My boyfriend has a credit score of 630ish, why can't he get approved for credit lines?

Question

He did have 2 lines of credit that equaled about $2500, and they were open for about 2 years but he never used them. Then they dropped both accounts last month and said he'd have to reapply. He did open a Dell account in november and the balance is 900 on 1500 max credit line, could that have affected it? He has 2 other credit cards that have been paid in full at the end of every month for 5 years.

Answer 1

Paying off all of your debts immediately does not help you with improving your credit. Because you should show lenders that you are a good BORROWER. Your existing report shows lender that you pay your payments in full once you have money and you don’t when you are financially in trouble. Therefore you are not a good borrower to a lender (you are risky and they don’t make money out of you). So here some stuffs I suggest to do to polish your credit report and improve your credit:

1) Do not spend more than 1/3 of your limit. That's a rule. Say you have $500 credit limit. So do not spend more than $150 with your credit.

2) Do not pay your existing credit balance in full every month. Pay more than minimum payment but do not pay full. Say your minimum due is $10. I suggest you to pay like $50-$70 each month. Yes you should pay some interest but that's a price to improve your credit.

3) There are lots of articles here which you can find useful to boost your credit.
http://www.howtoestablishgoodcredit.com/Credit_Articles/index.php

Answer 2

I'm a mortgage loan consultant so I know a little about this stuff but the credit reporting agencies try to keep a lot secret.

See if you can re-open the two dropped lines under the old numbers. Be nice to the person on the phone helping you. A lot of times it is in their discretion. You now have 2 two year old accounts, or at least that's how it looks to the computer. That's why you want the old numbers back. Then use them a little. (Get him to spend the credit on you!) Take new numbers if that's all you can get.

You get the best FICO (the score you referred to) by paying on time and keeping your balances at 30% of the credit limit. Therefore, you'd be better off having three $1000 limit Visas with balances of 300 each than one $1500 Visa at 1000 balance. Your next "break points", where your boyfriend goes in to the next level up, are at 640, in some cases 660, 680 and 700. Just doing these will put you over 640. Also, every time you open a new account you get points, in most cases 15, I believe. NEVER cancel an account. You are giving away points.

If you need the score to go up quickly you can get these points put on immediately doing something called a Rapid Re-score. Check your local area for credit consultants & they can help you. On the down side, every time you have your credit run more than once in a billing cycle (month) you lose points. So don't let every Tom, Dick & Harry run it. Within a one month time frame run it once, get a copy (Don't let them say no, it's YOUR credit score.) & take it with you, then only let others run it again if you are sure you want the...car, line of credit, house, whatever. This can really burn you if you qualify for a home loan at 640 and then go out & get Lowe's, Sears, Home Depot cards before the loan is funded and now your score is 638. Bingo, you no longer qualify for that loan. I've seen this happen.

Finally, there are three credit agencies and they all make mistakes. Therefore, all creditors base things on your middle score regardless of what agency it is.

Hope this helps. Sorry so long winded! cc

Answer 3

Unless there are negative marks on his report i think the reason for the low score is lack of credit history. having an inactive credit card does not give you credit history- doesn't hurt but it doesn't help either. I would suggest using credit to pay everyday bills if possible- Gas, electric, phone etc. then paying the card at the end of the month - (try never to go over 50% of the actual limit given by the card this is viewed as a negative and most peopledon't know that) this will give you active credit and establish history of good paying habits and a responsible credit holder.
Note -Late payments and will always bring down your score.Applying for credit will cause a credit inquiry that will be noted on your report -too many inquiries by creditors will be viewed as negative as well. The best way to monitor your progress is to go to myfico.com they will actually walk you through and help you to establish and build your credit history (running your own credit - does not go on your report and you SHOULD do it regularly). Hope this helps.

Answer 4

there are 1,750 calculations that go into a credit score

and some lenders/stores have a certain level for you to qualify
maybe 675 - for their accounts

he needs to pay his bills, on time, and not max out any credit line
he has, along with holding a consistent job

Answer 5

Because 630 isn't good. 680 and up is good.

Answer 6

Borrow some money, then pay it off.