I just ran an Equifax for the first time. It gave me a FICO score of 783. While I know this is a fairly good score, how does it relate to the general public statisticly? What’s your score?
KnK
You are in the 90th percentile, and the ‘top tier’, no matter how you slice it.
I see scores all day, and anything above 750 is great.
Please don’t ask specifics about scoring models! Too complicated! Keep up the good habits and know that just about anything credit related is at your call, as long as your income is up to snuff.
It’s my job, and I hate to post about it!
Philster,
So, since this is your expertice and/or profession, what is your FICO? Just curious… 
KnK
ps Is it possible to have a “perfect” FICO of 850???
My FICO is 730ish.
850? Never saw it! People spend alot of time trying to get 850, but it doesn’t accomplish anything.
Once your are in the top tier, it doesn’t matter how high it goes.
Geez. My FICO score is 822.
I feel like I just aced the SATs!
(To give you perspective: My mortgage broker told me that he sees scores over 800 about once or twice a year. He’s been doing what he does for 10-12 years, IIRC.)
Just had reason to have ours checked last month. 818.
Christ - I thought I was good with a FICO of 720. You guys make me jealous. I just applied for a mortgage last week and the bank seemed pretty happy that my score was that high. The loan officer did mention that I’d probably have a higher score if I bought more stuff on credit, though. I think I can live with my 720 and no more debt, though.
I, too, see FICO scores all day. My company approves applications with a minimal score of 575. I got my car loan approved while my score was 639 and I’m now just a touch under 700.
This isn’t a plug, just something that I think is useful:
It’s a site where you can access your score (for $13) and get a pretty detailed account of your credit history. You’ll see how you’re seen by lenders and get a good idea of what roadblocks you might encounter. It’s also a good place to see if there’s anything out there that you’ve forgotten about, because this baby goes back way more than 7 years.
You can go right to the source and go to www.equifax.ca (for me anyhow). This is the company we use to do credit checks. It’s $20-ish CAN for a detailed listing plus statistical info on where you stand.
Also, anything over 6 years won’t count for your score. Although sometimes they still show up on your report.
Badmana:
Things over 6 years will count for your score. They won’t hurt your score though, they can only help it. This is due to the way the Fair Credit Reporting Act is written.
If a tradeline is negative, it gets deleted when it hits 7 years.
If a tradeline is positive, and over 7 years, it gets deleted… sometime. But not neccesarily at 7 years, or at 15. The Credit Bureaus appear to not want to share that bit of information… I study this stuff ALL DAY and I’ve never seen the criterion for positive, older tradelines getting deleted.
One rumor says that when your file gets too big for the computer at the CRAs to store, they start removing stuff, starting with Inquiries. But that’s a whole 'nother can of worms.
BTW, congrats to the original poster for behaving wisely for so long, in order to get that kind of store.
I was searching on this subject last week; does anyone know what your score is initially?
(Ie, I’m a recent graduate, have owned a credit card for a few years, but had no large loans or any job beyond a 16 month internship.)
The oddest thing I read about the score is that paying all your debt immediately is not as good as owing people for a while. Doesn’t make much sense for me.
Statistics from the May 2003 issue of Smart Money magazine (this specific article, FICO Frenzy, p. 108, isn’t online, however):
0-499: 1%
500-549: 5%
550-599: 7%
600-649: 11%
650-699: 16%
700-749: 20%
750-799: 29%
800+ : 11%
The median score is 720
Nanoda,
A FICO score is a number representing the chances that you’ll repay a debt in a timely manner. If you pay off your debt monthly you’re not showing any ability to carry a debt long term. So paying all your credit cards off every month can actually hurt your score. Not to mention that creditors would not make any money off of you (but I doubt they would admit this would adversely affect your score).
Thanks Earthling, that is what I was looking for!
KnK:)
at 783, you are close to the 15th percentile