question about my OWN credit

[Whittio]

All this research on my moms BK, has made me think about my own credit and reports etc.

I just went to annualcreditreport.com and pulled mine. I am half way through the first company, and thought I would ask this question before I forget.

I have a lot of paid, closed/never late accounts, I guess those just stay on there? But I also have a few accounts I NEVER use (old navy/Target) I only opened them to get the 15% off the first purchase. Should those accounts be closed or does it matter?

I also have an old used car loan through a credit union, it says paid/never late, but it's not closed! The loan is long paid off, and I don't even have that car anymore. Should I call them and have them close it?

[Whittio]

And what about getting my credit score? Should I do this? What company or ALL companies??

[Minnymouth]

If you don't use the account anymore or it was paid in full a long time ago - contact the companies by mail, close the accounts, have them report them closed and/or paid in full.
Getting a copy of your FICO score will cost you about $8.00....you can get them from one company or all three..

Yeah, you need to check out that credit report every 6 months after filing BK, making sure everything is correct. Even if you don't file BK...
Minny

[Whittio]

Whew hoooo.. I just checked my credit score and I am at 853. Says that my credit ranks higher then 84% of the population..
Gotta love that!

[Whittio]

Oh.. I just read the part that says,
"in addition to the factors listed above (which were revolving account balances too high in proportion to credit limits/too many personal finance accounts/too many inquiries/mortgage balances are too high) the number of inquiries on your credit report has adversely affected your credit score.

now that makes me mad. First off, we only owe $117,000 on our mortgage, our house is valued at $460,000! And the inquiries to my credit report.. that's not MY FAULT!!

Why, if these card companies pull my report so they can send me countless offers, why does that effect MY credit score! Now I am mad!

[HHM]

Actually, it will hurt your credit score to close old accounts. One major factor in credit scoring is your "credit history", its better to have a handful accounts that are over 10 years old (even if inactive) than to have several accounts that are only a few years old but are active.

Just leave it alone, your score is 853 for a reason, that is an unbelievably high score, why mess with anything. However, that must have been your TransUnion score as TransUnion is the only agency whose calculation of the FICO exceeds 850

Experian 330-830
Equifax 300-850
TransUnion 150-934

Visit this website if you want to learn more about the FICO Score

https://www.myfico.com

[Whittio]

Oh brother, my lousy husband and his disbelief in credit cards, will bring my credit rating down.. his is only 768!

See, He is the one who never even so much as wrote a check until our first daughter was born 12 years ago. He was 28 and had never written a check, never had credit, paid cash for everything! oh well.. at least we average pretty high.

[herekitty]

768 is still pretty good - some people only have scores in the 300-400 here.

[HHM]

Basically, if your score is over 740, you can get the BEST deals on anything related to credit. So don't worry about his 768, you are a lenders wet-dream

[Whittio]

Thanks HHM, now I can walk around with a smile on my face knowing someone/somewhere considers me a "wet dream".. LOL That has got to be the funniest thing I have ever heard!

What's even funnier.. we might look good on paper, but we really aren't "all that". My husband makes $40k a year, and in California, that's way below the median. Heck, I think we might even qualify as poverty. The only reason we have so much equity in our house (bought it for $90k 14 years ago, now owe $117k) but prices have sky-rocketed around here, it's now worth $460k.

But we owe and owe and owe.. just like everyone else here. I just told my husband, we should consider filing chapt7, but the only thing that would mess us up is we have our Honda Odyssey paid for. It's not REALLY paid for, we took out a second on our house to pay for it, but it's a "free and clear asset" and I don't think they would exempt a $25,000 car.

[Whittio]

Well, I got curious, and pulled my moms credit score. I figured I would do it now, and again after her BK is complete. Her score is actually pretty good considering she only has a couple cards and no mtg, or car loan.. it was 765. Can't wait to see how much it drops after we're done! ;)

[thegiver]

I checked my credit score also ...I had NEVER been late paying or missed a payment on any of my bills...but my credit score had dropped to 640 and i felt very angry over that after being so careful to be on time every time ....I felt cheated somehow....but i realize the amount you owe has much todo with the score !
now that i have used everything i had to keep my bills up that is all changing abruptly!!! they will probably think im dead!!!