Credit score lowered...again......

[Anonymous]

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@bicknar wrote:

OK,  For number one, since you only have 2 accounts and both have ballances That would be a negative. 

For number 2, Even though it's the same company it's a new card.  Can be a ding

Number 3.  Not sure what your Credit Limit is on the credit card, however you will want to keep it under 30% utilization and optimally under 10% otherwise it will be a negative factor.

For how things went...  it sounds like you closed the card and then opened another.  If this is the case, you may have inadvertantly decreased your age of accounts which would be a negative as well.  You will want to check your CR to see if the old card is listed as closed or as lost/stolen.  If it's lost/stolen it may actually help your score even if it looks bad to the eye.

Since it seems that you are in good standing with the CC company, you may be able to just call them and discuss the situation if it's closed and ask that thy change the account status to lost/stolen.  However there may be more folks on these boards with more experience with the positives and negatives of doing so.

If you could post the current status of the old and new cards, including date opened.  Credit Limit.  Current Balances and compare to see if they have the same payment information posted to them that would be able to help pin down exactly where the negatives come into play.

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OK...just read my report from FICO...CC company reported  30% utilization...which is strange because my statement says $0.00 ...So I guess I need to know how often the CC Utilization is reported and/or what day of the month.  I suppose this means I should pay my bill before making a purchase.  Also, the card I had cancelled because of concern over possibly being hacked online says it is reported as lost or stolen.. not what happened.  So...do y'all think I should take the time to ask the CC Co. to re-report the status?  Also. I notice there's an inquiry from AT&T .... When you pay by CC to add phone minutes  obviously AT&T makes an inquiry....so I usually pay cash...SOOOO...how long does this inquiry stay on my report??.  NOT FAIR>>>Also shows three inquiries fron Nov/2009 that the car dealer made shopping for loan rates.....NOT FAIR...AGAIN... OH WELL....nice sunny day here......

[bicknar]

Yup that utilization would do it.  And no you don't have to pay before you buy, just before it posts.  I don't know your credit limits but for math purposes.  Because I hate math.  Say you have a credit card with a 0 balance and a 100 limit.  You buy a shirt for 30 bucks on the card.  The credit card company posts that you have 30 on their and bang you are almost 1/3 the way through your credit.

The credit card companies post on whatever schedule.  However if you wait for the bill to come in, it will probably post to your report before you pay the balance down.  But say you buy that same shirt then shoot 30 over to the credit card right after, chances are your balance will be 0 before it posts.  You can probably find out from your credit card co. when they do their posting to even help out.

Optimally in the long run, having more cards with higher credit limits will allow for charging and paying when bills come in without having to constantly be preemptive about the postings, but for now with one card it's just better to pay asap.  avoid any charges and interest that way too. 

About the lost or stolen card, if it was "hacked" online, that is the same as stolen.  So the reporting is OK and actually may be helping your score if they are counting the limit on that card.

I agree that is not fair.  I wouldn't think that AT&T would have to do a pull if you are pre-paying for minutes.  You are purchasing them outright right?  Car shopping.  No worries, all three should only count as one as it was all in a short time period.  After about 1 year an inquiry shouldn't hurt you much either. 

[Anonymous]

Thx bicknar....Yes...I know most of what you're saying...my top-most peeve is charging an amount and then i's reported before I even get a statement, which is what happened in this case..... and it looks as though I'm in arrears...which has NEVER been the case....

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@bicknar wrote:

Yup that utilization would do it.  And no you don't have to pay before you buy, just before it posts.  I don't know your credit limits but for math purposes.  Because I hate math.  Say you have a credit card with a 0 balance and a 100 limit.  You buy a shirt for 30 bucks on the card.  The credit card company posts that you have 30 on their and bang you are almost 1/3 the way through your credit.

The credit card companies post on whatever schedule.  However if you wait for the bill to come in, it will probably post to your report before you pay the balance down.  But say you buy that same shirt then shoot 30 over to the credit card right after, chances are your balance will be 0 before it posts.  You can probably find out from your credit card co. when they do their posting to even help out.

Optimally in the long run, having more cards with higher credit limits will allow for charging and paying when bills come in without having to constantly be preemptive about the postings, but for now with one card it's just better to pay asap.  avoid any charges and interest that way too. 

About the lost or stolen card, if it was "hacked" online, that is the same as stolen.  So the reporting is OK and actually may be helping your score if they are counting the limit on that card.

I agree that is not fair.  I wouldn't think that AT&T would have to do a pull if you are pre-paying for minutes.  You are purchasing them outright right?  Car shopping.  No worries, all three should only count as one as it was all in a short time period.  After about 1 year an inquiry shouldn't hurt you much either. 

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[bicknar]

Agreed,

In a perfect world for us the blances posted on the CRs would be posted at the same time we received our billing statements.  Or to even be fair to the CC companies, when the statements get mailed out.  However since this is not the case the best we can do is mitigate the possible damage to ourselves,   By having the knowledge on how this works it enables us to either pay before the bill arrives or increase the amount of credit and accounts that we have so that minor charges create a positive scenario instead of a negative.

Good luck,

A

[Anonymous]

Credit Score is now.....773...... in ONE jump..... same reasons given as were given for the drop......my one loan (car) is one year old in Nov....will be waiting breathlessly for a Dec. CS...

[Anonymous]

Amen to that.  We should push our legislators to revise the credit laws.  Usury has become legal and is destroying families and businesses.  Wish we could all come together, form a PAC and push for reforms. 

[marty56]

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@Anonymous wrote:

ericdj, the whole credit industry is the biggest scam around...dangling credit scores in front of us to maximize the amount of money we spend on credit...too little spent and they ding you, too much spent and they ding you...the whole thing should be illegal. 

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Once you learn the rules, it is easy to play and even win in the credit game.  Some recommend that you don't play at all (Dave ramsey) but most of us here have to at some point.  You can take advantage of 0% puchases, cash back and points, and even max out your CC, and still remain FICO score friendly.  Yes CCCs still play games but an informed credit user can avoid or at least mitigate the effects.