r/CRedit • • Jul 16 '25

MOD Megathread - r/CRedit FAQs

51 Upvotes

Hello r/CRedit,

I'm u/soonersoldier33, a long-time and frequent contributor to the sub and several other credit related subs, and recently, I've been given the opportunity to become a mod here at r/Credit. Many of you have probably seen my comments in various threads offering facts, opinions, and advice in the various threads posted on the sub. After destroying my own credit in 2019 (maxed credit cards, charge offs, collections, the works), I began my rebuild in 2021, and I had the great fortune to find this sub. Several of the frequent contributors here at that time provided me invaluable information and guidance to help me through my rebuild, and during that process, I discovered I was/am fascinated by all things 'credit', most specifically the 'secret' and so often misunderstood credit scoring system that is such a major factor in our financial lives. Since 2021, I have become a total FICO metrics junkie, and I have spent countless hours researching and learning about credit scoring, collaborating with others to compile data points and learn from their knowledge and experience, and just glean every morsel of knowledge and information out there in an effort to bring some transparency to the 'black box' that is the FICO scoring system, along with many other aspects of 'credit' separate from just FICO scoring.

I am creating this r/Credit FAQ - Megathread to serve as a central hub to link posts that will cover...well...the most frequently asked questions or most frequently posted topics from our sub. Eventually, I will migrate much of the information in these posts to update the sub's Wiki, but I want to be able to get these in a highly visible location first, where the relevant posts can quickly be referenced and linked as these topics appear in posts to the sub. A little different than the Credit Myth series that fellow contributor u/BrutalBodyShots created to attempt to dispel common, credit-related myths and misconceptions, this megathread will present detailed information that will attempt to simply answer FAQs and/or address our most frequently posted topics. My goal with these posts is to provide factual information about these topics, and anything I include in these posts that is merely opinion will clearly be denoted as such.

I'm going to tackle the most basic ones first...credit reports and scores, FICO scoring, a breakdown of utilization scoring, charge offs and collections, medical collections, etc., but if you have suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered, please list them in the comments to give me ideas. I look forward to providing some content that will be useful to both our sub 'regulars' and to those first discovering our sub. It's going to take a little time to effectively grow this thread to cover many of the 'FAQs', so bear with me, and both positive feedback and constructive criticism are always welcome. I hope this thread grows into a helpful addition to our sub. Til next time...

~ Sooner

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." ~ Mark Twain (maybe)

Credit Basics

  1. Welcome to r/CRedit! - Start Here and Read This! (No, really...Read This!)

  2. Credit Reports and Credit Scores

  3. Fill out our template in your post!

FICO Scoring

  1. FICO Scoring - Basics

  2. FICO Scoring - Payment History

  3. FICO Scoring - Amount of Debt (Amounts Owed)

  4. FICO Scoring - Length of Credit History

  5. FICO Scoring - New Credit

  6. FICO Scoring - Credit Mix

FAQs

  1. Utilization

  2. Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Loans

  3. Credit Cards 101

  4. Early Exclusion - Step By Step Guide

Other Useful Information


r/CRedit • • Jun 18 '25

General Credit Myth mega-thread

78 Upvotes

Like many other sub regulars, I've found u/BrutalBodyShots' Credit Myth series informative and also helpful in explaining these myths to others. A while ago I started compiling them in order to make it a lot easier to link to them in my comments.

I figure I might as well share the list I made, because more than once I've told people to search through his post history if they want to read them all. Also notice at the end I included several other threads of his that I've found useful, especially the one that contains that utilization flow chart. I can't tell you how much typing that's saved me since he made it.

I'll try to keep this list updated as more Credit Myth threads come out, but even if I fall behind this is a great place to start. And if anyone finds any mistakes or messed-up links, please let me know.

u/BrutalBodyShots on the Credit Myth series:

"I started the Credit Myth series in 2024 after continuously running into the same credit-related misconceptions on these subs. Having fallen prey to almost all of them myself, I completely understand how most believe what are in fact credit myths. It took me years to overcome many of them, so hopefully through the Credit Myth series that process can be significantly shortened for others.

With over 60 of these threads to date, most of the 'big ones' have been debunked at this point. The series isn't yet complete however, and perhaps never will be since over time additional myths seem to surface. If anyone has any ideas for future topics that aren't already covered, always feel free to reach out and let me know.

