i agree. i don't know why people say it is the kiss of death. In my experience, paying off ANY type of bank loan, secured or not, gives a boost to credit scores. Of course, the longer it reports before paying it off, increases the amount of the boost. but, i always recommend to my clients to do this to improve their scores. Plus the benefit you described above--the next time you apply for a loan from that bank, it will most likely be unsecured, which is always a positive on a credit report. humblemarc
I got a secured loan from a credit union. It did show secured loan on the tradeline. I don't understand EX at all. I lost 41 points when it started reporting: EQ-+8, TU-0, EX--41 points. Charlie
I think to really help your scores you need to have the loan at least 6 months. I paid mine down 40% begore I walked out of the credit union. I was trying to minimize the loss of points. Charlie
Sam, there are more than a few armchair quarterbacks here, lol, its always good to experiment! The theory that new accounts kill your score doesn't always hold water- a little while back I received a 30k limit(by far my largest card) citiusa card and my fico score went up 9 points on equifax. Then my USAA loan showed up(full balance owing) and my score jumped again.
I know some people here have recently asked about secured loans, where to look for secured loans and how they work. This is a really good thread for those who have been asking q's about secured loans.
