I guess I shot myself in the foot

[gidget]

I started making payments on my school loans which were in deferred status.  Once my school received payment, they reported my two accounts as "pays on time" as well as the deliquencies I had from last year.  Before I made these payments, my school had not reported my accounts to this CRA.  I got notification from Scorewatch today that my FICO score dropped 36 points because of this.  I guess I should have left my account in deferred status.  I was just trying to reduce debt and improve my score.       . 

[Anonymous]

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gidget wrote:

I started making payments on my school loans which were in deferred status.  Once my school received payment, they reported my two accounts as "pays on time" as well as the deliquencies I had from last year.  Before I made these payments, my school had not reported my accounts to this CRA.  I got notification from Scorewatch today that my FICO score dropped 36 points because of this.  I guess I should have left my account in deferred status.  I was just trying to reduce debt and improve my score.       . 

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Lots of folks are having good success with GW letters especially when it comes to school loans...

don't give up there are plenty here who have been in your school loan situation so maybe you

will get a response soon..

Better to be paying and making an effort, then in a little time the letters will help....

[Anonymous]

So, is it merely that you are paying them that it has effected your scores or is it because you had been delinquent on them in the past and now the account is active again?  I ask because I have over $28K in student loans that are deferred until Jan. and worry that once I start paying again, all my good efforts will be fore-shortened.

[Anonymous]

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@gidget wrote:

I started making payments on my school loans which were in deferred status. Once my school received payment, they reported my two accounts as "pays on time" as well as the delinquencies I had from last year. Before I made these payments, my school had not reported my accounts to this CRA. I got notification from Scorewatch today that my FICO score dropped 36 points because of this. I guess I should have left my account in deferred status. I was just trying to reduce debt and improve my score. .

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sorry but this is typical....

Those late payments would have shown up as soon as a payment was made. You just caused to show sooner. They are required to update the cra's at least every 6 or 12 months i believe.

[Anonymous]

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wendy125 wrote:

So, is it merely that you are paying them that it has effected your scores or is it because you had been delinquent on them in the past and now the account is active again?  I ask because I have over $28K in student loans that are deferred until Jan. and worry that once I start paying again, all my good efforts will be fore-shortened.

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I do not know about student loans BUT  i would guess that deferred is not the same as LATE payments. Call them and ask.

[Anonymous]

Right, no deferred just means that I don't have to pay them right now.  So, gidget's score dropped because one the account showed activity, the delinquencies appeared. Right? But wouldn't they have appeared on the lates anyway? 

For example,

                                                                                    Days Late

Higher Ed       Open  Last report  OS Bal Mo. Pymt.  30/60/90
                      9/2001   6/2007       $15,642.00    $97   5   0   0

I'm not sure because my Student Loans don't show any lates, the above is just an example.

[gidget]

Yes, I had deliquencies but for some reason my university only reported my accounts to one CRA.  My loans have been in deferment since a few days after my last deliquency.  They reported my accounts and late payments immediately to one CRA but for some reason didn't report anything to the other.  And that other CRA was my only "good" FICO score.  So, when I started making payments in good faith, even though I was still eligible for deferment, my school decided to report that I was making payments.. but I guess had to include both entire accounts and my late payments from before.  I should've remained in deferment status especially because I am currently unemployed.  I thought I was doing the right thing.  **kicking myself**  I think I'll try calling my school but I imagine they'll just say I was lucky they didn't report me sooner.  Seems like the harder I try, the worse it gets.  My score has done nothing but drop, drop, drop since I started confronting all this and working on it.  My scores were so much higher when I first ordered my reports.  Odd.