Charge-off is still open...

[nmk94]

OK, so this thread is some backstory on where I'm coming from.

Bottom-line: I have three "closed" accounts that have balances. They are seen as $0 limit but with a balance. Combining them with my one account in good standing, my aggregate utilization is 285%.(!) Credit Check Total seemed to confirm this.

Brutal situation, but I could work with it. However...

I wanted my mortgage, auto, etc. scores to use as a benchmark for future comparison during rebuild, so I bit the bullet and bought the myFICO Score 3B Report. In reading the report, I had some new unexpected findings which blow the whole issue of my aggregate UT back open...and more.

MyFICO has me at 81%. How is this possible? It took me a while to figure this out*, but what seems to be happening is this: the three closed accounts on which I'm carrying balances are not seen as closed. But on top of that, there is a charged-off account that is still being treated as open (Nordstrom credit card).

It's like a zombie account, that even though it is charged-off, it keeps reporting to the CRAs. (They list the most recent report from Nordstrom as this month.)

So first question I guess is: could myFICO be wrong here and CCT be correct? By "correct", I mean the data being used to calculate my score, not which set of facts is correct (in which case it is CCT).

But if myFICO is correct, how do I get this charge-off to stop reporting? Do I go to the CRAs and dispute, or do I have to go the creditor?

---

*The way I figured this out was that I noticed only open accounts show a utilization figure on the 3B Report. All three of my "closed" accounts show the UT figure. But so does the charged-off Nordstrom account. Using all 5 accounts (1 open, 3 closed, 1 charged-off, but all showing UT numbers), I get 81%... exactly what myFICO shows as my aggregate UT.

[Anonymous]

The Nordstrom account is charged off, but does it still have a balance?  The creditor can report every month on that account if there is still a balance, the only way to get them to stop reporting is to pay it off.  I had a creditor who had stopped reporting my account as a chargeoff for 2+ years, and then all of a sudden started again...but once I paid it off they updated the balance and left me alone.

It is possible that CCT and MyFICO simply calculate their utilization differently, not necessarily that one is wrong and one is right.  Personally, I have always been under the impression that a closed account with a balance has a credit limit of $0, which is why the balance hurts you so much.  

[nmk94]

It's weird. I look at myFICO, CCT, and Credit Karma, and get different utilizations on all three.

myFICO - 1 open account, 3 closed accounts, 1 charge off still reporting - all being calculated as "open" (both balances and credit limits)

CCT - 1 open, 3 closed - the 3 closed accounts reporting with a $0 credit limit

CK - 1 open account only reporting

So my UTs are all over the place:

myFICO - 81%,

CCT - 286%

CK - 72%

Now, I'm basically ignoring Credit Karma as I see that as "fluff" (as CreditGuyInDixie refers to such stuff). So I have to wonder, how do EX/TU/EQ calculate UT? I guess it's the same method as CCT? If so, why does myFICO show it the way they do?

[Sandman771]

All of my charge-offs still report monthly balances. The three I paid show PIF w/ 0 balance. (hence the score increase). The two I am currently working on just update the balance each month. The only way for a charge-off to go away is for you to pay it in full or settle or for it to age off if I'm not mistaken. I'm just trying to PIF then work on a GW campaign to get rid of them. Or just let them age away. It does seem the farther off they are the less they hurt. 

[Revelate]

The numbers presented in the presentation are just what got coded into their algorithm, it has NO bearing on anything FICO.

Closed revolvers with balances to the best of our knowledge count as 100% utilized for the given amount (limit is ignored).

Closed revolvers with a CO status that is unpaid, double whammy as the correct reporting is CO every single month including most recent.  CO's suck.

If just talking FICO scoring, if you can't get the CO negotiated off (worth a try, check in Rebuilding), pay that first, then pay off any other closed revolver with balance, and then pay everything else off.  For least money spent, pay off highest APR (include any penalties for tradelines you're not current on with that CO status for example) and then pay off next highest etc.