What Is A Person’s Starting Credit Score?
Becoming an adult is filled with many first time experiences including the first time one applies for a loan. It’s common knowledge that when one applies for a loan their credit history and score is used to help determine whether they are approved or not. But what is the starting credit score for a young adult or someone that has absolutely no credit history?
Starting Credit Score
When a loan officer pulls the credit of a first time loan applicant the result might not be what you expect. Some might theorize that since the applicant wouldn’t have any negative marks on their credit they deserve a perfect score of 850. Others might think since they are brand new to the credit world they deserve the lowest score of 300. Still others might guess that a score of 0 is appropriate. In fact, all of these numbers are wrong. The credit score of someone who has no credit history is simply, No Score because no credit records can be found. This tells loan officers very clearly that they have no experience with handling credit.
Moving Along
When someone is approved for their first loan, it is reported to the credit reporting bureaus giving them the beginnings of their credit score. Their credit score is now reported as, “Too new to rate.
First REAL Starting Credit Score
After six months they will be assigned their first hard score, usually somewhere in the middle of the possible range of 300-850. If payments were made on time, it will trend a little higher. If not, the score will trend lower.
Moving Forward
For young credit scores, every payment is extremely important. The formulas don’t have a lot to work with, therefore every on time payment helps significantly in a positive way. On flip side, every late or missed payment impacts the score negatively.
A person’s starting credit score may not be what you had expected. It takes awhile for it to be established, but once a credit history begins every action counts, and there’s no starting over.
Finally, if you’re interested in getting your credit score, I like Credit Karma. They’ll give you a free credit score and free credit reports. Check them out if you get a chance.
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
I remember when I opened my very first credit card and then checked my score. Though it was decent (in the high 700’s) no one would give me a car loan because I had only ever had credit of about $1,000. It was an interesting time for me.
That’s really interesting! I had no idea that’s how your credit score starts.
I know some personal finance experts say you shouldn’t ever use credit, but having no score or a “too new to rate” could be a serious detriment. Not only can it affect your ability to get credit when you need it, but it can affect things like whether you get approved for an apartment rental and how much you pay in auto insurance.