Credit Scores

[calmloki]

As part of our refinance with PenFed we got our credit scores today. My honey got slammed for having too many inquiries in the last 12 months (my fault), too few accounts, and a lack of recently established accounts. With all that she still has a score 54 points higher than mine. Just not fair. Though i did manage to eke out an 800.... Still - 854?! Might have to keep hanging out with her. Scores go all the way to 950.

 

[FUEGO]

Did they just provide this data on credit scores to you, or did you have to ask for it? I'd be interested to know what ours are (for free).

 

[calmloki]

They mailed the scores out as part of the refinance - we didn't ask for them. It was funny, my gal was saying it would be nice to know our scores, opened the mail and there they were.

 

[lets-retire]

That is probably a credit bureau generated score. FICO scores only go to 850.

 

[OAG]

We got the same thing when we were approved for a PENFED HELOC a couple of months ago. Basically, same reasons for my lower score than DW. I do not understand how hers is higher than mine -- all she gets is SS (under my record) but what the heck mine was fine and if hers is about 11 points higher it is ok. (Mine was 831 and hers was 842). The only way it would go higher is if we already had a mortgage - which we will probably never have again - the HELOC is only for access to "Emergency Money" . They were provided by EQUIFAX to PENFED.

 

[Walt34]

My wife wants to find them out. I don't care - everything's paid for, there's money in the bank, and we have no plans to borrow. So to me it just doesn't matter.

If it's free I'll do it for curiosity's sake but I see no reason to pay for it.

 

[calmloki]

We got the same thing when we were approved for a PENFED HELOC a couple of months ago. Basically, same reasons for my lower score than DW. I do not understand how hers is higher than mine -- all she gets is SS (under my record) but what the heck mine was fine and if hers is about 11 points higher it is ok. (Mine was 831 and hers was 842). The only way it would go higher is if we already had a mortgage - which we will probably never have again - the HELOC is only for access to "Emergency Money" . They were provided by EQUIFAX to PENFED.

My gal has a bit of a J O B and more debt is in my name first - keeping her from bursting buttons by pointing out that her 854 out of 950 is under 90% of the possible, thus she only gets a "B". She's too savvy though. Ours are also through Equifax.

 

[kumquat]

My wife wants to find them out. I don't care - everything's paid for, there's money in the bank, and we have no plans to borrow. So to me it just doesn't matter.

Hear, hear. Don't know, don't care, don't borrow.

 

[cantlogin]

I applied for a Visa card at my credit union to harvest a $50.00 bonus. I was declined and when I inquired about the reason I was advised that I had no credit score, no credit, period.

 

[cardude]

As part of our refinance with PenFed we got our credit scores today. My honey got slammed for having too many inquiries in the last 12 months (my fault), too few accounts, and a lack of recently established accounts. With all that she still has a score 54 points higher than mine. Just not fair. Though i did manage to eke out an 800.... Still - 854?! Might have to keep hanging out with her. Scores go all the way to 950.

It's not worth worrying about. Anything over 720 gets you A+ rates pretty much, or at least that's how it works in the car business........

 

[calmloki]

I applied for a Visa card at my credit union to harvest a $50.00 bonus. I was declined and when I inquired about the reason I was advised that I had no credit score, no credit, period.

Good for you - sounds like the days when i was cash only - too thrifty to pay for a checking account and loathed the notion of a credit card. Didn't carry debt - i could afford something or not. Changed my ways after trying to rent a car at a college reunion and finding the rent-a-wreck people wouldn't accept cash as security, preferring a written scrap of paper or a bit of impressed plastic. Still baffled by that, but gold standard people probably feel the same way about our current funny money. I am seduced by that percentage point or so that the card companies give us back - even though i loathe the drag it puts on a productive economy.

 

[ziggy29]

I applied for a Visa card at my credit union to harvest a $50.00 bonus. I was declined and when I inquired about the reason I was advised that I had no credit score, no credit, period.

Dave Ramsey would be proud, I suppose...

 

[W2R]

My wife wants to find them out. I don't care - everything's paid for, there's money in the bank, and we have no plans to borrow. So to me it just doesn't matter.

If it's free I'll do it for curiosity's sake but I see no reason to pay for it.

Exactly. I could care less what my credit score is, because my house is paid off, I have no credit cards (intentionally), I have no loans, I owe nothing to anybody and I am determined to never borrow money ever again!!

In 2006 or whatever was the first year we could check our credit scores for free, I did and found (much to my surprise) that they were over 850. The reason I was surprised was that all I had was a mortgage and HELOC. The mortgage is gone, and I have borrowed nothing on the HELOC which I no longer need. I forgot about that until I got this far in writing this post. I should get rid of it so that I don't have to pay the yearly charge. Just slipped my mind.

