When your credit score changes for better or for worse, the reason should never be a mystery. Credit scores can be confusing, especially if you don’t understand all the elements that actively contribute to the score itself.
If you’re not sure why your current credit score is 665, it’s time to familiarize yourself with the financial factors that indicate your ability to repay loans from lenders.
Determinants like total credit amount, credit length, new credit, and credit type combine to determine your credit score of 665. Your credit score of 665 officially ranks as “Fair,” according to official FICO ratings.
While that score is far from a “Very Poor” ranking, it still requires repairing to unlock additional financial options and avoid high fees on any potential loans and lines of new credit.
Here’s the good news: the distance between your credit score of 665 and a respectable, even “Exceptional” (800 to 850) score isn’t as far as you might think.
Addressing potential credit issues and proactively beginning new strategies for balance management and debt relief will help you unlock the financial freedom you know you deserve. With discipline, you’ll begin to see your accounts exhibiting all the signs of a good credit score.
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Why Your Credit Score Is 665
While it’s impossible to determine the exact factors which contribute to a credit score of 655, common influences on your credit score include the number of new credit lines, issues with bankruptcy or collections, and remaining debt.
Unnecessary Lines of New Credit
Alongside total debt and credit type, your total number of credit lines plays a role in determining your overall credit score. Specifically, an increased number of credit lines make the payment of each account more difficult to regularly fulfill.
More credit lines typically mean more hard inquiries — credit checks performed by prospective lenders or financial services companies before issuing loans or credit cards.
Even though hard inquiries only remain on your financial record for 365 days, they can reflect poorly on overall debt management, and yield harsher overall credit scores.
There’s a simple fix if you find yourself overwhelmed by the sheer number of credit cards or loans you’re regularly paying off: debt consolidation. Consolidating debt into a single loan that requires you to make fewer, larger payments per month (or per pay period) can help you systematically eliminate balances.
Bankruptcy or Collections Issues
If you’re unable to repay loans or credit debts, you might be forced to legally file for bankruptcy. Bankruptcy means defaulting on existing loans. This will stay on your financial record for up to 10 years, negatively impacting your credit along the way and serving as a major roadblock in acquiring new credit lines.
Besides injuring your 665 credit score, bankruptcy can make any potential lenders very hesitant, or altogether unwilling, to provide personal loans, mortgages, or finances of any kind. Avoid bankruptcy and its penalties on credit score simply by paying down debts and keeping new credit to a minimum.
Similarly, collections agencies demanding loan repayments can further hamper your credit score. If a collections company is requesting loan repayment, consider prioritizing those payments to avoid further legal action.
Total Remaining Credit or Loan Balances
There’s a parallel relationship between outstanding credit/loan balances and overall credit scores. With a credit score of 665, you likely have a remaining credit balance not yet paid off.
Paying off these balances means more than financial freedom: it also means regular improvements to your credit score, direct reflections of your newfound financial responsibility.
What Can You Do With a 665 Credit Score?
With a Fair-ranking credit score of 665, you might face an uphill battle. This will influence your attempts to secure personal loans and mortgages, open new lines of credit, and activate rewards-based credit cards.
That said, there are certainly options worth exploring that will still allow you to pursue financial opportunities when they arise.
- Opening new credit cards might be difficult, but it’s certainly not impossible.
- Landing one of the best rewards-based credit cards may not be an option with your current 665 credit score.
- There are still various credit cards — including cards with no annual fees — available from reputable financial institutions and credit unions, however, these might come with additional fees.
- Securing a property mortgage is also possible with a credit score of 665.
- However, you’ll likely still be susceptible to higher average interest rates, as well as additional fees and protections leveraged by your loan officer or mortgage company.
- Obtaining personal loans won’t be easy with a credit score of 665, especially if you intend to use the loan for more of a leisure-based purchase.
- Even smaller personal loans, perhaps for residential renovations or event planning, could face scrutiny from potential lenders.
- Consider loan options optimized for individuals with low credit scores, to secure personal loans for your projects.
- Attaining rental property loans with a credit score of 665 isn’t painless, but it is possible.
- Many apartment lenders do understand that individuals seeking apartment rental loans haven’t had credit scores for long periods of time, though your rental loan could still face high interest rates and protection fees if approved.
With a credit score of 665, you might experience difficulty in trying to secure a loan or open a new credit card. However, specific low-credit loans and credit card options still allow you to pursue financial opportunities while you work to improve your score.
How to Repair a 665 Credit Score
Just as Fair and Very Poor credit scores are affected by unpaid bills and excessive credit accounts, Good, Very Good, and Exceptional credit scores are bolstered by accurate, on-time payments and low monthly balances.
And if you’re interested in definitive ways to repair your current 665 credit score, rest assured that there are concrete steps that can systematically increase your score beyond your current Fair ranking.
Repairing your credit score of 665 starts with disciplined spending and saving habits. Minimize unnecessary spending, especially larger impulse purchases. At the same time, dedicate healthy percentages of biweekly or monthly wages directly toward paying down debts. Start with loans with high interest rates.
Avoiding hard inquiries and new lines of credit whenever possible can also help preserve your existing credit score, and send your ranking in a positive direction.
At the same time, address loans in default and collections agency notices, and avoid bankruptcy. Your current credit score of 665 is only five points from a Good ranking; healthy spending and debt payment habits can have you there in a matter of months.
Credit repair often means trusting professionals. Many of the best credit repair companies can specifically help you address late payments, navigate civil judgments, and improve credit scores on an accelerated schedule.
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