I have a mid 600 FICO (640-670). Right now on my report I have 1 revolving account, which is a Sears card on which I am an authorized user. The account was opened in 1989. The problem is, the card has 90% util. Now, 2 questions: 1) Should I dump the Sears card off my reports? If I do that, I will have NO revolving accounts on my report. I'm thinking an open account since 1989 with no lates is helping my credit score a lot, so I'm weary of removing it. Then again, getting it off will put me at 0% util, but no revolving accounts. 2) If I kept the Sears card on my report, what cards would be good to apply to. Thanks.
You can likely get the $1500 Limit on the Household Bank card. Some people talk bad about it but they gave me credit when I was at a lower score and have never done us wrong.
Thanks. I'm wondering...will my score likely go up or down if I remove the 1 CC on my reports? This CC was opened in 89, so I'm thinking the score will go DOWN.
If it has no late pays and has been open 15 years, YES IT WILL DEFINITELY CAUSE YOUR SCORE TO GO DOWN, by how much I couldn't guess A 15 year old credit line is a very very good thing
tenure is very important. i had a charge off removed, yes a charge off... and my score went down... it was the only thing on my reports other than deferred student loans and a 250 limit card pays as agreed...i guess other factors matter in conjunction with one another...below it says that utilization makes up 30% of your score while tenure is only 15%...but based on this rationale...you may want to keep the card... utilization is obtained much easier than tenure (utiliation can be changed in one month as opposed to 15 years) keep it and get another card on your own with a crazy low balance... go to www.household.com and apply for the union plus card, yes the union plus card...just pick a union and leave the date blank (they don't check) the rate sucks (18.9%) but if you get a 1,200 limit, it's easy to keep the utility low!!! or if you think you will never use 300 in credit...try first premier bank. you can get a low limit card with 9.9 percent. perfect for filling your gas tank up once in a while...but the fees suck and put you close to your limit when you begin... good luck. what is the utility of the card? What factors into my FICO score? www.myfico.com has plenty of information about how they calculate your score. Such as: Category 1- Payment History 35% of your score Category 2- utilization 30% of your score Category 3- Length of Time Credit Established 15% of your score Category 4- Search for/Acquisition of New Credit 10% of your score Category 5- Types of Credit in Use (Credit Mix) 10% of your score Once you read all the factors, don't expect to understand why your score goes up 3 points for 1 inquiry and down 2 for another. This is why some call FICO scores the "random number generator". See this slide for reference on how the factors influecnce the FICO score
