Lenders, employers, insurance companies and many others use The Fair Isaac Credit Organization, or FICO® score, the industry standard for determining a consumers credit rating, to judge a persons credit record.

Understanding the five basic factors used to create that FICO® score will help you to stay informed and to find the best solutions and methods to manage your credit rating.

Here are the FICO® Scores 5 Basic Categories, each category carries a percentage of importance in determining your FICO® score.

•    Your Payment History-35%
•    FICO® This would include how you have paid on your credit cards, installment loans, mortgage, retail accounts, ect..  It will also include any adverse public records such as bankruptcy, judgments, past due items, collections, liens and the severity of your delinquency.  How many items you have past due and the amounts past due on those accounts.  The number of good accounts paid as agreed.
•    Amounts Owed-30%
•    What Amounts you owe on your accounts and how much on specific types of accounts.  The number of accounts with balances, and the proportion of balances owed to credit limits on revolving accounts, proportion of balance to original loan amount on installment loans.
•    Length of Your Credit History-15%
•    How long have you had credit and the time since last activity.  The longer you have had a credit line, the FICO can decipher about your payment history.
•    New Credit, Recent Credit Activity-10%
•    How many recently opened accounts do you have, how many recent credit inquiries, time since your credit inquiries and the re-establishment of positive credit history after past payment problems.
•    Types of Credit Used or Credit Categories-10%
•    What types of credit accounts and the number of various types of accounts a person has had or has, including mortgages, car loans, revolving accounts, utilities, ect.

Remember, your credit score is determined by both positive and negative information contained in your credit report.  There are many factors and a combination of information is used in determining your credit score.

Prevention is the best solution in credit maintenance.  If you or someone your know has questions about their credit history and how to correct inaccurate, unverifiable or incomplete items on their credit report, or if you would like to learn more about credit improvement and repair services, Step 1 Credit is ready to help you.