08/07/2021
Your score is an integral part of your financial life. You must understand what it's all about. Lenders, landlords, insurers, utility companies, and even employers look at your scores. It is derived from what's in your reports, and it ranges between 300 and 850 on FICO.
There's so much dependent on your score itโs important to understand what's all involved and the things affecting it. Unfortunately, people commonly have a lot of misinformation and misunderstandings about their scores. Here are three of the most common score myths and along with it the facts:
MYTH #1: The major bureaus use different formulas for calculating your score.
FACT: The three major bureaus - Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian -- give the score a different name. They all use different names for the scores, but they all use the same formula to come up with it.
MYTH #2: Paying off your debts is all you need to do to immediately repair your score.
FACT: Your score is mostly determined by your past performance more than your current amount of debt. It will be very helpful to pay off your cards and settle any outstanding loans, but if yours is a history of late or missed payments, it wonโt remove the damage overnight. It takes time to repair your score.
MYTH #3: Closing old accounts will boost your score.
FACT: This is a common misconception. It's not closing accounts that affect your score, it's opening them. Closing accounts can never help your score and may hurt it. Yes, having too many open accounts does hurt your score. But once the accounts have been opened, the damage has already been done. Shutting the account doesnโt repair it and it may make things worse.
If you want to speak with a Professional for a FREE consultation to explain these myths in further detail.