Some of the things that affect your FICO scores:

• Delinquencies
• Too many accounts opened within the last twelve months
• Short credit history
• Balances on revolving credit are near the maximum limits
• Public records, such as tax liens, judgments, or bankruptcies
• No recent credit card balances
• Too many recent credit inquiries
• Too few revolving accounts
• Too many revolving accounts

Sounds confusing, doesn’t it?

The pie chart below shows a breakdown of the weight each aspect of your credit report brings to the calculation.



Payment History

• Number of accounts paid as agreed
• Delinquent accounts--length of past-due status, total number of past due items, how long it's been since you had a past due payment
• Negative public records or collections

Amounts Owed

• Amounts you owe on accounts and the types of accounts you carry balances on
• How much of your revolving credit lines you've used (looking for indications you are maxed-out)
• Amounts owed on installment loan accounts vs. their original balances
• Number of zero balance accounts

Length of Credit History

• Total length of time tracked by your credit report, length of time since accounts opened, time passed since last activity

Types of Credit Used

• Total number of accounts and types of accounts (installment, revolving, mortgage, etc.)

New Credit

• Number of accounts you've recently opened and the proportion of new accounts to total accounts
• Number of recent credit inquiries
• The time that's passed since recent inquiries or newly-opened accounts
• If you've re-established a positive credit history after encountering payment problems

Credit scoring software only considers items your credit report, but lenders typically look at other factors that aren't included in the report, such as income, specific employment history, and the type of credit you are seeking.

The credit score is actually calculated using a "scorecard" where you receive points for certain things. Creditors and lenders who view your credit report do not get to see the scorecard, so they do not know exactly how your score was calculated. They just see the final scores.