Everything you wanted to know or not....about credit scores

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Payment History:

-- Number of accounts and type of accounts (credit cards, loans, mortgages, etc) -- Number of accounts paid on time -- Number of delinquent accounts -- Severity of delinquency (how long past due) -- Number of past due items -- Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgments, suits, liens, etc)

Amounts Owed:

-- The amount owed on each account -- The types of accounts with balances -- The number of accounts with balances -- The number of zero balance accounts -- How much is revolving credit lines (checking to see if over-extended) -- Amounts owed on installment loan accounts vs.the original balance (to make sure you are paying them down consistently)

Length of Credit History:

-- Total length of time tracked by a credit report -- Length of time since accounts were opened -- Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account -- Time that's passed since the last activity

New Credit:

-- Number of recently opened accounts -- Proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account -- Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account -- Time since credit inquiry(s) -- Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems

FICO also provides 'reasons' why your score may not rank as high:

-- Amount owed on accounts is too high -- Too few bank revolving accounts -- Too many bank or national revolving accounts -- Account payment history too new to rate -- Too many recent inquiries in the last 12 months -- Too many accounts opened in the last 12 months -- Amount owed on revolving accounts is too high -- Length of revolving credit history is too short -- Lack of recent bank revolving information -- No recent non-mortgage balance information -- Number of accounts with delinquency -- Time since delinquency is too recent or unknown -- No recent revolving balances -- Lack of recent installment loan information -- Date of last inquiry too recent. -- No recent bankcard balances -- Too few accounts with recent payment information

Certain information remains in your file for different lengths of time:

-- Credit and collection accounts will be reported for 7 years from the date of the last activity with the original creditor -- If you've filed a Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy, this information will be reported for 10 years from the date filed. -- All other courthouse records will be reported for 7 years from date filed.

And keep in mind - your credit report also changes day to day as you make payments or increase balances. If you pay off your credit cards in full every month, but your credit score is compiled before your payments are reported to the credit bureau, your score will reflect those balances.

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