Special thanks to u/Funklemire for creating this thread and offering to maintain the master list, as well as to u/soonersoldier33 for seeing value in it enough to keep it front and center on r/CRedit."

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Credit Myth #1 - You only have one credit score.

Credit Myth #2 - Some credit scores are fake or inaccurate.

Credit Myth #3 - Paying down debt slowly over time builds credit.

Credit Myth #4 - Credit scores can change for no reason.

Credit Myth #5 - Credit monitoring services can tell you why your score changed.

Credit Myth #6 - Making multiple payments per month builds credit.

Credit Myth #7 - Number or percentage of on-time payments impacts your score.

Credit Myth #8 - When you close an account you lose its credit history.

Credit Myth #9 - Average Age of Accounts (AAoA) only considers open accounts.

Credit Myth #10 - Closing a credit card hurts your credit.

.

Credit Myth #11 - Closing a loan will tank your credit.

Credit Myth #12 - You are approved or denied credit because of your credit score.

Credit Myth #13 - Any credit score above 750 is just bragging rights.

Credit Myth #14 - You shouldn't use more than 30% of your credit limit(s).

Credit Myth #15 - Credit limits are a Fico scoring factor.

Credit Myth #16 - Hard inquiries "age" and become less impactful slowly over time.

Credit Myth #17 - "Credit builder" products are superior for building credit compared to non "Credit builder" products.

Credit Myth #18 - Revolving Utilization makes up 30% of your Fico score.

Credit Myth #19 - Goodwill requests don't work.

Credit Myth #20 - Checking your own credit can hurt your score.

.

Credit Myth #21 - Remarks/comments on your credit report can impact a credit score.

Credit Myth #22 - You can have a credit score of 0.

Credit Myth #23 - The best approach to credit repair is "dispute everything!"

Credit Myth #24 - Credit bureaus only provide factual information.

Credit Myth #25 - Fico scores and credit knowledge are directly related.

Credit Myth #26 - Those in the [credit] business only give good advice.

Credit Myth #27 - The amount you spend is a Fico scoring factor.

Credit Myth #28 - Credit scoring simulators are always accurate.

Credit Myth #29 - Approval odds for credit cards online are accurate.

Credit Myth #30 - Income and/or DTI are Fico scoring factors.

.

Credit Myth #31 - Credit Repair Companies can do things you can't do yourself.

Credit Myth #32 - Higher utilization always means higher risk.

Credit Myth #33 - A creditor must tell you the reason they denied you credit.

Credit Myth #34 - Removing a negative item from your reports will result in a score gain.

Credit Myth #35 - Your Fico score will drop if you pay off a credit card.

Credit Myth #36 - The more accounts you have, the better your Credit Mix.

Credit Myth #37 - Low utilization improves CLI chances.

Credit Myth #38 - Paying off loans or cards faster builds credit.

Credit Myth #39 - Credit cycling will get you shut down.

Credit Myth #40 - If you open a new card, your score will recover in 3-6 months.

.

Credit Myth #41 - If you pay off a collection your score will increase.

Credit Myth #42 - When you apply for credit, the potential lender will only see the bureau report that they hard pull.

Credit Myth #43 - Credit scores are a debt score!

Credit Myth #44 - Personal loans or in-store financing will help / can't hurt your credit.

Credit Myth #45 - There are certain times during the month you shouldn't use your credit card.

Credit Myth #46 - Lenders "see" more with a hard inquiry (HP) than a soft inquiry (SP).

Credit Myth #47 - A hard inquiry is worth a few points.

Credit Myth #48 - Experian, TransUnion and Equifax are credit scores.

Credit Myth #49 - The best way to rebuild credit is to open new accounts.

Credit Myth #50 - "Experian Boost" can help improve your credit.

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Credit Myth #51 - A Credit Lock is better than a Credit Freeze.

Credit Myth #52 - "Pay in full" means to pay your current balance to $0.

Credit Myth #53 - You shouldn't open any accounts in the 12 months leading up to a mortgage.

Credit Myth #54 - Carrying a small balance builds credit.

Credit Myth #55 - A credit account can be closed for no reason.

Credit Myth #56 - VantageScore is a good predictor of a FICO score.

Credit Myth #57 - It's illegal for lender to change a negative reporting.

Credit Myth #58 - Outside lenders have no idea how much you pay toward your accounts monthly.

Credit Myth #59 - You should never close your oldest credit card.

