Can I get some personal feedback on my credit score?

[PaKettle]

I was discharged in Ch. 7 a year ago.
I cleaned up my credit report and it does seem to be all accurate now.

I have 4 credit acccounts, all paid on time, and only one with 3/4 of limit used up ($500 limit), the rest either not used or only a small fraction used.
All paid on time, never a late payment.

I just signed up for a free 9 day trial of Experian's score and report, and it says the following:
"Percentage of credit currently available 87.5%

Satisfactory accounts 23

Now delinquent/derogatory accounts 0

Was delinquent/derogatory accounts 2 [before bankruptcy]

Public records 1 [bankruptcy]

Number of inquiries 5

Real Estate debt (mortgages) $0

Revolving debt (bank and retail cards) $1,007

Installment debt (fixed payment loans) $6,298 [School loan - never late, ever]

Other debt $0

Collection debt $0

Your Approximate Total Debt $7,305"

So, WHY is my score ONLY 659??

According to the "Score Illustrator" or simulator, there is virtually nothing I can do to improve my score other than have a mortgage payment on time (we are in no position to buy a home), or reduce my # of Inquiries (5) which obviously there is nothing we can do about, we just have to wait.

So as I see it there is basically nothing I can do to improve my score!

Any ideas?

[StartingOver08]

Did you check to make sure that all the limits are reporting correctly?
Sometimes they just put in the high balance and not the actual limit.

Also, try to experiment by paying down your balance on the one that is at 75% utilization to less than 30%. Usually the scoring models like to see a balance from 1% to 10%, but not zero in order to get the highest scores.

Also make sure that this is the actual FICO score and not the FAKO score as those are all over the place.

[ansky0007]

Also, 659 is not that bad 1 year out of BK? Dont forget the BK is not going anywhere anytime soon so it will be a ding on your report for some time to come. Also your limits are pretty low and you are using 75% of your small $500 limit... You need to utilize much lower of your lines.

[imaloser]

hmmm...my guess is that your revolving debt is too low. i'm almost two years into a chapter 13 - credit scores are hovering right about 700 (692/719/705) - however, i have had a mortgage for ten years, and, interestingly, two very old "authorized user" accounts with high credit lines showing on my credit report as well as a secured prime credit card attached to my savings account. that's the good. i have 5 other accounts that are either collection/judgement and they are old - greater than 5 years. the authorized user accounts never used to be on my credit report - in fact, even when i filed two years ago they were not on there - and actually, i forgot about them until i had a household emergency that required me to use the card - charging a large amount, interest and payment free for 12 months, but paying it all off. if you play with the fico simulator you will see what paying off a large amount of money in a short period of time does to your score ! i'm no expert though.

[Never_Again]

Your score sounds in line with someone a year out of bankruptcy. A 70% utilization will kill the score.

If you concentrate on making good financial decisions, and not just obtaining credit for the sake of a score, or otherwise concentrating on manipulating the FICO sore, you will be just fine.

I really can't give you any feedback on how you are doing, as the FICO is just an indicator of how your credit rating is doing. You haven't listed your net income, positive (or negative) cash flow, or net worth here. These are much more accurate indicators of how well you are doing.

[FLBK7]

A 659 true FICO one year out of bankruptcy is actually not bad at all. I was at 651 on my one-year discharge anniversary.

My score is now 793, and it will be 5 years this April. I have high credit card limits now, no inquiries in the past 2 years, and I also got a mortgage in late 2006. So all in all, I think you're doing very well!

[PaKettle]

Your score sounds in line with someone a year out of bankruptcy. A 70% utilization will kill the score.
[edit]
I really can't give you any feedback on how you are doing, as the FICO is just an indicator of how your credit rating is doing. You haven't listed your net income, positive (or negative) cash flow, or net worth here. These are much more accurate indicators of how well you are doing.

Well, that is what I wanted to know: how my credit rating is doing. I KNOW how "I" am doing! From reports I've seen from other people on here, their credit scores seem to be higher than mine 1 year out of bankruptcy, so I felt that 659 was lower than it should be.

I am making it a priority to pay down my $500 card that has 70% utilization. Maybe that will make a difference? (although the FICO simulator does not indicate that it will.) I thought that since the limit on that card was so low it wouldn't really matter much what the utilization was! I should have it paid off in a month or two, anyway (well, okay, I'll leave 10% balance on it if that will help my credit rating).

Since they want you to have some kind of balance, will it possibly increase my score if I charge 10% of the limit on the 2 cards with $305 limit and $750 limit, which right now I don't owe anything on? (In the past 6 months I have used them and then paid them off to a zero balance.)

[imaloser]

i'm no expert and don't play the credit score game - i can only speak from experience - one of the keys is a high credit line - i think you said you had a student loan - use the simulator and you will see what, say, knocking 3 grand off the 6 grand in six months will do. this is how my score jumped. i borrowed a large amount - 7500.00 and paid it off (to take advantage of 0% interest) in six months. however, i think the student loan falls under installmant and what you really need is a high limit card that is revolving - this might make a difference too.

