What's the highest credit score attainable?

[EuroBoutique]

I've bought tons of cars, homes, etc over the years and thought I was pretty familiar with the reporting credit bureaus.

Pretty much there's Equifax, TransUnion and Experian and for most small purchases they run through one agency. If you end up buying a house usually they run all 3 and take the middle score.

Anything over 760+ is usually pretty good and 800+ is top notch stuff. Recently a friend told me he went to get an apartment and he got a score of 917

Is that even possible? I thought 900 was the max score????

 

[BATMANs]

Mines 840 and I thought it was 850 as the limit.

 

[nsxsupra]

Anything over 760+ is usually pretty good and 800+ is top notch stuff. Recently a friend told me he went to get an apartment and he got a score of 917

Is that even possible? I thought 900 was the max score????

Interesting, I barely have 827 and I take a lot of pride in being a responsible person. Is he sure that is not some kind of mistake?

If his score is true, I salute the man.

 

[nathan]

It really depends on the "grading system".

I know when it comes to mortgages, car loans, and credit cards, the highest score attainable from the three main credit bureaus (EquiFax, TransUnion, and Experian) is 850.

I dont know where he is getting 900+. Perhaps it is a differen credit system that this apartment is using. Or there is a different scale that the bureau is using for landlords :shurg:

 

[Blackend]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_score_(United_States)


That's probabaly his VantageScore rating. 850 should be the highest "official" credit rating in most cases.

 

[slamstrom]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_score_(United_States)


That's probabaly his VantageScore rating. 850 should be the highest "official" credit rating in most cases.

Give the man a prize.:smile:

The maximum credit score from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion is 850.
In 2006 VantageScore was introduced and the maximum score from VantageScore is 990.

 

[ChopsJazz]

Anything over 760+ is usually pretty good and 800+ is top notch stuff. Recently a friend told me he went to get an apartment and he got a score of 917

Is that even possible? I thought 900 was the max score????

That's the metric equivalent of 850.

 

[slamstrom]

That's the metric equivalent of 850.

Or he turned in some extra credit.:wink:

 

[EuroBoutique]

thanks guys!

My friend has NEVER known to lie and he was quite surprised himself so I just assumed I was missing something.

Always good to learn something new

rick

 

[steveny]

850 is the max.

 

[HIJACKER]

ok - so there's the free annual credit report which is allowed, but how exactly can you easily find out your FICO score? The last I saw it was a few years ago when it was somewhere around 780. I'd like to know where I'm at today.

 

[Swift]

go to annualcreditreport.com.

apparently you have a right to a free annual credit review. as in free..really free.

 

[quack]

Lower is better as a 7 rating got my phone disconnected without extra fees.

 

[SilverStone05]

go to annualcreditreport.com.

apparently you have a right to a free annual credit review. as in free..really free.

At annualcreditreport they only give you your credit REPORT for free. You have to buy your score.

The inflated number your buddy had was probably his vantage score- A new scoring methodology concocted by I think 2 of the three crooked consumer credit ratings agencies. Lenders use your FICO, the agencies planned on providing consumers with VantageScore....two very different animals. How useless eh? Seems to me just another ploy to keep consumers confused about their credit histories.

Thankfully, VantageScore flopped...no one's using it....so it's my guess it'll fall by the wayside.

Use your FICO score to measure your creditworthiness.

 

[Cairo94507]

Credit score....pshhh. I have always paid my bills when they come, have only one credit card on which I carry no balance, finance a car and pay it off within 1 year, own several homes, never had a late payment on anything and consequently could not care less about credit scores.

I see these stupid credit report commercials and just shake my head. Pay your bills! Why would you pay a monthly credit report fee to see your score. I just don't get it. Splain it to me please....

 

[heySkippy]

My wife and I got our scores after we applied for a HELOC last year. Hers was 804 and mine was 802. I'd love to know what methodology was used that made our scores so close, yet not exactly the same.

It would also be fun to see how close one could get to the theoretical max of 850. I'd bet it's a matter of finding just the right balance of available credit versus utilized credit.

 

[sahtt]

This is sort of a cheap tactic but like most cheap tactics, it's highly effective.

Whatever bank you have your local checking account with has some sort of "identity gaurd" or the like. 99% of them offer a free trial period for 1-3 months, then automatically charge you after that. If you sign up for the trial, they will send you actual documentation with all the credit info you could need. Whether you cancel that particular service afterwards is up to you :smile:

 

[annointed]

Credit scores that are not true FICO scores are jokingly referred to as FAKO scores.:smile: Any source other than Fair Issac (myfico.com for consumers) is a FACO score.

 

[SilverStone05]

Credit score....pshhh. I have always paid my bills when they come, have only one credit card on which I carry no balance, finance a car and pay it off within 1 year, own several homes, never had a late payment on anything and consequently could not care less about credit scores.

I see these stupid credit report commercials and just shake my head. Pay your bills! Why would you pay a monthly credit report fee to see your score. I just don't get it. Splain it to me please....

That's the attitude I used to have. But it's just not that simple anymore. Who needs credit when you have money in the bank, right?

Wrong.

Your credit score affects much more than your lending options these days.

Car insurance, Health Insurance, rental apps and a host of other businesses besides auto/home lenders use your credit report and score when making business decisions.

