Do you know your Credit Score?

1. Personal Information - your current and previous addresses, your names, Social Security #, employment address.
2. Credit History - open and closed credit lines, credit limits, current and most owned balances, current monthly payments, notices of late payments if anybody (including not just lenders but also suppliers like your electric or phone company)
3. Public records - Bankruptcies and other court-imposed actions (alimonies, collections, etc.), outstanding taxes
4. Inquiries - notes of all information requests of your credit history except those made by yourself.

1. Payment history. Your punctuality is of the highest importance in FICO calculation
2. Limits for credit lines you have opened and corresponding balances. FICO is negatively effected if any balance is 50% or higher of the total credit limit.
3. Duration of your credit history. FICO calculates the average for all accounts. If you have just opened another credit card this average goes down and so does your FICO score.
For example, you have 6 credit cards opened 10, 9, 8, 5, 5 and 4 years ago. Your average term is (10+9+8+5+5+4)/6 = 82 months. Here is what happens if you open a new credit card: (10+9+8+5+5+4+0)/7 = 70 months, which is one year shorter than before.
4. The amount of "fresh" credit. Every time you apply for a credit, a new inquiry record is added to your Credit Report and negatively effects the FICO. Avoid too many inquiries. This does not apply to the case when you "shop around" for mortgage and make several inquiries in one week - FICO can distinguish this situation and will not "punish" your score.
5. Types of credits. These include credit and retailer cards (revolving accounts), education, car and home loans (installment loans and mortgages). The number of credit lines and their volume characterize your ability to manage your finances. Too many credit cards makes a negative contribution to FICO. Try to stay in the range of 3-5 cards.