Are You Sure FICO isn't spelled FYCO?

I think the acronym for FICO should be changed to FYCO, because it sure seems to be sending a clear message that it doesn't think much about me.

(Before I go on my tirade, I bought my FYCO score on myFICO.com with a 30% off coupon, promotion code: SURVEY30. If any of you are looking to get your scores, hope this code works for you as well.)

After my self-congratulatory post last Friday about paying off my cc debt, I admit I was feeling mighty smug that my FYCO score would be darn awesome. (After all, my CreditKarma score is 801!) But instead, I got a cold splash of reality last Friday when I learned my new FYCO score is:

The last time I got my FYCO score in May, it was 723.

Granted, the last FYCO score was based on Equifax's data and this credit score is based on TransUnion's data. But the data is pretty consistent between the two. You could also argue that the difference between 719 and 723 is de minimis, but here are several reasons why I think this whole FYCO scoring system is bogus:

1.) Paying Off My Huge Revolving Credit Card Debt Did Bupkis
One of the negative issues in May was that I was using too much (i.e., 18%) of my available credit limit. I didn't disagree with this negative mark since I had over $11k+ in credit card debt at the time. But as you know, I paid that debt off in October and am now only using 2% of my available credit limit.

Considering the fact that FYCO claims "usage ratio" plays a big factor in its secretive scoring formula, paying off a huge cc debt didn't do me much good. Do you want to know what FYCO is nit-picking about now?

I allegedly have too many accounts (11) with balances. First off, 6 of the 11 accounts are my student loans. The remaining 5 accounts only have balances between $26 to $1,613, which I already paid off in full this month.

In case you were wondering why I have 5 accounts with balances, it's because I'm splitting my cc usage over multiple cards so that I don't get dinged with "inactive" penalties like fees, reduced credit limit or outright cancellation by the cc companies.

Bottomline - - If I don't use my cards, I get penalized with fees and reduced limits by the cc companies, but if I use my cards responsibly, FYCO beats me up for it. Lovely!

2.) FYCO's Infernal (and Eternal) Scarlett Letter
I was always under the belief that a bad credit rating doesn't stick around forever. I believed that negative information (such as late payments) would fall off 7 years from the date the payment was late. Boy was I wrong! Apparently, FYCO still takes that information into consideration. For example:

TransUnion's data on one of my account indicates:

Seven year payment history

30 days late	0 times
60 days late	0 times
90+ days late	0 times

But guess what? It also says:

Worst Delinquency

90 days past due

The Worst Delinquency reports the worst missed payment status that has been documented on this account. Your FICO® score evaluates how recently that missed payment occurred and in general, the more recent, the more impact it has on your score. However, the fact that it occurred is still predictive of future payment risk and could be considered by your FICO® score.

I guess my late payment history WILL haunt me forever and ever. It reminds me of this tasteless joke:

This Scottish farmer walks into the neighborhood pub, and orders a whiskey.

"Ye see that fence over there?" he says to the bartender. "Ah built it with me own two hands! Dug up the holes with me shovel, chopped doon the trees for the posts by me ownself, laid every last rail! But do they call me 'McGregor the Fence-Builder?' No..."

He gulps down the whiskey and orders another. "Ye see that pier on the loch?" He continues, "Ah built it me ownself, too. Swam oot into the loch to lay the foondations, laid doon every single board! But do they call me 'McGregor the Pier-Builder?' No."

"But ye #$&! just ONE lousy sheep ..."

3.) FYCO Simulator is a Joke
Here's a joke: FYCO's simulator claims I can dramatically improve my score to 779 to 819 if I pay off 90% to 100% of my credit card balances! Uhhhhh... Yeah, sure.

Considering that my elimination of $11k in cc debt didn't do me much good, I doubt paying off my current credit card balances of <$2,000 in full every month will dramatically increase my score by about 60 to 100 points. Yeeeahhhhh....

And here's another sick joke: Back in May, FYCO's simulator predicted my score would increase to 723-763 if I paid off my $11k+ credit card debt within 6 months. Ummmm.... it's been 6 months and I paid off that debt. But my FYCO score did a backslide instead. What gives?

I am now pretty discouraged that I will forever have to live with a "below average" credit score. Perhaps I should rename this blog to "Hester Prynne's PF Blog"...

Nothing New In My Credit Report

I did my quarterly free credit report check through annualcreditreport.com and pulled my Experian report. I didn't get my FICO score since the jerks at Experian decided that they would no longer sell FICO scores to consumers. Just on principle, I refuse to pay good money for Experian's bogus FAKE-O score.