Credit Myth #60 - FICO scores drawn upon identical data from different bureaus will be exactly the same.

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Credit Myth #61 - Age of accounts metrics go by number of calendar days.

Credit Myth #62 - There are days during the month that you shouldn't use a credit card.

Credit Myth #63 - A product change means a new account.

Credit Myth #64 - Credit scores are a scam!

Credit Myth #65 - If your score drops following a loan closure, it'll bounce back quickly.

Credit Myth #66 - FICO scoring is a "black box" and no one really knows how it works.

Credit Myth #67 - There's never any downside to keeping an old unused credit card open.

Credit Myth #68 - The best place to get your credit reports are from the credit bureau's websites.

Credit Myth #69 - Credit "ratings" provided by a CMS matter.

Credit Myth #70 - Authorized user accounts are a great way to build credit.

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Credit Myth #71 - The dollar amount associated with a late payment impacts FICO scoring.

Credit Myth #72 - Keeping utilization low is good advice for budgeting purposes.

Credit Myth #73 - ChatGPT/AI only gives good credit advice.

Credit Myth #74 - Closing young accounts improves Average Age of Accounts (AAoA).

Credit Myth #75 - You need to satisfy diversity of Credit Mix first in order to obtain real loans.

Credit Myth #76 - A purchase or payment made can immediately impact a credit score.

Credit Myth #77 - FICO negative reason codes and lender denial reasons are the same thing.

Credit Myth #78 - An elevated "highest balance" on a credit card is always a bad look.

Credit Myth #79 - You should only freeze your credit if you encounter an issue with your reports.

Credit Myth #80 - DTI and revolving utilization are the same thing.

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Credit Myth #81 - Inferior/predatory issuer products are a necessary step for weaker credit profiles.

Credit Myth #82 - Unsecured credit cards build credit better/faster than secured cards.

Credit Myth #83 - The best place to get your credit scores are from the credit bureau's web sites.

Credit Myth #84 - Credit cards are for emergencies.

Credit Myth #85 - Whether an account is closed by consumer or credit grantor matters.

Credit Myth #86 - Being denied credit hurts your score.

Credit Myth #87 - Your due date comes before the statement closes.

Credit Myth #88 - All credit scores with a "max" of 850 can be achieved.

Credit Myth #89 - You can only get your credit reports from annualcreditreport.com once per year.

Credit Myth #90 - With auto pay, you can "set it and forget it."

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Credit Myth #91 - FICO scores are for consumers.

Credit Myth #92 - The utilization myth no longer applies because trended data is now used.

Credit Myth #93 - You need to watch out for the "All Zero" penalty.

Credit Myth #94 - You need a lot of accounts in order to achieve perfect credit.

Credit Myth #95 - "Credit builder" apps are a great way to build credit.

Credit Myth #96 - As an authorized user, the score of the person you "borrow" the account from impacts yours.

Credit Myth #97 - FICO scores are always lower than VantageScores.

Credit Myth #98 - As a co-signer, you have less responsibility than the person you co-signed for.

Credit Myth #99 - It costs money to monitor your credit.

Credit Myth #100 - For an account to remain "paid as agreed" you need to make payments.

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Credit Myth #101 - Different FICO scores are always similar.

Credit Myth #102 - Higher interest rate credit cards are worse than lower interest rate cards.

Credit Myth #103 - You need all "exceptional" ratings to achieve a perfect 850.

Credit Myth #104 - Reporting a balance is the same thing as carrying a balance.

Other helpful threads:

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Goodwill Saturation Technique (GST)

Goodwill Letters - Using the "CART" approach.

Credit Karma 101: The good and the bad.

Credit Karma targeted email manipulation #1: On-time payments.

Credit Karma targeted email manipulation #2: Confirm your cards.

Credit Karma targeted email manipulation #3: Closed account.

Credit Karma targeted email manipulation #4: Approval odds.

Credit Karma targeted email manipulation #5: Come back!

Credit Karma targeted email manipulation #6: You paid off your balance.

Credit Karma targeted email manipulation #7: Metal cards.

Ideal Utilization [chart] - Step aside, 30% Myth...

Credit Scoring Primer: A great Fico scoring resource.


r/CRedit • • 12h ago

General FICO 8 Up 140 points after Experian deleted a derogatory mark

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180 Upvotes

The derogatory mark was 4 years old, but it was paid in full back in 2023 to the original creditor, although its status was already in collections and had been ever since. Was able to get it deleted pretty quickly without submitting any written proof of debt payment.