[Never_Again]

You have it right... Utilization is second only to payment history. As I said, just make good decisions, and everything will work right. One thing... you can not artificially manipulate that score! That is why I said to make good decisions... don't carry balances at all! Watch the score rise at that point.

[PaKettle]

You have it right... Utilization is second only to payment history. As I said, just make good decisions, and everything will work right. One thing... you can not artificially manipulate that score! That is why I said to make good decisions... don't carry balances at all! Watch the score rise at that point.

NeverAgain you seem to know what you are talking about but I question this:
I have heard that it is better to carry a 10% balance than to carry a 0 balance. Do you know for sure that this is not true?

[Never_Again]

I can tell you, unequivocally, that it is better to carry a zero balance. Why would you want to pay even a dime of interest?

Oh, that's right, to get a FICO score increased. Well, if you pay the balance off every month, your card is going to show a current payment each month. And your utilization is going to be extremely low.

However, I have to tell you that I have an extreme bias to not carrying debt... period! To pay a finance charge each month to increase a FICO score is not a good financial decision, I don't care what anyone tells you!

I got a pre-approved offer for a Capitol One card for a $3000 limit with 0% for a year, and 9.9% after that. The offer said, "We have reviewed your credit report, and it looks like the bad times are behind you!" I fed it to the shredder. I know that the bad times are behind me, and I plan to keep them there. I am not going to play games anymore, and I wish more people would decide that as well.

But, the word on the street is to have less than a 30% utilization ratio, if you want to raise the score.

[PaKettle]

I can tell you, unequivocally, that it is better to carry a zero balance. Why would you want to pay even a dime of interest?

Oh, that's right, to get a FICO score increased. Well, if you pay the balance off every month, your card is going to show a current payment each month. And your utilization is going to be extremely low.

However, I have to tell you that I have an extreme bias to not carrying debt... period! To pay a finance charge each month to increase a FICO score is not a good financial decision, I don't care what anyone tells you!

I got a pre-approved offer for a Capitol One card for a $3000 limit with 0% for a year, and 9.9% after that. The offer said, "We have reviewed your credit report, and it looks like the bad times are behind you!" I fed it to the shredder. I know that the bad times are behind me, and I plan to keep them there. I am not going to play games anymore, and I wish more people would decide that as well.

But, the word on the street is to have less than a 30% utilization ratio, if you want to raise the score.

Neveragain, I admire your hard line stance against debt, as long as one does have some credit for an emergency or to rent a car, etc..

Right, I know that carrying over 30% utilization ratio is not good. We agree there.

Where I disagree is that it is bad to carry a small amount of credit in order to raise one's FICO. Paying, say, a $1-2/month finance charge for 6 mo. or so in order to raise one's credit score CAN (IMHO) be a good financial decision, for example if one is going to buy a house or a new car or otherwise feels they need a good credit score.

I agree that it is dangerous for people to have too much credit and to be tempted by it. I obviously ran that course before and I don't want to run it again, either. I do use credit now, though, and am doing my best to use it responsibly and not carry too much of a balance. I agree: I NEVER want to be in a position again where bankruptcy might even be a consideration for me! I never want to carry, say, over $1000 in debt for more than a month or two. I guess everyone has to make their own personal decision as to how far they want to go with credit.

One reason I like to buy things with my Platinum credit card is to increase the warranty, have theft or damage protection, and help me have a way of fighting back if I should have a major complaint wth the purchase and the retailer does not want to cooperate. So on electronics or other such purchases I put it on the credit card and then pay it off right away.

[Never_Again]

I agree with you on the buying a house part, but not on buying a car. Many people have gotten sold the "you will always have a car payment" line, and believe it. That does NOT have to be. Car rentals can be done on a debit card. Yes, you may need to rent from certain people, and do some planning, but it can be done. Emergency funds are the best way to deal with emergencies.

I also can admire the responsible use of credit. Just one caution...

It is human nature to lose intensity in things that we may feel passionate about... especially money matters. Make sure that you do not lose the intensity in your desire to use debt responsibly, and you should be fine. I can see where it is easy to be lulled into a false sense of security.

You sound like you are doing fine!

[Logan]

Check your real FICO score. My mid FICO score is 684 but my FACO score was 30 points lower.

[krielly]

You aren't kidding!
I have been using creditkarma.com to monitor my score. It's 672 on there. Recently we looked into refinancing our mortgage. The lender ran it and mine was 688 (real FICO). So far, pretty close.

However, there are a couple other places I checked my "free score". One was 571, and the other 485.

Go figure!

I have given up looking at the freebees. Other than creditkarma, which seems at least in the ballpark.

When I really want to know my accurate score, I'll just pay for my FICO.

PS: the difference in scores should not be due to my 3 credit reports being different. I've reviewed them all.......