So here is is... I had some bad credit nothing new since 2002. Got a secured credit card 3 years ago, made payments. Got it unsecured and the limit increased, bought a house. Six months ago my score was 635 (way up from where it was). Today I had my bank pull my score and it had dropped 73 points. WTF!! I've been paying my bills early and spending a substantial amount of money on my credit card (and making equally substantial payments) I said " is it just cuz my income to debt ration went to H E double LL?" They said "yep" I don't think I can do much about my income (It's real low!). I went ahead and paid off my credit card. Still have my mortgage payment. Any advice on what I can do to further improve my score, or open up any other lines of credit? My thought is to keep my Credit card balance at zero for a few months then see where I'm at.
Must have been something completely different than your income to debt ratio. CRAs usually do not take income into account because they have no information on/about your income. It is usually only creditors who know what your income is from the information YOU provide on the applications. That information that you provide when you first apply will always be the same as far as the creditors are concerned as you are not required to notify them if/when you get a raise or lose your job.
the only thing that's diffent is I addded $120K Mortgage been making all my payments on time. I think my one credit card had a $2700 balance, $3K limit so it was almost maxed out. I made a payment on that today. Now I owe $700 and on Friday when I get paid I'm planning on taking another chunk out of it. Prior to me buying the house I never carried a balance. Somehow I thought the home purchase would help my credit. Does maxing out your credit card affect things that much?
Yes. That fact alone could drive down your score. The good news is that if all other things stay the same, it should bounce back a month or two after you pay it off. It takes a while for all the numbers to work out.
