Drop in FICO score freak out post....

[Anonymous]

So I've worked really hard to get my credit to where it's at. My scores have been hovering around 720-730. In the last month I got a new Jag lease and opened a PenFed Plat Rewards Visa Siggy and did a BT. My PenFed account reported this morning with my BT $4,120/$5,000. With the new account and the util my EX dropped -33 points to 688. I know it will recover over time and when I get the balance lower but I'm kind of freaking out. -33 seems like a ton. I think I just need some reassurance from my FICO fam. Thanks everyone. Hope all is well.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
So I've worked really hard to get my credit to where it's at. My scores have been hovering around 720-730. In the last month I got a new Jag lease and opened a PenFed Plat Rewards Visa Siggy and did a BT. My PenFed account reported this morning with my BT $4,120/$5,000. With the new account and the util my EX dropped -33 points to 688. I know it will recover over time and when I get the balance lower but I'm kind of freaking out. -33 seems like a ton. I think I just need some reassurance from my FICO fam. Thanks everyone. Hope all is well.

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Hi NobleFunk,

Your utilization is about 83% on the one card.  That is probably a part of the reason why your score took a drop- that and 2 new accounts.  And yes, in time it will recover, but try to get the utilization down below 30% when you can.  Also, what other typs of accounts do you have?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your reply. I know they will recover in time I just haven't taken a hit like this since I've been building my credit up. All my cards are in my siggy besides the PenFed Plat Siggy (haven't updated that one yet) and my overall util is around 20% between all accounts.

[Anonymous]

lol it's ok! I understand. 

I had a card report at 66% and dropped 29 points on Experian. I almost fainted even though I KNEW it would bounce back lol. 

Im down to 30% utility on that card and Experian is slowly creeping back up. It's now at 702. 

[happypill]

The two new accounts probably had minimal if any effect.  A few points probably.  The big factor or course is the high utilization on your Penfed card.  As I'm sure you know, that scoring impact will go away as soon as you pay the balance down; there are no lingering effects.

This kind of goes to the question that gets asked around here every so often, "why do people keep asking for CLIs if they don't use the limits".  It's just good to have the extra cushiion if you ever need to carry a balance for a time.

[sillykitty1]

I think it is more likely to be the lease.  IME, I have maxxed out cards repeatedly, but kept over all utilization low, and it barely affected my score, maybe a couple point drop.  But after each new mortgage I've opened, I've seen a 20pt or so drop, but has slowly rebounded.  In the factors affecting my score section, I always get this "Proportion of loan balances to loan amounts is too high"  As background, I have a thick file, and scores that hover around 800.

[Creditplz]

I had a large business expense I accidentally let report and it showed up as $12250/13300 score tanked about 35-40 points, went right back to normal after I put the card $0 the folllwing month.