Credit card companies want to make sure you can use credit responsibly. When your credit card company reports the balance to the credit agencies if you have a small balance it helps. The credit card will report to the credit agencies about the same day each month, and your credit report will tell you that date. You don’t have to carry a balance and pay interest on it, just have a balance when it’s reported to the credit agency. Credit agencies also show the high balance for the last year, having a decent amount shows you use the credit and are responsible about it.
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Re: Credit Cards - I was denied [AndysStrongAle]
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Re: Credit Cards - I was denied [Francois]
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Francois wrote:
I'm not so sure. I've been monitoring my credit because when I moved to the US, I had zero credit and thought it'd be easy to buy a car since I had no debt and a good income. Man, was I wrong :-). I tried to get a cc at to The Roomstore (more irony) and asked for a store card, I'd pay $499 for their stupid couch now, and pay the last dollar next month, they said no.
I had to get someone to co-sign for me for a circuit city (the irony...) store card to establish credit
Then finally got approved for a loan to buy a car, with a fairly high rate.
Anyway, now my score is excellent but I had maybe $4k on CC (with $100k available). Paid it off, and my score dropped from 821 to 815. Also, the only category that is 'average' is length of credit history,
since I've been in the US only since 2001...
At a certain point the score really ceases to matter. This is a bit broad, but the difference between 740ish & 800+ is basically nil from a mortgage and car loan standpoint, unless you are in the super jumbo arena, and even then it is only like 10bps.
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"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." John Rogers
At a certain point the score really ceases to matter. This is a bit broad, but the difference between 740ish & 800+ is basically nil from a mortgage and car loan standpoint//
My last couple home loans and car ones had the low end of the best rates pegged at 760. And to complicate matters even more, you have 3 separate scores and they either take the middle or lowest one to use. I guess in the end for them it is great if you have a high of 810, but somehow you low is 755 and they can get those extra points out of you. And I dont think you can fight it either, guess you can try other loans that maybe average?? You would know more than me, but 760 was definitely the cutoff, as I remember my lower score being 768 and just squeaking in. My high was 812 and middle 801, so I was quite frustrated that I almost missed the cut..
My last couple home loans and car ones had the low end of the best rates pegged at 760. And to complicate matters even more, you have 3 separate scores and they either take the middle or lowest one to use. I guess in the end for them it is great if you have a high of 810, but somehow you low is 755 and they can get those extra points out of you. And I dont think you can fight it either, guess you can try other loans that maybe average?? You would know more than me, but 760 was definitely the cutoff, as I remember my lower score being 768 and just squeaking in. My high was 812 and middle 801, so I was quite frustrated that I almost missed the cut..