Does too much debt effect my FICO also or does it just effect my DTI?

Hi Jeremy,Having too much debt puts a downward pressure on your credit scores. This is especially true if you have a lot of credit accounts utilized near their maximum. As you shed debt--especially revolving debt--your scores increase provided that you are not closing or restricting current credit lines.Too much debt clearly affects Debt-To-Income ratios, but they are not connected, though both are important.

Your DTI is a factor of your income and expenses. So if you have a high amount of revolving bills, and you have a high income, you have more room to work with. If you only make 1000k a month and bills are 500, your DTI is 50% and then you cant fit more financing. But if you make 10k a month and your bills are 3k a month, you are at 30%, so you have more room to obtain more financing. General rule of thumb on credit, is you want to use your credit monthly, but not over use it. You want to have your balances less than 40% of the credit limit. Also, when you balance is 0, you are not using your credit and its better to carry a small balance and pay it regularly.

Any debt over 30% of your credit limit reduces your credit score and affects your credit score and DTI.