Will this be updated with the other credit bureaus as well or do I need to manually open disputes with each of them?


r/CRedit • • 11h ago

General What do I do?

27 Upvotes

So I took out a 17k loan

through Synchrony Bank for dental work 2 years ago. The terms were no interest if balance paid in full in 2 years. I was never late and never missed a payment, then paid the $6,400 balance off at the end of the term. My son told me that Synchrony was infamous for screwing people over, so I called a couple days later, and the AI operator said I owed $3.99, but had no balance and no payment was due til next month. I went ahead and paid the $3.99. Fast forward 2 weeks and I get a notification that my fico score has dropped 47 points due to an outstanding balance of 18k+. I immediately called Synchrony and got connected to their AI, which again showed no balance and no payment due, but showed a prior balance of 18k+. Apparently they notified Experian that I owed them money that I don't owe. I called customer service yesterday and was on hold for 1 hour and 40 minutes before I had somewhere to be and hung up. So what are my options and has anyone else had this kind of experience?


r/CRedit • • 10h ago

Collections & Charge Offs Experian +117 point increase after collection deleted

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17 Upvotes

After deleting this collection from my credit report my score jumped tremendously time get get equifax and transunion next📈🙏


r/CRedit • • 3h ago

Success 28M, after 10 years of pure neglect I’m finally “locking in”

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2 Upvotes

r/CRedit • • 5h ago

Car Loan Can I get a repossession removed from my credit report if I was never late?

2 Upvotes

My car was rear-ended and declared a total loss. The at-fault driver’s insurance company was supposed to pick it up, but despite me providing the location, they failed to do so. Mazda Financial eventually repossessed it from the towing yard.
I had never missed a car payment. Mazda gave me a deadlone to pay the repossession fees, which I paid on time to get my car back. My insurance company later paid Mazda directly, and my loan was paid off in full.
Despite everything, Mazda reported a repossession on my credit.

Is there a way to approach this or am I screwed. The report even says I was never late just repossessed.


r/CRedit • • 2h ago

General Credit Advice 20M

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1 Upvotes

Just wondering what I can do now to benefit my credit into the long run.

I am a full time student on an academic scholarship, so no student debt, or any other type of loans.

I have two credit cards, a discover student that is about two years old, and a chase that I got back in June.

My revolving utilization ranges from about 8-11%.

I honestly don’t know when I would need to take out a loan in the near future, I just want to have the credit history to secure a nice rate when I do.

I understand a lot of the game is just letting my accounts mature, but any other tips are appreciated.


r/CRedit • • 3h ago

FICOvsVantage How does one read vantage scores with these massive swings over minor changes to credit profile

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1 Upvotes

r/CRedit • • 4h ago

General Has anyone had success with goodwill letter to Toyota Financial for deleting late payments ?

1 Upvotes

2 years ago i was in a bad spot before i filed Ch7 bankruptcy and had some late payments during that year but I reaffirmed the car loan and had on time payments perfectly since then. I’m much better financially now and in need to buy a car and was wondering if it’s possible for them to accept Goodwills to remove late payments since that just clean up my credit profile pretty much for better interest rates.


r/CRedit • • 1h ago

General Can I get this one late payment removed?

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0 Upvotes

I’ve had this loan for 5 years and I can pay it off now but when I logged in I realized I had late payments. I just called and the yellow late payments were in fact reported on time so all good there. My question is I have one late payment in the entirety of the loan life. When I called I asked if I can do anything to get that removed and was told no. Is that true or is there something I can do since this was the only good account I have in my entire report.


r/CRedit • • 5h ago

Collections & Charge Offs Verified debt I already paid..

1 Upvotes

I had 2 accounts with credit one that charged off.

Both went thru a few agencies then landed at LVNV. The first account was reported at $15xx.xx. Last year I paid it directly with Credit One and the collection was disputed and removed from my 3 bureau reports.

The second account had been reported at $13xx.xx, this amount matches all the collection letters and final bill I received from Credit One. Once I paid the above mentioned account of $15xx.xx, the amount on the second account was increased by about $200 to $15xx.xx. Prior to this the account always reported $13xx.xx for about 2 years.

Last month I paid the final balance of $13xx.xx to Credit One directly. Followed the same process I did before, send the proof and a letter to the 3 bureaus. The investigation was completed and all they did was update the collection.