 

[cantlogin]

Dave Ramsey would be proud, I suppose...

Sorry to spoil my image with you and calmloki but that’s not the real picture. When the credit union woman took my information for the application she used my phone number in the SS# field. That’s ok, a simple mistake, it could happen to anyone. What disgusts me is that the guy I spoke with on the phone about the reason for declining me didn’t bother to investigate this for me even though I had accounts, CDs and student loans there for more than 30 years. Some significant account balances too. He simply insisted that I had no credit, NONE. After he told me what service he used to check my credit I paid for my own report and called him back to tell him that I indeed had a history. It was only then that he checked further and called me to explain what had happened and admit that he had never seen a credit score higher than mine.

 

[Walt34]

I applied for a Visa card at my credit union to harvest a $50.00 bonus. I was declined and when I inquired about the reason I was advised that I had no credit score, no credit, period.

I saw your other post explaining why it was denied, but it is interesting about how the industry works. A while back a friend at work had a hard time buying a house because he had always paid cash for everything - he had no credit cards - and therefore had no established credit.

The CC industry's term for those who have credit cards and don't pay interest is "deadbeats"! For example, when we moved & bought a new washer & dryer the store had a promotion going for "charge it & no interest for six months", so I charged it and paid it off when the six months was up, got a six month free loan. They HATE it when people do that.

 

[FinanceDude]

Dave Ramsey would be proud, I suppose...

Dave Ramsey often says that his FICO score is 0, but he is a millionaire...........

 

[mickeyd]

I suppose that I have as high a FICO score that I could have now. I have no debt and have little use for this high credit rating. Seems like I should be able to sell it on eBay.

 

[FinanceDude]

Maybe Fannie Mae can package it and sell it to some subprime folks........

 

[calmloki]

I suppose that I have as high a FICO score that I could have now. I have no debt and have little use for this high credit rating. Seems like I should be able to sell it on eBay.

Maybe ebay, but i remember the Fatwallet stoozers talking about how someone with a great credit rating could sell someone with a crummy rating inclusion on their "good rating" card as an authorized user, not give Mr. Bad Rating the card or the card #, and somehow the bad credit rating person would end up with a good rating and be able to max out a no interest for a year type card and invest the money. Details are somewhere on the Fatwallet site amidst the advice on how to stiff the card companies with your debt when you die. Is this a great country or what!

So there you go. profit with your high score - if you care to or dare.

 

[maddythebeagle]

Sorry to spoil my image with you and calmloki but that’s not the real picture. When the credit union woman took my information for the application she used my phone number in the SS# field. That’s ok, a simple mistake, it could happen to anyone. What disgusts me is that the guy I spoke with on the phone about the reason for declining me didn’t bother to investigate this for me even though I had accounts, CDs and student loans there for more than 30 years. Some significant account balances too. He simply insisted that I had no credit, NONE. After he told me what service he used to check my credit I paid for my own report and called him back to tell him that I indeed had a history. It was only then that he checked further and called me to explain what had happened and admit that he had never seen a credit score higher than mine.

How did he get a hold of you if he used your ss number to call you

 

[cantlogin]

How did he get a hold of you if he used your ss number to call you

That's a good question. I called him after recieving written notification that I had been declined. That notification included the invitation to call for an explanation.

 

[cantlogin]

It gets better...

After I complained about having spent my money to get a report to correct their error the previously smug lazy moron had the woman who made the original error mail a shopping mall gift certificate to me for the cost of the credit report along with a letter of apology. I felt compelled to write to the woman thanking her and saying that I understood that the far greater fault was with the jerk who "explained" why I was declined.

Anyway, now I have a credit card (with a credit limit much higher that I requested) that I never use and don't really want. I did get the $50.00 sign up bonus though. It wasn't worth it, and I don't think I'll do it again.

This sounds like it belongs in the customer service thread.

 

[starter82]

Maybe ebay, but i remember the Fatwallet stoozers talking about how someone with a great credit rating could sell someone with a crummy rating inclusion on their "good rating" card as an authorized user, not give Mr. Bad Rating the card or the card #, and somehow the bad credit rating person would end up with a good rating and be able to max out a no interest for a year type card and invest the money. Details are somewhere on the Fatwallet site amidst the advice on how to stiff the card companies with your debt when you die. Is this a great country or what!

So there you go. profit with your high score - if you care to or dare.

Yeah, that's why they changed the way it's scored.