Establishing and Maintaining Credit
Predicting A FICO® Score
How do questions about capacity, character, and collateral fit in with determining a FICO score? Read the following scenarios and try your hand at predicting a FICO score.
Part I
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My name is Jen. I am 22 years old and have been working as an assistant manager for about a year. I have two credit cards — an Exxon® card and a Visa® card that I've had since I was 18 years old. I am carrying a balance on both cards and owe $50 on my Exxon® ($500 credit limit) and $900 on my Visa® ($1000 credit limit). I was relieved to get this job because I needed to start repaying the $10,000 in student loans I took out to go to college. I bought a used car five months ago with a $6,000 loan from my bank. None of my accounts are currently past due, but two years ago, while in college, I did make several late payments on my Visa card: 30 days and 60 days late. Thankfully, I was able to make up the payments and have been paying my debts on time since. What do you think my FICO® score will be? What’s my estimated FICO® score from the BankRate website?
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My name is Robert. I am 40 years old and have been working at a large accounting firm for the last 8 years. I am married with two children and live in a house in the suburbs with a $200,000 mortgage. I received my first credit card in college more than 20 years ago and currently have 5: a Shell gas card, Visa, Master Card, Discover, and a Sears card all carrying a balance. My cards have a total balance of $4,000 with a credit limit of $10,000. My student loans are paid off but I just bought a new car two months ago with a $13,000 loan from my bank. I currently pay all of my accounts on time, but right before I found my current job, I was out of work for a year and had several accounts referred to a collection agency because they were 90 days late. Fortunately, I was able to find my current job and did not have to declare bankruptcy. What do you think my FICO® score will be? What’s my estimated FICO® score from the BankRate website? |
Part II
Did you predict correctly? Did anything surprise you about the scores? Why did the scores differ? Fill out the worksheet explaining your reasoning and submit it to the dropbox.