It is difficult to judge exactly how much an action is going to affect your FICO score and it will vary among different people with different credit profiles. Not one piece of information or factor alone in your credit report will determine your score. Your FICO score only looks at information in your credit report. However, lenders look at many things when making a decision including; income, employment history, etc.
We are able to sort the data within a person’s credit profile into five categories; Payment History, Amounts owed, Length of Credit History, New Credit and Types of Credit used. The percenteges in the image below pertain to the general population. For some groups, such as people who have not been using credit long, the importance of these categories will vary. Payment History:
- Account payment info on specific types of accounts such as credit cards, mortgage, installment loans, etc.
- Severity of delinquency
- Amount past due on delinquent accounts
- Presence of adverse public records such as bankruptcy, liens, etc.
- Number of accounts paid as agreed
- Number of past due items on file
- Time since past due items, adverse public records or collection items
Amounts owed:
- Amount owing on accounts
- Number of accounts with balances
- Amount owing on specific types of accounts
- Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing compared to original loan amount
Length of Credit History:
- Time since accounts opened
- Time sine account activity
New Credit:
- Number of recent credit inquiries
- Number of recently opened accounts
- Time since credit inquiry
Types of Credit Used
- Number of various types of accounts