[BIGBOPPER]

My partner has finally paid off her house this month. Yay! What I am curious about, is that now that she is no longer in debt, and in fact paid the note early, will her credit rating go up?
We are not thinking about re financing or anything like that, but I know that her car insurance is based on her credit score, and so is her credit card. It would be neat if she could re-negotiate those rates, and save some money there.
Thanks in advance.

[ebaines]

Yes, her credit score should indeed go up, as her debt has been reduced. However, if her principal balance was already pretty low before paying it off then there may not be too much of an impact. Also, it may take a few months to hit her credit report.

Also, although you don't mention this, if she has a home equity line of credit open this will reduce her score, even though she may not have borrowed any money against the line of credit. People are often tempted to open a line of credit "just in case," but it can hurt your credit score.

[BIGBOPPER]

She does not have the equity opened. She owed about 6 grand on the note, when an insurance settlement from hurricane Wilma finally went through, leaving her with a final payment of about $350. But I do see your point. So she should give it a couple of months, do the free credit report thing and then call the credit card company and the auto insurance company?