I've been searching the forum for what the highest score someone has gained or achieved and came upon the thread below. http://consumers.creditnet.com/Discussions/credit-talk/t-credit-score-60161.html I was a bit curious why there was so much disbelief. I have a 838 and have been trying to get it to 850 and turned to this site for some insight. My personal method for raising my score do not fit the conventional wisdom. I hoped to attach the proof since it was asked for in the post above but it seems I can't attach a screenshot. The questions I have is this, is it possible to reach an 850? What is the highest known score? Thanks in advance.
What service did you use to pull your score? I've never seen a score that high, so I'd be glad to upload the screenshot to a location that we could link for everyone to see. Send me a private message and I'll send you an email account to send it to. I'd also be interested in knowing the numbers that back it up. (TrueCredit has a summary that show the number of open accts, closed, derogatory, delinquent, public records, balances, payments, and inquiries.) What's your secret - besides never making a credit mistake in your life and having a flawless credit history 182 years old - or have you found a way to hack into the mainframe (War Games - 1983)?
Is this a FICO score, which runs to 850, or is this a VantageScore, being promoted by the CRAs, which runs to 990?
It's a FICO. As reported by TU but others report the same. The hard numbers are: Number of Accounts: 14 Number of Open Accounts: 3 Number of Closed Accounts: 11 Inquiries: 0 Derogatory Items: 0 Number of Delinquencies: Unavailable Total Revolving Balances: $250-$499 Give me an address to send the .jpg screenshot to and I'll do it.
My credit bio is as follows: 40 year old male Bankruptcy discharged in 1995 Rebuilt credit by not making the same mistake twice Being very selective to the types of credit applied for Not having more than 2 revolving accounts at any given time Having a mortgage Keeping one card/account for as long as possible Always paying more than the minimum What I have found by trying to maximize the score is that a zero balance is bad. Anything over 1k is bad. The longer the card, the better. The Providian/WAMU account I have was established in 1999, the other is USAA and was established in 2004. The only other open account is my mortgage. There are so many things that I have done to try and tweak the score that sometimes it just doesn't make sense at all. I usually pay my card balance in full each month but as you will see when the screenshot is posted, that has a negative affect over the 12 month period. Any specific questions that may help someone else, I would be glad to answer it.
you can see what some of the things they score at http://www.creditinfocenter.com/creditreports/scoring/scoringinfluences.shtml If you optimize for the "peaks" you would: - own, not rent (i.e. have a mortgage) - have lived in your house for over 10 years - have a "professional" (i.e. white collar) job - have both a major credit (bank) card and department store accounts - have a checking AND a savings account - have a debt/income ratio < 15% - have 1 inquiry in the past 12 months - have been on file for more than 8 years - have one or two "revolving" accounts (e.g. bank or department store) - use 0-15% of your available credit limit - have NO derogatory trade lines In terms of impact, the factors are listed in descending order. 1. Major derogatory items on your report (bankruptcy, collections, foreclosure, slowpays) 2. Time at present job 3. Occupation (Professionals are given heavy weight)* 4. Time at present address 5. Ratio of balances to available credit lines (the lower the better) 6. Are you a homeowner? (if you are, this is heavily weighted)* 7. Number of recent inquiries 8. Age (50+ is the best) 9. Number of credit lines on your report 10. Years you have had a credit in the credit bureau database 800+ isn't impossible. I had a 830+ or something before disaster struck (I broke up with my girlfriend who I lived with, lost job, ran out of money all at the same time. Ouch.) Took 13 years to build and 3 months to lose. So it goes.
Let's match up this to where I stand: - own, not rent (i.e. have a mortgage) Own - have lived in your house for over 10 years Three years - have a "professional" (i.e. white collar) job Unemployed as of December 15th 2006 but was prior management - have both a major credit (bank) card and department store accounts No department store accounts - have a checking AND a savings account Have both checking and savings - have a debt/income ratio < 15% Not sure of the current IDR - have 1 inquiry in the past 12 months None - have been on file for more than 8 years Yes, since 1987 - have one or two "revolving" accounts (e.g. bank or department store) Two revolving - use 0-15% of your available credit limit currently at around 1%, maybe a little less. - have NO derogatory trade lines No derogatory lines I guess I could open a department store revolving account but I'd rather not. Perhaps an 850 is impossible.
