Right now, American consumers need all the help they can get. Unemployment is high, foreclosures are increasing, and to make matters worse, many folks are seeing their credit scores fall faster than snow in a blizzard.
However, help may be on the way to Washington. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is demanding that FICO, the originator of credit scores, take steps to reduce harm to credit scores.
The NAR is hoping to lessen the negative impacts folks experience when banks cut their credit lines without warning. The group wants FICO to ignore this credit utilization rate when computing their numbers, or at least reduce the harm that it can cause to a consumer’s credit. When credit lines are reduced, with or without warning, an average score can see a 20- to 30-point drop.
“We’re seeing this across the country, and it is hurting people who are responsible users of credit.” Tom Salomone, broker-owner of Real Estate II, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “There’s absolutely no question these credit card and home equity line reductions are killing [homebuying] deals and arbitrarily raising interest rates on people.”
The NAR plans to push the legislation in Congress, but for many Americans, this relief may not come soon enough.
With the foreclosure crisis still ongoing, major credit bureaus and producers of 
The company’s latest effort is an attempt to help lenders better determine the creditworthiness of borrowers. The FICO 8 Mortgage score, which is now available from major credit reporting agencies, aims to reduce risks for lenders and investors in the volatile real-estate market.
Payments that are 30 days late on large loans can knock off between 40 and 110 points from a 
The latest FICO report shows that over 43 million Americans have 
