Spent the last few months raising my ex-husband's score 135 points to help him buy a new truck w/a good APR. (We aren't your typical ex's, we get along better than ever!)
Here's what I know.. Your credit scores* are basically based off of 5 factors.
1. Payment history
2. Account Mix - both loan (auto/mortgage) & lines of credit (credit cards/home equity line of credit)
3. Credit/Account Age (some scores based only on open accounts)
4. Credit Usage - How do you use the credit you've been given? Do you max out your cards then pay the minimum? Use then pay off in full every month? Or in
@Retired_Engineer's case, no open accounts = no usage at all/no data
5. Hard Account Inquiries
* The credit bureaus can use dozens of different credit score models based on the requirements of different lenders. As an example, a mortgage lender may use a different scoring model than an auto lender because they each place importance on different factors.
Some models only consider active/open accounts, which is why you'd have no credit score for one source, yet, another shows a 800+ score.
Though your scores may vary, they're all based on information in your credit reports.
Don't close old credit cards just because you don't use them unless they have an annual fee. Even better, pay a bill once a month with them then pay the balance before interest is incurred. Keeps a current, positive credit usage. Your lack of a credit score when cosigning or trying to get non-essential lines of credit is an inconvenience, but what if you someday urgently needed the credit & couldn't get it? Better safe than sorry!
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