I'm not surprised that I didn't find anything weird in my Experian report since I'm getting AAA's free identity theft/credit monitoring service.

I just found the same ol' (emphasis on the 'old') negative items that will fall off my credit report by next year. I'm hoping my FICO score will improve to around 800 early next year since my credit cards are paid off and most of my negative items will disappear. *Fingers crossed*

Experian credit report prepared for SHTINKYKAT

Your report number is 12345678910

Report date: October 10, 2009

7 Total Potentially Negative Items

Five (5) Private Student Loan Accounts
90 days past due as of Apr 2003
60 days past due as of Mar 2003

One (1) Law School Perkins Loan Account (Paid Off)

60 days past due as of Jan 2003
30 days past due as of Jun 2003, Dec 2002

One (1) Macy’s Account
30 days past due as of Nov 2003

My FICO Score Improved...

...from 712 to 723. Dagnabbit! It's still a couple of points short of my goal of 725.

I purchased my score from myFICO. You can purchase a standard FICO score for $12.76 (usual price $15.95) before May 31st by using the promotion code: FICOMAY20.




Nothing new here. I already know about my past late payments on my student loans. Only time will resolve this issue.

But another issue that's dragging my score down is the fact that I'm currently using 18% of my credit limits right now. This too will be resolved in October when I plan to pay off my $11,000+ credit card debt. The credit card balance currently has a 0% APR until October so I'm in no hurry to pay it down before then.

The myFICO site has a pretty cool simulator that will estimate how certain actions taken can affect your score. I simulated a scenario where I paid off my credit card debt in 6 months. According to myFICO, my score should improve to about 723 - 763. If I can get beyond 760, that should get me into the top 2% of all credit scores. Cha-ching!

Additionally, in a couple of years, assuming I keep paying my bills on time, my delinquent record should fall off and my score should improve to 813 - 850 range. Awesome!

In another 6 months, I'm planning to purchase my FICO score from TransUnion. I've heard that TransUnion scores are a bit more lenient. If my CreditKarma score is any indication, I suspect that may be true. We'll see.

I'm not sure why I bother to check my FICO scores since I don't intend to make any new purchases. But I guess I do so because my FICO score is a report card on my financial progress. And my report card tells me I'm on my way.

Ohhh... This Is Going to Hurt...

Okay folks. Do you remember the unilateral change that Chase made on my credit card? In case you don't remember, Chase purportedly slipped this notice in my November invoice:



Anyhow, apparently, the $10 service charge applies even if I don't carry a balance on my credit card, since they charged me again on 1/30/09 even though I have a $30 credit on my account.

According to the customer "service" rep, I have 2 options to avoid the $10 service charge: (a) opt out and cancel my card or (b) transfer a balance to 7.99% APR. It is irrelevant that I no longer carry a balance.

Aghast, I told the Chase rep, "Just cancel my card."

Chase is out of my life now. Forever. Good riddance.

But I've now reduced my available credit limit by $18,500. Ouch. Ohhhhh... This is going to negatively hit my FICO score. But it's better than forking over $10/month to a bunch of crooks, right?

Drats. No Change in My FICO Score

I got my FICO score based upon Equifax's credit report last Friday.

Good news is my FICO scored remained the same since last October. The bad news is it hasn't improved. I was hoping that by reducing my debt by $4,200+ since October, my FICO score would have improved by a point or two. But then again, my credit union ran my credit report last November, which may have affected my score as well.

The biggest cause of my mediocre credit score is past late payments and delinquencies. I anticipate that those items will fall off in 2010. I guess I can only continue to pay my bills timely and bide my time.



Here's what FICO's website had to say about my score:

Key Factors Affecting Your FICO® Score

1. You have a serious delinquency (60 days past due or greater) or a derogatory description on your credit report

The presence of a serious delinquency or a derogatory description is a powerful predictor of future payment risk – people with previous late payments are much more likely to pay late in the future. However, as these items age and fall off of your credit report, their impact on your FICO® score will gradually decrease. Most late payments stay on your report for no more than seven years.

2. You have multiple accounts showing missed payments or derogatory descriptions.
Your FICO® score takes into account missed and late payments in a few ways. These include the number of late payments, how late they were and how recently they occurred. Your score was hurt because your credit report shows multiple accounts with missed payments or derogatory descriptions.

What to do about this: If the late payments on your credit report are valid, you should focus on continually paying all your bills on time. This will demonstrate a good payment history and these late payments will have less of a negative impact on your score as time passes.

