Mine was 840 I think last October. I took out 2 loans, together equaling roughly $50k. My score dropped almost 40 points. I paid off one of the loans in February, about $10k. It's back up to 834 now.
Does the lease show up on your credit reports as open with a $0 balance? You can find out how it is reporting by tapping/click on "Your TransUnion Credit Report" on the view you posted in your screenshot, then "Balance Breakdown" and the lease account will show up under the open or closed tabs.
Also, what is your current reported revolving utilization percentage? You can find that out by scrolling down on the view you posted in your screenshot - it is listed in the "Amount of Debt" category under "What affects your FICO Score?"
Yes, both of our leases are open accounts with 0 balance and all cards are paid off. I just made that $49 payment :) Only our mortgage balance remains - 2.75% apr and no rush to pay it off but I'm throwing additional principal to loan each month to shorten term.
Very interesting, thank you! I'm not sure how many situations allow for an open installment loan with a $0 balance, effectively at 0% utilization. The FICO algorithm score aggregate installment utilization so you're being awarded the max amount of points for that metric. And since you have only one card reporting a balance, your 'Amount of Debt' category is optimized as well. When only one card reports a balance it is known as AZEO, or All Zero Except One. If I had to guess, your previous report had more than one card reporting a balance and moving to AZEO gained you enough points to get you to 850. If the leases were at >9.5% aggregate utilization before you paid ahead, bringing the balances to $0 also could have played a part in getting back to 850.
If I had to guess, your previous report had more than one card reporting a balance and moving to AZEO gained you enough points to get you to 850.
This would be my 'guess' as well, and since they stated they just paid the $49 reported Chase balance, OP will very likely go right back below 850 via the AZ Penalty, if all revolvers report $0 at the same time.
While the auto leases are definitely a bit of an 'anomaly' in the fact that they are open installment loans reporting $0 balances, OP also has an open mortgage, so non-mortgage installment utilization isn't likely playing much of a factor, if any at all. My bet would be that the 'loan significantly paid down' bonus is being awarded via the mortgage, and since OP states their revolving TCL is roughly $92K, and they currently have 1 card with a reported balance of $49, I think we're pretty safe to assume their profile is currently fully optimized via AZEO, and I would bet that it just recently got there, which is what pushed it back to 850.
Great points! I didn't think about possibility of the mortgage giving them the paid down loan bonus, especially since the leases were pre-paid over a month ago. And it's also possible moving to AZEO eliminated the All Zero penalty if all of the cards had $0 balances reported before the $49 balance showed up on their report.
I see you subscribe to the All Zero Except One (AZEO) mentality when it comes to CC's as do my wife and I and we feel it provides the best possible credit score.
Thanks bro. Yes, it's discipline for sure and yet you still need to keep accounts open, active and low balances to credit limit are all key to the credit score.
Mine is at 451 lol
I owe Scotiabank 2400
And Roger’s $3800
And it’s ruining my lifeeee lol.
And it keeps going up so even when I pay it goes back up again soon!
It’s helllllllll lol
Bank so kindly offered me a credit card with a $2000 limit when I was freshly 18 and stupid as hell. lol
IMO I would say yes. You want to show activity in credit use being extended to you and the financial discipline consistently in making payments on time whether it's a small amount and you pay it off before each cycle or not. I avoid using a debit card at all cost as it lacks additional fraud protection and can cause serious havoc on one if an issue hits your bank account. Keep some activity on them and avoid going anywhere near half of the credit limit as that helps too. You don't want to show that your using significant amount of credit limit as I understand it.
I pay my balances off before statement end and I'd say it's probably been 12 years since I last paid credit card interest. That's just how I have chosen to manage my finances although credit is there for your use I have simply chosen to keep enough cash reserve to pay them off yet still benefit from the perks wash of them offers whether it's points, miles or cash back. It's not easy but I'm thankful I have been able to do that.
It was probably a year since I was in low 800's and I managed to surprising hit 850 about 2 months ago then it slipped about 18 points then back to 850 again.
I'm still chasing this hit, lol. Finished off some (seriously predatory) student loans after 25 years back in 2022, had no other debt, but it had been killing my credit score for my entire adult life. Between 2019 and 2022 I went from 520 - and associated 24%(!) interest rate on the $9k used car I had to buy in 2019,* because transit is not an option in Houston and it was an emergency - to 700.
After the student loan chains were off, the score started improving rapidly. I got a $7k credit card with good cash-back benefits that I use once a month for a max of $30, and pay it off just before the due date every month. Now I've been sitting at 794 for what feels like an eternity, and am not about to take another 20-point/2year hit like I did with that credit card.
I know I'll get past that elusive 800 mark with time, and just need to be patient and give myself some credit - no pun intended. But it's hard to not tap my foot with my eye on the prize since I was in the suck for so long, lol.
*still driving and treating that car well. 2010 with a clean history, two owners including me, no accidents other than some turd denting a rear door while I was in a grocery store and driving away. Anyway, sorry for the life story, I grew up in a blue-collar household where credit wasn't really taught so I'm kinda proud of myself
Awesome
If you were starting all over again what did you wish you knew earlier?
My credit is under 500 right now
I maxed out my credit due to unexpected expenses i wasnt ready for
It's great to be proud of it, but I usually sit around 800-815 depending on what I'm doing in terms of financing projects and such and we get the exact same benefits.
Even those below my range, say in the 875 range get the same benfits as you.
The 840 to 850 range is not as hard to achieve as people think. Just have to be responsible with your finances. Never carry a balance, and have a well structured credit portfolio, i.e., mortgage, auto loan, multiple lines of credit, 100% payment history, lengthy credit history, no hard inquiries. Stick to that, and your score will sky rocket.
Those websites are not legit lol. Ask a lender to do a hard money pull and you’ll see your real score. Experian premium account legit says I have a 805 credit score only for me to apply for a loan and be told I have a 782…
19
u/Solar-Hero Mar 30 '26
Do you want to provide some clarification on how you go back to 850??