in Canada but the scores should be close to the US.

 

19- scored 735 on the equifax...

my mother is 56 and scored 767....I always thought 800 was the highest you can get......I believe 750+ is pretty good

 

http://www.myfico.com/ - The Fair, Isaac Company (FICO®) - developed the Credit Scoring System

Daily rates for comparison are on bottom left of site. Today: $150,000 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage;

FICO® score__Interest rate (%)___Monthly payment
720-850______5.528%___________$854
700-719______5.653%___________$866
675-699______6.191%___________$918
620-674______7.341%___________$1,033
560-619______8.531%___________$1,157
500-559______9.289%___________$1,238

This gives an overview, with different scores - don't know the "age" of the data
http://www.seacoastequities.com/financing/credit_scoremodel.asp
720 and up AA
700 to 719 A
680 to 699 A-/B+
660 to 679 B+/B
640 to 659 B
620 to 639 B-/C+/C
600 to 619 C/D
580 to 599 D/F
579 and below F

 

I once gave a system to a 45ish woman with a 920!!! How the hell she kept a score like that I will never know!!!

 

MY SCORE AS OF LAST MONTH(WENT FOR A EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT)
WAS 786....CAN SOMEONE TELL ME, IF ITS TRUE WHEN LOOKING AT YOUR CREDIT, DOES IT GO DOWN SOME POINTS EVERY CHECK??

TIA,
BRUCE

 

920 in Canadian FICO is only like 650 in US FICO.

 

A credit check here and there do not drop your score. Multiple checks in any 180 day period do.

 

I guess they assume you are trying to get a bunch of stuff on credit or somthing.

 

Thanks to this thread, I just ran my Equifax. Indeed, their scores appear to run from 300-850 (maximum).

Although I scored extremely well, I was surprised to see some old Amex accounts still listed (expired cards, etc.). According to Equifax, those count as open accounts, and the large number of them --all with zero balances-- was affecting my credit score. I've held Amex cards for many years, so that probably has something to do with it. Anyway, a quick call to Amex got all those extraneous accounts properly closed.

I wonder how closing those accounts would affect the score? As somebody who never carries any revolving debt whatsoever, I was still surprised to see how much stuff is actually on the report...

While I'm still quite young (35), I strongly believe the #1 rule in a person's financial life must always be: the ONLY plastic to ever carry is Amex -- pay in full every month, the day the bill arrives. Rule #2: If Amex isn't accepted somewhere, pay cash or boycott the merchant. Other than a mortgage, "no debt, ever". Rule #3, don't wait for Fchat colleagues to suggest running credit reports -- run them annually.

So, perhaps the $12.95 I just spent at Equifax was worthwhile!

-Daniel

 

Word of advice!
Run a check through all 3 every year yourself. Last year we were re-financing to a lower % and the broker ran the standard credit checks on my wife and I. My check was high 7's on all 3 and hers was low 7's on 2. Experian had crossed some other woman with horrendous credit into her report. It dropped her beacon to 320. This woman had late and non payments everywhere she went. This woman had a different address, of course, and even a different first name, but similar. We had to drop my wifes name from ownership and the mortgage to do the re-fi. To top it off, you then have to purchase a credit report from them to go and file complaints on all their mistakes. Their company is a computer, you can't talk to a person. What a nightmare.
Luckily, re-fi takes a few week to go through the process so we were still able to do it after dropping her name. But if she was in a car dealer to purchase/lease a car in her name, she would not have been able to do it.

 

Bruce,

Yes, the more inquiries you make in a short period of time the lower you score will be. But other than that, it is based on debt/income ratio, how much plastic you carry and the limits and carry on each you have. If you have cards you have not used in a while, close the accounts out and remove that obstacle. Some people believe erroneously that if you have a lot of cards but carry very little over each month and have high limits that you have a lot of credit available and your score should be high. Wrong. Having a lot of cards gives you the ability to pile up a huge amount of debt over a weekend and really throw your debt/income ratio totally out of whack.

Your history of payments, whether there have been any 30,60, 90 day lates, charge-offs, repos, bankruptcies all effect very negatively. Generally, in looking at car loans, if a person has been late (over 30 days) on a past auto loan, the auto lender will look at this negatively and it will reflect in the interest rate and downpayment required. Or just the inverse sometimes. Lets say you have a loan with GMAC and have paid it well, but have had trouble on some plastic and your mortgage. GMAC will probably take you back because you have a good history with them but another lender may turn you down completely.

Keep the debt/income in line, carry just a few pieces of plastic and pay them well and keep your other lines of credit and mortgage in line and the score will reflect well. Keep in mind, it takes about 6 months of paying on something before it actually will add to your credit rating score. But if you are late by 30 days, it reflects immediately.

700 should get you about anything you want on installments. Below 650 you are looked at more closely and 600 and below gets sent to the marginal high interest rate lenders.................