I posted the below as a reply to someone else and decided to give it its own thread. Thanks....

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Over 800 in a US FICO credit score is Stellar, the maximum you can get is 850. Very few people have this so here are some tips for the rest of us..

A rating of between 700 and 800 is good credit, the lower end is average-good the high end is good-great and all thats in between. A 700+ credit score is attainable by most, you just have to be sensible about how you manage your credit.

If you have been doing certain things your score will drop into the 600 range and if it is below 600 you are in serious financial trouble. If you get to 300 (minimum possible) the only way you can go is up so dont dispare!

For a start, a credit card is a GOOD thing for your credit or building credit if you know what to do with it.
If you have truely poor credit you will find it hard to even get a credit card. Again Don't dispare just yet. There are still ways to build your credit.

I should mention that there is more to lending than a Fico score, a bank will pull your credit report and score but also may use other risk evaluation software beyond the Fico, such as Nextgen, Vantagescore or CE Score. So the bottom line is that the fico isn't by any means the be all or end all of a yes or a no when you want that car / house/aircraft or anything else.
A Fico score is mostly used for mortgage lenders anyhow.

Things like the Fico, vantagescore etc are available for a fee at the 3 bureau's individual websites. The Vantage score rates A through F on a numerical scoring system similar to the fico but starts at 501 and ends at 990.


Everyone's situation is different. If you have large debts you are struggling with, the best thing you can do is pay them down as much as you can, and stop using credit. DONT borrow from peter to pay paul because this is a spiral, the more that you do this, the worse the interest rates will eat you for breakfast. If you are doing this type of thing, or barely managing to make it, you should maybe considor getting advice from a not for profit credit councelling organization.

You may also want to consider bankruptcy and a fresh startover. It all depends on your situation. Also each state is different. The new federal bankruptcy laws are prohibitive to some (if you earn more than median for your state) Or if you owe too much debt (Chapter 13 has limitations on dollar ammounts owed).
Bankruptcy isnt the end of the world, it is a new world, a fresh start, and most importantly a chance to start over in the credit game.

Important note about getting credit, different lenders look at different aspects, so a credit card company looks at things a slightly different way from a mortgage lender. The best advice I can give anyone looking for credit is to shop around!
Don't accept that nice shiney credit card that says platinum on it just because it turned up in the mail one day and platinum sounds so good, this is a mistake, a lot of mainstream lenders these days are offering these so called platinum cards to just about anyone because they have huge catches written all over the fine print. Example, you can get a great 6 or 7% rate on this card IF you carry a balance of $650 and there is a 0% introductory period NO INTEREST!!! YAY!!! so I can get a Platinum credit card to flash around that has 0%, thats awesome, until the card shows up and you find you have a limit on it of $501. So guess what, if you carry that $650 they will be charging you $35 in overdraft fees etc and because you are in bad standing you will pay a higher APR because of the.... you guessed it... Fine Print.

So say you spend only $300 on this card, then what?

Well your introductory 0% will run out then you will pay a rather large ammount of interest. They will keep checking your credit report periodically and they may increase your limit eventually. But if you are in debt or missed a payment, even to another lender, guess what.... The fine print said that if you default to them or any other lender you get to pay a fatter APR% so now you have spent over $650 and are now paying 20% or more for it!

Well its ok I will just pay the minimum on it, its only $20 a month, guess what, you will end up paying a whole lot more for it all in the end, so consumer, please beware and read that fine print very carefully.

All of that being said, a credit card is a very usefull tool for boosting your credit rating if you follow some simple rules (these are rules of thumb and not a bible nor guarantee)

A Credit card is whats known as Revolving Credit (also some kinds of loans, ome equity loans and Store Charge Cards), this is typically credit that you can borrow and pay on as often as you like upto your credit limit. It also means it is a line of credit that has no fixed repayment plan (number of months etc).

Revolving credit is very important to the lending industry, it shows them how good you are with money and their chances of repayment plus the type of interest ammount they can stand to get by giving you access to their credit facility.

Where revolving credit can sink your FICO score!

If you have over 75% of your limit on your card, this is NEGATIVE. So if you have a $1000 credit limit and are carrying over $750 on the card, this is a BAD THING. In this environment you will build up your fico score with good, consistant repayments but you will not be doing it on a maximized basis.

The best way to use your revolving credit (credit card) is to A: carry less than 75% of your credit limit at any given time, B: Pay more than minimum (double or more is a good bet) if you can make it, and pay early so you dont get slammed on your credit report with a late payment, and believe me, they report this kind of thing. Also anyone who is looking at your credit is looking at revolving accounts for good standing and the test of time, if you have been doing the above for the 3 months you have had the card it wont make that much difference, whereas if you have been doing it for a year or two or even more, this will make a noticable difference to your fico score.
Lenders like people who have been paying on a credit card for a long time, that means that lender has had a good chance to get interest out of you.
So if you are looking to get rid of a credit card, and you look at the ones you have and decide that you have had this one the longest but just havent used it, think twice before you cancel it. The oldest credit card is usually the most important one you have in your credit portfolio. Pay off the newer ones and cancel them first unless you are getting a simply amazing LONG TERM RATE.



Installment lenders, these are common mortgages, Auto Loans, education loans, home improvement loans or anything with a fixed number of payments with (usually) equal monthly repayments.

These are often the better types of loans that people will look at when you want large ammounts of money for something. Again, shop around, find the best rates you can, look online, go bank to bank, whatever it takes to get a better rate.

These are the easiest credit building credit products, but they won't get you to 850 overnight, a revolving account will build credit faster but these will give you a solid foundation. Tips for this is simple, pay ontime everytime. Paying this type of loan off early can sometimes have a negative credit impact so beware of that also.



So my fingers are tired now, I hope this load of blarrrb has been useful to at least someone 


Dan


Please note, I am not an attorney, nor do I claim to be one, I am just a consumer who has done plenty of research. The above article is based on research I have undertaken over years and is in no way all encapsulating or to be considered accurate to every word.

Thanks for posting this.

You are welcome,

Anything to help fight off the credit parasites who are after every ounce of blood.

Dan

P.S.


FYI: If you did not know this, you can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the 3 bureaus just by logging onto http://www.annualcreditreport.com
Available every 12 months! FREE!

I think mine is like 526 which is not good at all. and I know that its horrible but i dont think that im going to be able to make it better.

Ha mine is actually not that bad i think its about 710 but after not paying a couple of credit cards it probably down now. I need to check.

8-28-07
Fico
751 Eq
730 Tu
705 Ex

Great Post!!

I guess this means I should check my credit score again