What's Your Score?

Parking tickets, library fees, and other small fines used to have an impact on your credit score. But, thanks to new scoring system, these minor delinquencies can be overlooked when calculating your credit store.

Under the new system, FICO 08, for those with otherwise unblemished scores, fines that are under $100 will no longer count against your score. Also, a single delinquency two or more years ago, is less likely to impact your score. This means that there is a possibility more flexibility in missing a payment, as long as it does not become a habit.

FICO 08 also addresses the frequently adopted "Piggbacking" process, which allows credit-repair companies to use a person's account, and the account holder gets reimbursed for allowing them to use their account. This inaccurately represents a person's credit score and will not longer be an accepted practice under FICO 08.


The FICO 08 adjustment has been adopted within last month, so you might see a slight rise or decrease in your score. But overall, the new system was adopted in order to get a more accurate assessment of the borrowing risks for a candidate. The rationalization behind it is that one small fine is not an accurate method for detecting if a person would default a loan.


Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.


Taken from article by Amy Hoak for MarketWatch.