My TU score just dropped for 10 points for no apparent reason. One of the negative reasons given is: "The proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving/charge accounts is too high. The proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving/charge accounts is 14%. The average proportion of balances to credit limits on revolving/charge accounts carried by U.S. consumers is around 36%." Please check my numbers and let me know if somehow I've lost the ability to do simple math in my old age: Current balances: $10,308 Current credit limits: $81,900 Ratio of balances to credit limits: 13% Isn't 13% (or 14% as TU has it) LOWER than 36%? Aren't my current balances more than 50% less than the average? Am I reading this wrong? Are they ultimately saying that doing BETTER than the average consumer is a negative? Somedays I swear the credit industry is conspiring to make me think I'm crazy!
I GET... LENGTH OF CREDIT HISTORY too short===25+ years TOO MANY BANK CARDS WITH BALANCES===still under 30% ratio TOO MANY INQUIRES===zero LACK OF CURRENT INSTALLMENT ACCOUNT===I have a mortgage---THANK YOU!!! They just MAKE UP STUFF!!!!!
I wonder if there is some little guy sitting at a computer thinking of things to list just to mess with us!! In all seriousness, however . . . I have always believed that FICO scores try to take way too many variables into account to be able to accurately project anything. I think these odd "reasons" that come up are simply a reflection of an algorithm that doesn't (can't) work correctly.
It could be that what they're saying is that below average utilization is still too high, i.e. still carries some risk for creditors. You must have very good credit if they're offering that as a reason for anything. That's truly a bottom-of-the-barrel excuse.
Did you calculate the balance to credit ratio for each individual account? Even though your total debt to credit ratio is within an acceptable range any balance to credit ratio for each individual account over 36% could cause your score to drop.
Re: Re: PLEASE PLEASE Check my math! I considered that, but they specifically mention the 14% balance to limit ratio that I have. In the past I have had a high balance to limit ratio on a single card, but then it is specifically mentioned (e.g., "You are currently using at least 50% of your credit limit on 1 credit card(s).")
They have to give you three top reasons for your score--positive and negative. So, they're saying that your ratios are the thing that is keeping it from being higher. They're not saying you're more than 38%, they're just giving you the average for comparison. I've actually had the same reason as both a positive and a negative! In fact, if you get your three bureau/three score report from PrivacyGuard, they have a table with + or - for various categories. I have several that have both + and - , which means they're both positive and negative factors. So, if your ratio goes to 10%, your score could go up. Therefore this is a reason it's not higher than it is. As someone mentioned, this is truly a bottom of the barrel excuse, so you must be in good shape.
In all seriousness, however . . . I have always believed that FICO scores try to take way too many variables into account to be able to accurately project anything. I think these odd "reasons" that come up are simply a reflection of an algorithm that doesn't (can't) work correctly. merlin ================= It works for them but against us.
Re: Re: PLEASE PLEASE Check my math! In all seriousness, however . . . I have always believed that FICO scores try to take way too many variables into account to be able to accurately project anything. I think these odd "reasons" that come up are simply a reflection of an algorithm that doesn't (can't) work correctly. merlin ===================It works to fleece folks quite well.
