topic Re: Totally Clueless in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Totally Clueless

naf — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 01:45:07 GMT

Hey everybody .... Trying to "recover" from some credit misdeeds of the past and have literally paid thousands upon thousands of balances off plus waited patiently while several baddies went away. About This time a few months ago, my score was about 780 with $2-3500 still left to pay off on several cards. And I have paid most of that off so imagine my surprise when my score went DOWN 10 points. I'm at a loss here. It still says I owe $1800.00 over 10 cards - but that's not really correct - I've paid it down more than that. I guess they just haven't reported yet. But a couple of them seem like they NEVER report. Arrrgh. What am I doing wrong here? Somebody please help! :( Actively small amounts on each card. I would have thought scores would

Re: Totally Clueless

AndySoCal — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 03:31:27 GMT

Depending on when you paid the credit off or down they usually update the bureau shorly after your billing cycle ends. So that may account for some the problem. Any of the credit cards you are paying off cloased accounts? You are on the right track. Each month try to keep your credit utilzation under 10% if possible. Your credit utilization is your total total revolving account balances divided by your total credit limits. Some people pay there credit card before the statement cuts to assist increasing the score. I do that once every so often. Are any of the acocunts paid off bad accounts or just accounts with high balances?

Re: Totally Clueless

emptypockets — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 04:56:06 GMT

naf wrote:
Hey everybody .... Trying to "recover" from some credit misdeeds of the past and have literally paid thousands upon thousands of balances off plus waited patiently while several baddies went away. About This time a few months ago, my score was about 780 with $2-3500 still left to pay off on several cards. And I have paid most of that off so imagine my surprise when my score went DOWN 10 points. I'm at a loss here. It still says I owe $1800.00 over 10 cards - but that's not really correct - I've paid it down more than that. I guess they just haven't reported yet. But a couple of them seem like they NEVER report. Arrrgh. What am I doing wrong here? Somebody please help! :( Actively small amounts on each card. I would have thought scores would

You may be getting dinged fro having too many cards with a balance. Even though you paid them, it will not be reflected in your scores until they show a paid on your report. Some creditors are notoriously slow with their reporting to the creit bureaus.

Re: Totally Clueless

marty56 — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 10:55:18 GMT

GE is slow to update zero balances.

Re: Totally Clueless

GregB — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 15:44:22 GMT

"Several Baddies" and a credit score of 780. Not likely. I am guessing you are looking at some FAKO score that is irrelevant anyway.

What "credit score" ????

Re: Totally Clueless

naf — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 20:47:33 GMT

Thanks all for your responses and to answer the questions put to me .... - no acts are closed and none have really high balances - the highest is about $1000. - yes, it says I have too many acts with balances but they are low balances. Why does it matter, for instance, if I owe $500 on one acct verses $100 on each of five accounts? I don't understand the problem ... The amount owed would still be the same - the 780 score was from myfico was not a fako score. I did have several baddies but they have fallen off thus my score going to a fairly respectful 780 before plunging 10 points. This is so frustrating to me since I have no late payments and have paid balances off ... Total owed over 10 cards is roughly $1500 and I didn't think that was so bad but the reporting agencies seem to disagree. Arrrgh. :(

Re: Totally Clueless

emptypockets — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 02:15:27 GMT

The FiCO scoring formula doesn't like to see more than half of your accounts reporting a balance, no matter what the balance. With the 50%, they are including mortgages, and installment (I.e. auto loans). So if you have a car loan, and a mortgage, and 10 credit cards, no more than 4 of your cards should show a balance ( for a total of 6 accounts - 50%, with a balance). This is a situation where time will cure the problem. Since you only owe $1800, as the balances on the cards go to zero, your score will bounce back.it is very irritating, but remember, the credit game is a marathon, not a sprint. Your score WILL go up and down as you live your life, and use your credit.

Re: Totally Clueless

naf — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 09:20:09 GMT

Well I have paid mortgage off and paid car loan within a year so I don't have those to pay. Problem is with the others CCs I have some bills to immediately pay to CCs such as the cell phone or car insurance. So I guess I need to cancel those payments and put them all over 2-3 cards. Any idea how much my score could go up if I did this. - kept balances confined to 5 or less cards? Thanks for your help! ;)

Re: Totally Clueless

GregB — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:02:22 GMT

Look at page 2 of your EQ FICO report: "understanding your score". It will show items hurting your score. I assume "You have too many credit cards carrying balances." is listed.

Reduce the number of accounts with balances until that falls off the list or moves to the bottom.

If your EQ FICO is above 760 with all those accounts showing balances, this is mostly a waste of time unless you just want to play around with maximizing your score for fun.