Long history (average account age) counts for a lot, and so does a mortgage several years old. You can have lots of accounts and even carry substantial balances and still maintain a high score as long as most of those accounts are old, have no negatives, and reporting paid as agreed. As far as trying to optimize your credit profile to get beyond the high 700's, by somehow maintaining very low balances on only a few cards, what would be the point? The goal is to have good credit so you can use it economically to your benefit, not have a good score that is of no benefit.
Not saying it ain't so, but virtually impossible with only 3 open accounts. I was at 805 once with 40 trad elines all in good condition and 15 years of age behind them without a single flaw on my report. Never got above that.
Thanks for the kudos. I guess this is proof that it is possible to recover from a BK and reach the 800's in a lifetime. It was not too difficult but takes vigilance, time and discipline. I will find comfort knowing that I may not ever reach the perfect 850 and have realization that the score will drop easier than increase. For the nay-sayer that states it's virtually impossible with ONLY three open accounts, the proof is there.
I said.... not saying it aint so...but have been working with credit reports for the last two years, have copies of mine when they were over 800 and have seen a ton of 300k to 500k open and 0 balance credit reports with tons of age and not one is more then 810, and the ones at 800-810 had far more age, revolving accounts etc. Even though your report is clean, it shows only 3 open TL's in 10 years, it takes allot more revolving accounts to get from a BK score even 10 years ago to get above 800. 3 revolving accounts just seems odd to me. With a couple others I have seen and still see all the time, they have far more fico related scoring boost by the fico model then your report and they are at 810 and stuck there. They own 500k homes, have 500k open lines of credit and barely got there in the last 6 months. Now, I am not again saying it aint possible, but your pulling from a 3rd party website and not the REAL FICO website. If I were you I would go the my fico dot com and see if they match. Either way anyon ewiht 800 scores is great, but to tell the truth, anyone with 700 scores can get the same thing anyone with 800 scores can get within reason. Those over 700 are just as good as anyone over 800, I have been there at 805 and seen many with 710-720 scores get rates etc equal to me at above 800. If this is for real, congrats! But I have learned not to trust 3rd party websites.
Fair enough, but for the record, I have two revolving accounts, not three. Maybe there's something to be said by not having "a ton of 300k to 500k open and 0 balance credit reports". Maybe two with between $35-40k is ample? I never stated what my home was valued at either but I don't see how it's relevant to anything. Perhaps I'll check the myFICO site and see what it reads. Why WAMU/Providian would report false information is beyond me. Even with a massive 10% margin of error, I'm doing okay. My point was really to show that there is hope for those that see no light at the end of the tunnel. There is hope.
I agree with the point of hope, but also have seen FICO scores by 3rd party sites be off, yes even at 10% your doing fine, I did not say you were not. Fico scoring gives tons of points of open, 0 balance revolving accounts, yes a couple 30-40k are great to have, but my point is I have seen several reports with 300-500k open with 0 balances, high income for the IDT points and one has 19 years on an Amex card and several 15 year cards and is stuck at 810. You should be commended for coming out of BK and doing the right thing, many do not realize that you can come out of BK and do well. Knowledge and info is the key and buidling and re building credit is all about doing the right things at the right time to take advantage of what is offered you. You evidentually found that out at an age where it is vital. Please let us know if my fico comes up around or the same, it would be interesting to see. I hope it does because the 810s I have seen were awesome reports and you have just proven the fico scoring model has flaws.
I'm looking at the free trial now and reading the fine print. I'd like to know but hate to commit to the cost after 30-days.
There is some discount codes around here somewhere. Also, I would never commit to the trial or after 30 days, I pay the 35 bucks or so and can view it for 30 days.
