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Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

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Anonymous
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Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

On Feb 18, 09 the myfico simulator reported a projected increase in my Equifax Fico score from 655 to a range of 722-740 if I paid down at least $22,000 of my total revolving debt of $24, 795.00.  This is how my credit profile looked on Feb 18:

 

Total revolving debt, on four credit cards: $24, 795.00

Collection Accounts: none

Public Records: none

Equifax Fico score: 655

 

So I paid down all $24, 795.00 of balances on my credit cards by Feb 26.  As of Mar 4, all these cards had reported the new balances to Equifax.  It is now Mar 8, and my Equifax score showing in Scorewatch has gone up to a mere 682. How much longer before the anticipated range of 722-740 shows on my Scorewatch?

 

My credit profile as of today looks like this:

 

Total Revolving Debt on four cards: $72 (out of a credit limit of $33.2K)

Collection Accounts: None

Public Records: None

Equifax Fico score: still only 682

 

Is the above balance of $72 a big deal? The simulation performed on Feb 18 said pay down $22k. I paid down more than $24K. No other changes have happened to my credit report-- all the other loans are current, and no new accounts have appeared or fallen off. Is this just a question of waiting a few more days for Scorewatch to reflect the new, promised score? How much longer? Or should I accept by now, Mar 8,  that I will in fact not get up to the 720's?

 

Thanks. 

Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

Well, the sims aren't gospel, but I would certainly have expected better than that.

Is the 682 from a Score Watch alert, or did you pull a report here that went along with the score? If from an alert, it might have been generated before everything had updated. (There's a built-in lag for score updates via alerts.) If from a report pulled here, do all the accounts (except the remaining one) now show $0?

What do the positives and negatives say on screen two, both for the older report and the newer one?
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 2 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

Thank you for the quick reply.

 

Come to think of it, the 682 appeared on Mar 2 as a Scorewatch alert.  And the date I established everyone had reported by was Mar 4.  So, today being Mar 8, is a four day lag within the scheme of things? 

 

Thanks again.

Message 3 of 12
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

lol, a four-day lag is nuthin'.

SW checks more frequently for potential dangers to your identity (address changes, new inquiries, new accounts) than it does for factors that only affect your scores, such as changes in balances. And this is when it's working properly. So you might have a pretty good wait for the next update.

If you don't want to wait, or if you give up on an alert, you can pull a current FICO EQ score and report from your SW page at a discount. Do you know for sure that EQ has updated all your accounts? (For instance, from a separate credit monitoring service, or from EQ Credit Watch Gold.) The experience of most members here is that EX updates promptly, as within 24 hours of notification by the creditors, but TU and EQ tend to lollygag. It's possible that not everything is in yet.

This is why I miss the original TrueCredit so much. Smiley Sad It was great for letting you know when an account had updated to all three bureaus. I now have CreditSecure from AmEx, and it tends to be behind the real thing. Oh, well.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 4 of 12
marty56
Super Contributor

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

How many of the 4 cards are reporting a balance.  Try only 1 reporting a balance.
1/25/2021: FICO 850 EQ 848 TU 847 EX
Message 5 of 12
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

And I forgot to mention, if you haven't already, please be sure to change your target score to 682. Even then, something might slip through. The target score works best if you change it the very moment that you know your new score. SW won't alert you to balance decreases, so you'll need an accurate target score to get a follow-up, I think.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 6 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

Okay, if four days is within the normal waiting period, I won't worry.

 

As I learned in another part of the forums, I subscribed last week to the monitoring service creditchecktotal to see what's happenning with all three of my reports. That's where I'm getting the info that all my paid down cards have reported to Equifax as of March 4.  I have not pulled a new Equifax report from here (the myfico site) since Feb 18, when I did the simulation, but I will soon.

 

I stumbled onto this myfico website only 4 weeks ago and have learned a lot. (This is my first post.) A real help, eye opener, and resource, thanks to posters like you. Yes, just from the very short time I've been a subscriber of the other monitoring service, I noticed that three out of my four paid-down cards posted to Experian first, then TU, then Equifax.

 

I will wait 2-3 more days, and if Score Watch does not update my score via a score alert, I will pull a new Equifax credit report. 

 

Thanks

Message 7 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

Two are reporting a balance and two are at zero. Wamu is reporting a balance of $55, and Discover a balance of $17. Wells Fargo and Bank of Americal are zero.

 

I was surprised to see these little amounts for Wamu and Discover appear  on my online statements right the day after I paid the outstanding balances to zero. Both companies said they were finance charges, and there was no time to pay them down to nothing before their reporting dates to the credit bureaus.

 

As of today, these two small amounts totalling $72 are gone now (I paid them), and all four of  the cards should report at zero balances in the next cycle. I just hope my score will get to the promised land by then.

 

Thanks.

Message 8 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?

I tooled around the site and found how to set a target score. I have set it at 682. Much thanks.
Message 9 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Followed simulator's advice to get to 720, but no results?


@Anonymous wrote:

 

As of today, these two small amounts totalling $72 are gone now (I paid them), and all four of  the cards should report at zero balances in the next cycle. I just hope my score will get to the promised land by then.

 


This may not be your ideal situation. From what I understand, it's best to leave at least 1-2 cards reporting a total of 1-9% utilization to get your optimal score.

Message 10 of 12
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