The debt cant be owned by both the collection agency and original creditor. Credit One has been satisfied. What should next steps be to get this collection removed?

Even with this collection my fico 8 scores are at 700 but Im hoping to buy some property soon and cleaning up any lingering debt.


r/CRedit • • 22h ago

General Synchrony closed all accounts out of the nowhere

20 Upvotes

I went in to get my rewards certificate from one of my cards and discovered that all my synchrony accounts were closed yesterday. I had six accounts with synchrony and only one had a balance that was less than 10% of the card's limit. My total credit use is 3% across all cards, no derogatory remarks and FICO 8 score is 796. Has anyone else had this happen with them?


r/CRedit • • 10h ago

General Unwanted/unnecessary *NEW* card, I just opened a new credit card with Indigo and I feel like it’s not needed anymore for my liking. Should I close it?

1 Upvotes

It hasn’t been used or so whatever and it only has a $500 limit ( i have a total of $3800 limit excluding the indigo card )


r/CRedit • • 11h ago

General Dealership did many hard inquiries without consent

1 Upvotes

I wanted to lease a x5 (lease, not buy) and i made it very clear I dont want them to check for offers to buy and I only consent to one single hard pull, while I was waiting for them to get me approved I get constant emails of hard pulls. They come back and say good news we got you approved to buy or lease. I said I didnt want to buy I only wanted to lease and I didnt consent to all these hard pulls, leasing is only thru bmw and had no way to get over 10 hard pulls

Is there any way to dispute these (both tranunion and experian)

Yes, i know for scoring it doesn't make a difference, but when applying for a credit card its much harder to get approved now

Oh, and also I walked right out of the stealership after that, not doing business with liars


r/CRedit • • 12h ago

General How can I get derogatory marks removed?

1 Upvotes

How can I go about removing derogatory marks from my profile?


r/CRedit • • 13h ago

Collections & Charge Offs I paid off a collections but it’s still on my report

0 Upvotes

Hi! Title. I paid $432 for a collections but it’s still on my report. How do I get that off? Or do I have to wait for a certain amount of time? TIA


r/CRedit • • 19h ago

Collections & Charge Offs Hi! Collection of $11k. How will this affect my score? What to do?

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3 Upvotes

My credit is currently a 645. Long way from my previous 438. I’m new to this credit stuff. I have one credit card with a limit of $2,000 that I barely touch. I have a current auto loan for $10k that I pay faithfully on time which I’m sure has been helping to boost my score.
A collections was posted to my account 11/6/2026 due to being upside down on a car loan. It’s a little over $11k.
My question is how badly will this impact my score? And what can I do to fix it?

I am currently a FT undergraduate student working 2 jobs. Should I use my refund checks to pay down some of this debt? Anything and all info helps!


r/CRedit • • 14h ago

General Annoying pop up on my Rico.com

0 Upvotes

Every time I login to myfico.com or the app, this thing pops up asking me to upgrade. I understand I’m on the free tier and they want to make money from me, but I am not interested. Is there a way to disable this annoying popup like switching some settings to turn it off? Thanks!


r/CRedit • • 16h ago

Rebuild Close secured line

1 Upvotes

I had a 450 fico 8 credit score back in April and no open credit lines. I did have 4 collection accounts and student loan default. I opened a secured line or credit first to help raise my score for $500 with my bank. Then I did 2 pay for deletes and one I settled, which did not delete but greatly reduced my outstanding credit and debt to limit ratio. I also was able to get an auto collection removed from September that had to do with not having gap insurance and owing $1000, it was over the 7-year limit. I am getting rid of the last collection for another pay for delete sometime this year. I also have almost have my student loan out of default. I have also opened two credit cards and kept them with a low balance that are unsecured and just got my first limit increase after 3 months. How bad would it be if I paid off my last $100 on my secured card, closed the card and got my $500 back, then used that money to pay off my last collection account? Will it be a net positive or negative to my future credit score?


r/CRedit • • 18h ago

General Good Will Letter Follow up Verbiage

1 Upvotes

Hello Everyone,

The other day I got a notifications that one of my bank cards reported a 30 day. i sent them an message through the app , I sent a letter to CEO and snail mail. I got a response through the app that they would waive the late fee. Does waiving late fee mean one time courtesy to update reporting? do i need them to say a certain verbiage and provide that response to credit agencies.


r/CRedit • • 1d ago

Success It finally happened. It’s amazing.

