Saw this on reddit today, thought it was worth a new thread. Another reason to always pay off your balance in full.
FTA:
Thanks to a recent change by major credit rating agencies, mortgage lenders can now look at whether you pay off your bill every month or keep a balance. That means home buyers who pay off their credit cards may earn an advantage when looking for a mortgage.
Historically lenders reviewed basic information such as your total debt and whether you were on-time with your payments when deciding whether to make a home loan. But they didn't know whether you were paying off your credit card or other revolving debts in full or carrying a balance month-to-month.
That changed in September, when two of the major credit rating agencies, Equifax and Transunion, began offering what's known as "trending data."
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a34e81b67db04e6e80e5373908e2ef69/credit-reports-mortgages-loans-get-update
