How could my TU score go down?

[susanhannah]

I check my credit scores every three months.   My FICO score for TU dropped 25 points from 724 on 12/2/08 to 699 today, 2/21/09.  I have no balances on cc.  In December I had five small balances on my cc, all under 10% utilization.  I paid my cc balances off in December thinking it would raise my FICO  scores.  AE is still showing a $316 balance.   Even though they have not reported the balance paid off, they my account current which it has always been.  I have no late payments.  I have no collections, public records, or inquiries.  My CL's are all still the same.  In other words, the only thing that has changed is I have less debt.  How can my TU score be lower?  Equifax is the same now as it was in December - exactly.

Also why can't I get Experian anylonger through my.FICO.com

Thanks,

Susanhannah 

[llecs]

I'd compare the reports side-by-side and figure out what is different. Look for small stuff like new accounts, updated accounts other than your CCs, look for missing accounts, look for date changes, new lates, inquiries, etc.

Where did you pull your report from in December?

Next time try to have small balances on 1/2 of your CCs. You may see an increase.

EX is no longer a team player. They no longer allow consumers to access their FICO score. There is a board dedicated to this somewhere.

[susanhannah]

I received them both from myFiCO.  There is absolutely nothing different except I have zero balances now where there were balances in December.

[llecs]

Some have reported drops when their balances are all at $0 when compared to having some report a balance. You may have to play around to see what works and what doesn't. Some report better results with half at $0 and the other half at $20 or so. If you ever have any future results, post back. Some of us like to read about stuff like this.

[Junejer]

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susanhannah wrote:

I received them both from myFiCO.  There is absolutely nothing different except I have zero balances now where there were balances in December.

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It would be my opinion that there must be some small thing that is different. If AE is still showing a balance, then your util isn't 0%, therefore, you are not getting dinged for that. Check out the current status field on each of the reports to see if there is anything different on there. Did you lay them out side by side?

[susanhannah]

I looked at the reports wih an extremely fine tuned eye.  The only difference was in December I had five cc with the following balances -  $316, $207, $123, $175, $342.   I have paid all of them and none are showing any balances.  AE is still showing the $316 balance even though it has been paid.    I can't understand the discrepancy.  My credit cards combined have a $45K in limits.  I cannot believe a $316 balance on one would drop my FICO score with TU.

By the way, how long until AE disappears to a $0 balance?

Thanks,

Susanhannah

[Red1Blue]

Any possibility, may be re-bucketing could have happend?

Message Edited by concorduser on 02-22-2009 05:23 PM

[Anonymous]

Amex usually reports a month later than the other cards. 

On screen 2, understanding your score, are the factors different at all? 

I guess the best I can say is that we know that payment history, new credit and amount owed can't be the culprit. So that leaves two factors:

Length of History - Have you ever closed an account that may have dropped off your report? Did your average age of accounts or the age of your oldest account tick up a year in the past few months? That may have rebucketed you.

Credit Mix: Did you pay off an installment loan, like a car or mortgage recently?

[susanhannah]

I do not have any installment loans or a car loan.  I paid for my car in cash last January 2008.  Nothing is different.  No change in the lenght of accounts.  That is why this is so perplexing.

Susanhannah