I just got my full credit report. Overall, my credit scores are pretty good, but below the numbers it gives reasons why they are not better. Some of the reasons make sense, such as “too many inquiries” (I deleted the ones that make sense from the list below).
Background: I only have two types of credit, education loans and revolving credit (credit cards). The credit report cites these numbers:
Education loans: Total of $7,650 remaining from loans of $24,000
Revolving credit: Total of $2,180 with a limit of $19,100 (I pay this off every month by the way)
Here are the reasons why my score is not higher:
EQUIFAX/FACTA BEACON 5.0
–00010 - PROPORTION OF BALANCES TO CREDIT LIMITS IS TOO HIGH ON BANK REVOLVING OR OTHER REVOLVING ACCOUNTS
–00011 - AMOUNT OWED ON REVOLVING ACCOUNTS IS TOO HIGH
–00033 - PROPORTION OF LOAN BALANCES TO LOAN AMOUNTS IS TOO HIGH
TRANSUNION/FICO CLASSIC (04)
–003 - PROPORTION OF LOAN BALANCES TO LOAN AMOUNTS IS TOO HIGH
–011 - AMOUNT OWED ON REVOLVING ACCOUNTS IS TOO HIGH
EXPERIAN/FAIR, ISAAC (VER. 2)
–01 - AMOUNT OWED ON ACCOUNTS IS TOO HIGH
–10 - PROPORTION OF BALANCE TO HIGH CREDIT ON BANK REVOLVING
Are you kidding me? What are these people smoking?
So having paid off 68% of my educational loans and having only 32% remaining is “PROPORTION OF LOAN BALANCES TO LOAN AMOUNTS IS TOO HIGH??”
Utilizing 11.4% of my credit limit is considered “PROPORTION OF BALANCE TO HIGH CREDIT ON BANK REVOLVING??”
The fact that I only owe $9,830 to anyone anywhere translates to “AMOUNT OWED ON ACCOUNTS IS TOO HIGH??” That makes no sense. If owing $9,830 means I owe too much, what would happen if I actually obtained gasp a MORTAGE?!
Does anyone have any suggested explanations for this? Am I reading these incorrectly?
If I used a debit card more often and reduced my credit card utilization from 11% down to say 4%, would it really make that much of a difference?