Over the years in my blog and in videos I’ve talked a lot about two topics. First, is credit repair. Although it’s a great service only accounts for 35% of a credit score. We do a great job with credit repair but we also provide our clients with other services. These other services help a client with 100% of their credit score. The second topic is that we educate our clients on credit and how to have a great credit score. That way they can maintain that score on their own for the rest of their life. So, let’s get into discussing how is a credit score calculated.
Your credit score is the most important part of your financial life. In this economic climate, your credit rating matters more than ever. Lenders look at it when you apply for a loan, credit card, mortgage, or other types of credit. What they are doing is looking at how creditworthy you are.
How Is a Credit Score Calculated?
Payment History (35%)
The biggest factor in your credit score is your payment history. It composes 35% of your total score. The payment history factor is looking to see if you have paid your bills on time in the past. And, it indicates whether you are currently behind on any of your bills or not. Some late payments, such as mortgage late payments, have more of an impact on your credit score. Your mortgage is a major priority to keep current. Payment history is the biggest factor in how a credit score is calculated. Therefore, it should be the biggest priority to not have late payments or past due accounts.
Outstanding Debt (30%)
Outstanding debt is what you still owe on accounts. It makes up 30% of your overall credit score. This is based on the amount of available credit you have versus how much you are using.
There are revolving credit accounts and installment and mortgage accounts. Installment and mortgage accounts are based on the original loan amount versus the amount still owed. Auto loans also fit into this category. These types of loans have a set monthly payment over a specific period of time. Revolving credit is generally credit cards. This is looked at with regard to the credit limit versus the amount owed. The best practice is to keep the balance below 30% of the limit on the account. This will make the biggest positive impact on your credit score.
Length of Credit History (15%)
This category reflects how long your accounts have been open. Also, it looks at the length of time since the last activity on the account. The longer an account is open and current the better impact on your credit score.
Type of Credit (10%)
It’s beneficial to have a mix of different types of accounts. For example, a mortgage, an auto loan, 2 major credit cards, and 2 store or gas cards. The caution here is not to take on more debt for the sake of your credit score.
Inquiries (10%)
There are two types of inquiries that appear on your credit report. Inquiries that you authorize to obtain credit, or hard inquiries. And, promotional, or soft inquiries. Too many hard inquiries in a short time can negatively impact your credit profile. However, inquiries that occur for mortgage and auto loans prior to 30 days from scoring do not affect your score. Also, if multiple auto loan inquiries occur within a 14 day period as treated as a single inquiry. Promotional inquires do not affect your credit score.
To build a good credit score or to more positively impact the score that you have, it’s important to understand how is a credit score calculated. For more details watch our brief video above.
If you feel you need professional help with your credit score visit our Credit Repair Page or Book a Phone Appointment to speak with us directly. We’ll assess your situation and explain how our professional credit restoration services work.
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This article which was originally posted in 2019 is updated regularly and was last updated in July 2023.