Add to that the fact that these consumer credit reporting companies are extremely incompetent and arguably unregulated, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I've had my share of run ins with these idiots and it's amazing how they can wreak havoc on credit worthy, responsible folks. I can't imagine what they do to others.

It just takes one...yes ONE incorrect input from some monkey at a bank/insurance/or other institution to make a royal mess for you on your credit report.

Then you are stuck in a very painful, and very time consuming path to correcting mistakes that someone else made.

It infuriates me.

 

[sahtt]

2nd. Until I understood the degree to which your credit score dictates your insurance costs, I thought it was nothing more than an elaborate scam to get people deeper in debt while thanking the institution responsible for it. Now I know it is indeed an elaborate scam, however you are part of the system and the system effects you whether you want it to or not.

That being said, it takes very little discipline to get a good credit score given you don't have any screw ups. It also takes a very small mistake to cause you a lot of issues under the right conditions.

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Funny thing I had recently went to annualcreditreport.com I did one of my 3 free credit reports for the year and found that apparently I've filed for bankruptcy lol. So I guess my father's credit information is coming up under my credit! I know we have similar names but I didn't think it's similar enough for it to happen. I'm going to have to dispute it and see how my credit score is. Right now it would probably be ZERO lol.

 

[SilverStone05]

Funny thing I had recently went to annualcreditreport.com I did one of my 3 free credit reports for the year and found that apparently I've filed for bankruptcy lol. So I guess my father's credit information is coming up under my credit! I know we have similar names but I didn't think it's similar enough for it to happen. I'm going to have to dispute it and see how my credit score is. Right now it would probably be ZERO lol.

Urgh.

I had a similar situation....pulled my report...and they send me a copy of my father's credit report with my name on it.

When you call in to the automated system, you have to punch in a number that appears on the credit report, AND you have to punch in the last 4 digits of the person's social security number that corresponds with the report.

After so many failed tries, it dawned on me that I would have to put in the last 4 digits of my father's SS# number. So after I did that, I'd get these ignorant operators on the phone who would throw a fit after finding out I wasn't my father.

I would try and explain that it was my name that they've incorrectly put on my father's report but they wouldn't hear about it.

One even went so far as to say that they were going to prosecute me for fraud since I was impersonating my father.

I countered and said that we were going to sue them for disseminating my father's credit information to ME....BY MAIL. That woke those idiots up.

They finally got someone on the phone worth a shit, and they fixed it. Thank God it was my father and I who were mixed up, cause without those last 4 digits of the social security number, I would have NEVER been able to get through.

This system is so flawed that I cannot fathom it.

 

[SilverStone05]

Didn't see this coming.... Class action suit against Experian.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/04/news/companies/experian_lawsuit_freecreditreport/index.htm

 

[NSXGMS]

Didn't see this coming.... Class action suit against Experian.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/04/news/companies/experian_lawsuit_freecreditreport/index.htm

I've been waiting for this one to happen for a long time...

Free credit report.com is of course a joke but come on--if you input your credit card info how dumb do you have to be to think you're not going to get charged for something. The disclaimer is quite clear in that you're not getting anything for free.

In relation to the OP's question the theoretical/mathematical maximum credit score is indeed 850 as others have stated. In over 10 years of finance work I can count on one hand the 800+ scores I've seen. Once you get to 780 you're really at the last barrier. I've seen some auto sales/lease ads that cut off at 780 but above that it's strictly academic.

In order to achieve 800+ the scoring model needs to see accounts with significant age and limits. Having diverse (CC, auto & mortgage) credit accounts for 10+ years and unused, available credit of tens of thousands is really the only way to get there. Age of accounts and available credit is key. In fact I've seen 800+ with a 30 day late here and there in the last few years. Age of accounts and account limits is the critical factor.

BTW, highest I've ever seen personally is 837 and lowest is 402. (Theoretical/mathematical low is 350)

 

[Midnight_Raven]

Urgh.

I had a similar situation....pulled my report...and they send me a copy of my father's credit report with my name on it.

When you call in to the automated system, you have to punch in a number that appears on the credit report, AND you have to punch in the last 4 digits of the person's social security number that corresponds with the report.

After so many failed tries, it dawned on me that I would have to put in the last 4 digits of my father's SS# number. So after I did that, I'd get these ignorant operators on the phone who would throw a fit after finding out I wasn't my father.

I would try and explain that it was my name that they've incorrectly put on my father's report but they wouldn't hear about it.

One even went so far as to say that they were going to prosecute me for fraud since I was impersonating my father.

I countered and said that we were going to sue them for disseminating my father's credit information to ME....BY MAIL. That woke those idiots up.

They finally got someone on the phone worth a shit, and they fixed it. Thank God it was my father and I who were mixed up, cause without those last 4 digits of the social security number, I would have NEVER been able to get through.

This system is so flawed that I cannot fathom it.

I finally got out of work early enough to be able to call in and resolve the issue. Although I had to wait a while just to talk to someone the service Experion provided was actually quite pleasant for me. I ended up talking to them and the operator stated she notices there are multiple social security codes on this report. So she asked for things that would help indicate which accounts are mine. Filtered out the rest and TADA!!! It was done . I'm glad I didn't have a problem like you had sucks when it happens.