Higher FICO® Scores Save You Money on Loans

Check out how people with higher FICO® scores qualify for lower monthly payments on a $300,000, 30 year fixed-rate mortgage:

Rates accurate as of November 1, 2008

FICO® score APR Monthly payment
See today's rates for other types of loans and loan amounts
760-850 6.303% $1,858
700-759 6.525% $1,901
660-699 6.809% $1,958
620-659 7.619% $2,122
580-619 9.451% $2,512
500-579 10.310% $2,702

Security Freeze on My Credit Report Thwarted My Free Credit Check

Some time in early November, I took a 0% credit card offer to work. Mindlessly, I either misplaced the offer or I threw it away without shredding it. I became concerned enough that I placed an initial 90 day fraud alert on my credit report.

All good, but when I tried checking my free credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com this morning, I was thwarted.

I now have to fill in a written form, include a copy of an i.d. that shows my mailing address, and submit via snail mail. I'll also have to wait to receive a copy of my credit report via snail mail as well.

Sigh... I guess the price of security is convenience.

I think I'll wait to order my free credit report since I want to purchase my FICO score at the same time. According to this MSN Money article, the newly revamped FICO 08 won't be available until next year anyways:

TransUnion will offer the new score to lenders starting in late January, with Equifax introducing it in the spring, said Craig Watts, a Fair Isaac spokesman. (Experian, the third bureau, hasn't yet announced when it will offer the score.)

While I'm on the topic of free credit reports, did you know as a member of AAA, you can get free credit monitoring service? (Note: I'm not sure if this benefit is limited to Southern California AAA members only. Please check with your local branch of AAA to verify.)

As a AAA member, you can enroll in Experian's CreditCheckSelect for free and get:

• One free online Experian Credit Report;


• Free daily credit report monitoring;


• Free email alerts;


• Free fraud resolution support.

You'll need to go AAA's website to enroll. Also note that the fine print says that after you enroll, if for any reason you decide to cancel your CreditCheck Select benefit, you may not re-enroll in this free benefit at a later date. And of course, the benefit is subject to change or termination at any time without notice. (There's never a free lunch.)

My FICO Score Improved!

I just discovered that my FICO score improved to 712!

What's hurting my scores are:

1. Serious past delinquencies
2. Bad payment history
3. Accounts with balances.

What's helping my scores are:

1. Bills paid on time recently (for the past 4 years, 11 months)
2. Long account history
3. Low credit usage (Considering I owe $12,743 on one credit card, this doesn't sound right. But who am I to complain?)

I checked my FICO score back in December '07, so none of this is news to me. My score at the time was 699.

I admit I was a wee bit disappointed that my score didn't improve to 720 by now. But perhaps this goal was a bit too ambitious.

Regardless, this confirms that I'm doing things right. My continued efforts plus the passage of time will improve my score more.

My new goal is to improve my FICO score to 725+, which will bump me up to the "Very Good" credit risk category. Happy Friday, y'all!

My FICO Score

When I last checked my FICO score in 12/07, it was 699 and labeled “fair”.

FICO's comment about my credit score was:

"This is generally recognized as a good score, and a wide array of loans and credit products will likely be available to you, often at attractive rates. Most lenders will view consumers with a score as high as yours as an acceptable risk. Even so, remember that lenders often incorporate other information into their decision process, in addition to the FICO score, so you might be offered different rates or terms by different lenders. Nonetheless, most lenders agree that scores such as yours indicate an acceptable level of risk."

My score was hammered by 7 negative items and a high balance on my credit cards. A note about the 7 negative items: My private student loans are considered 5 separate installment accounts even though I make one payment to one lender every month. Hence, when I’m late on my private student loans, I get 5 negative marks at once. This really steams me.

The 7 black marks on my FICO scores are:

Private Student Loan #1: 4/03: 90 days overdue; Presently current

Private Student Loan #2: 4/03: 90 days overdue; Presently current

Private Student Loan #3: 4/03: 90 days overdue; Presently current

Private Student Loan #4: 4/03: 90 days overdue; Presently current

Private Student Loan #5: 4/03: 90 days overdue; Presently current

Macy’s: 11/03: 30 days overdue; No current balance

Federal Student Loans: 4/03: 90 days overdue; Presently current

2003 was clearly a bad year for me. What’s done is done. I can’t wait for 5/1/2010, when most of these items will fall off my credit report.

In the meantime, I’ve eliminated $6,366.50 in credit card debts since 12/07. Additionally, since the passing of time reduces the significance of the late payments, I hope my FICO score will improve to about 720 by year’s end.