FHA is tightening their lending requirements and very shortly raising down payments from 3.5 to 5 percent. Minimum FICO scores have gone from 580-620 and buyers are feeling the crunch. Credit card companies are lowering credit limits thus creating higher debt to limit ratios which in turn lowers FICO scores. Seems like a huge issue that interest rates and available balances can be controlled by credit score while a customer has an active account, and even if they pay on time. For example, a client with a 5k line of credit with a balance of 25oo is at a 50% debt ratio, if the company lowers their limit to 3000, their ration shoots up to 83% which will negatively impact a FICO, thus hurting the consumer when trying to apply for a mortgage or other credit. There is no incentive for credit companies to help you stay credit worthy, it is more profitable to hurt your scores.