Help! A 58 point drop on Equifax!! What did I do wrong??

[Anonymous]

I've been lurking on the boards for a while reading about everyones experiences and trying to learn, but now I need some expert advice. For the past couple of years I've been working on slowly rebuilding my credit from years of abuse. So I started with just working on paying a few things that I could off, and paying everything else on time, knowing that my credit was horrible and would take time to heal.

I havent worried too much about the score until now, but a couple weeks ago I went into rebuild mode and decided it was time to work on building it up, so I signed up for credit monitoring with USAA and my scores were: Experian 585, Equifax 610, and Transunion 568. I decided to take a leap and apply for another card to help rebuild. I'd been getting solicited by Capital One for a while, so went ahead and applied and was instantly approved for a $500 limit. I was so excited that  I couldnt believe it and decided to try for 1 more..I applied for a Walmart card and also was instantly approved for $150.

Problem is, today I refreshed my scores and the Experian went up 2 points, the Transunion remained the same, but the Equifax dropped all the way to 552!! I expected that i might get a slight drop, but I never dreamed I would get a drop like that. Credit monitoring doesnt have any alerts showing so I'm confused.

Currently on my credit I have 4 baddies of which 2 will drop from my report within 6 month (If I dont try to do a PFD first) other 2 I hope to do a PFD within the next couple of months. I have a Chase CC ($830 limit) with 4 years of no late payments but unfortunately high utilization (hope to pay that down soon) and about a year ago I opened a secured MC through USAA with a $750 limit which I've always paid on time and pay down whenever I can.

So what made my score drop so much? Any advice on how to best bring my scores up will be greatly appreciated.

[valley_man0505]

The first thing you should do is get a copy of all 3 reports and compare them side by side.  Obviously there is something going on with EQ that is not happening with TU and EX.  Until you know what that difference is, there really isn't any way for anyone to give good advice.

I would assume that the other scores will also drop in a similar fashion.  Keep in mind that when you open new accounts, they don't report immediately.  Sometimes it can take up to a couple months before they report.  Also, sometimes they will show up on one of your credit reports long before they show up on the others.  And, of course, sometimes accounts don't even show up with all 3 bureaus.

I also recommend getting FICO scores from the myFICO site.  I'm not familiar with teh USAA service, but I believe those are FAKO scores (especially since you can't even get a true EX FICO score anymore).  It will be a lot easier for everyone here to comment if you have actual true FICO scores from myFICO so that we all know we are "comparing apples to apples".

Good luck with your rebuild.  I stared my rebuild 3 years ago, and my scores were much worse than yours at the time (I was actually in the 400's about 5 years ago), so it can be done with patience.

[llecs]

Ditto. Ignore their scores. Their FAKO is called a "PLUS" score.

I would study EQ, but don't assume you lost points on your EQ FICO. I've lost large chunks like that on the same FAKO but even had instances of FICO going up at the same time. Now new accounts will likely drop your scores, but not likely by that much.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for setting my mind at ease a little bit.  I just pulled my credit reports 2 weeks ago, but I think the credit monitoring allows me to view them again once its fully active. Apparently it takes a few days to complete the enrollment.

But now I have another question. I had read on here that people really liked USAA Credit monitoring, but if its not the real scores should I switch? Sorry to seem so naive but I'm still wrapping my head around all this.

Also, I thought since I just opened 2 new accounts I shouldnt push it any further, but would I be better off taking a hit now and opening a couple more accounts and having them age or waiting a few months and then open another?

I really appreciate you guys and all your wisdom!!