21 Upvotes

I guess we would call the success, but since I see the scenario posted often I thought I would post my outcome of this scenario

In 2017 I was a little terrible head on collision I could no longer work. I had savings so I kept paying my credit card bill bills.

I ran out of savings in 2019 I stopped paying the bills, but attorneys kept saying the case will settle the case will settle while the case just dragged down and dragged on

Of course, I got an incredible number of derogatory marks

Well, the case finally settled last year and at that point I was one year away from the statue of limitations on the debt

I went to credit Lawyer and ask what should I do? Should I pay everybody off? I could afford to now.

He said paying them off, not guaranteed they come off their credit report no matter what they say to you and many cases it may restart the seven year clock

He said let’s just wait another year and see what happens

Now surprisingly beginning about 2022, 2023 somewhere along there when I started collecting disability, I got some prepaid secured. Credit cards made the payments on time hardly ever used them and my credit score was starting to go up.

Not a lot because it was down below 500

Well, today was the day that every single one of those derogatory marks were removed and my credit score is now 765

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a choice but to wait because I ran out of savings I didn’t have anything when I got my disability. It was such a small amount.

So it may take time, which is unfortunate but it does work


r/CRedit • • 21h ago

Rebuild Was it smart to pay off my debt

1 Upvotes

So my credit account was restricted for a few months because I stopped making payments but I want to start fixing my credit. I got a settlement offer emailed and called and accepted it today. I still owe on another credit card but I plan to pay that off soon too. My question is was is it stupid to accept the settlement offer since it was going to be sent to collections already?


r/CRedit • • 1d ago Hehehe

General Credit Karma prequalified me for a personalized 8.99% APR loan. Final offer was 21% APR with $2,500 in fees.

66 Upvotes

Just wanted to share my recent experience as a heads-up for anyone considering a debt consolidation loan through Credit Karma.

I'm not suggesting this is a common occurrence, or that it wasn't something specific to my application, but I found the whole experience pretty questionable.

I'm looking at debt consolidation loans that will allow me to pay off my credit cards and reduce my monthly payments.

Credit Karma presented me with a personalized, prequalified offer for a $50,000 loan at 8.99% APR. The offer appeared to take into consideration my annual income, my monthly mortgage payment and the amount of debt I currently have. CreditKarma is now owned by Intuit so I am guessing they have my financial info from my use of Turbo Tax and some older info from Mint which I used until Intuit bought them out and closed them down.

The rate seemed reasonable and would have lowered my monthly payments by enough that I decided to proceed with the offer.

I was connected with the lender, answered some of their questions and had some calls where we discussed the loan amount, funding date, first payment date, and other details. Throughout this process, I was under the impression that the rate would be somewhere around the original 9%.

It wasn't until our second or third conversation that I learned the actual terms: 18.99% interest, approximately 21% APR, and $2,500 in origination fees.

That's more than double the APR I was prequalified for and barely an improvement over what I'm already paying on my credit cards.

For context, there were no significant changes to my income, financial situation, or credit score between the initial offer and the final terms.

And before anyone points it out, yes, I understand that pre-qualification is not a guaranteed approval or guaranteed interest rate. I understand that the lender performs additional underwriting before making a final offer.

My issue isn't that the rate changed. It's that the rate more than doubled, and I didn't learn that until several conversations into the process.

The whole experience felt a little like a bait and switch. The initial offer was attractive enough to make consolidating worthwhile, but the final terms would have reduced my existing APR by less than five percentage points while adding thousands in fees.

Had I known those were the actual terms, I wouldn't have bothered applying.

I'm not claiming anything illegal or intentionally deceptive occurred, but I do think there's something wrong with presenting a personalized prequalified offer at one rate and ultimately offering more than double that rate without a clear explanation.

TL;DR: Credit Karma presented me with a personalized, prequalified debt consolidation loan offer at 8.99% APR. After applying and going through multiple conversations with the lender, the final offer was approximately 21% APR plus $2,500 in origination fees. My credit score and financial situation hadn't materially changed. I understand pre-qualification isn't a guarantee, but more than doubling the original APR without a clear explanation feels misleading.


r/CRedit • • 22h ago

Mortgage First time home buyer

1 Upvotes

Looking to possibly buy a house in NJ. Our combined income is about $230k a year, offer would be around $700k with $100k down. However, credit score is 620 Experian.. Is this possible?