A borrower has a FICO score of 610 out of a possible 850. 

David McNish is a fisherman working out of Gloucester, Massachusetts.  His income can be very variable due to his line of work but he earns a reasonable living to support himself and his wife.  They do not have an ostentatious lifestyle but a comfortable standard of living. His credit score is at present 610.

This score would be considered as Fair in this scale, where Very Good is the highest rating. A number of variables will affect the credit score. With 635, this borrower would be considered a medium to high risk by lending institutions that might conclude the borrower has had some major issues in the past and has not always adopted the best behavior when repaying outstanding loans. David has had odd periods when his income has dipped considerably and his repayments weren’t always on time.  

As a result of this credit score it would be difficult for the borrower to obtain the most attractive offers from lenders; the credit card companies particularly. A customer with this score will always have to pay higher fees and David would be no exception. The interest rates would be a bit higher than normal and he might have to make larger down payments on mortgages and any smaller unsecured loans. In addition, he may not be able to obtain high credit limits on cards or the loan amounts that he might need.

The most relevant factors affecting the score from this borrower’s credit report is the payment history. David is already servicing a substantial amount of debt, on which payments will have been missed on multiple accounts. Any prospective lender is going to seriously consider any future dealings with this borrower, as the possible costs of collecting debts will be much higher than a customer with a higher score. The borrower might also have a bankruptcy entry on their credit report and this information will stay on record for 10 years. 

Finally, the average age of the accounts in this report is seven years, which is at the lower limit for establishing a credit history and will be driving the score down. On the positive side, the borrower is not averaging more than 70% debt versus credit limit, which means David is not spending beyond his means.