Riddle me this

[edselpdx]

I have ScoreWatch and have been monitoring for a few years. I hover around 760-805 in general--why the huge range? I have no idea, except that I will occasionally carry a balance over a month or so for cash-flow purposes. In mid-August, I applied through my CU for a 15 yr fixed refi on my home to go from a 30 yr fixed to a 15 yr fixed at a lower rate--essentially same cost per month, with 9 years of payments gone off the back end (not planning to move.)

My score on SW was 774 when the CU pulled my score. They pull only from EQ, and the score was spot-on at 774 when pulled by the loan officer. I was fully expecting a score decrease from the hard inquiry, but figured that I have room in my credit score to stay happy. On 9/4, I got a SW alert that my score had increased to 794. After I closed on the refi in early Sept, I applied for an AMEX Gold Rewards (something I had been planning to do for the rewards anyway--haven't ever had one before and also haven't opened new credit except the refi in years.) I got an instant approval on the AMEX and rec'd my card in the mail. I believe AMEX pulls EX scores, which I don't have access to, although I did pull my annual free report (without a score) from them to make sure there were no surprises on it before applying, and there weren't.

So, in the last 6 weeks I have re-fi'd a 6-yr-old mortgage and gotten an AMEX Gold, and my score has gone UP by 20 points? I won't be particularly surprised or unhappy if my score takes a bit of a hit for this, but am mystified by it.

The ways of FICO scores are mysterious, indeed.

[AndySoCal]

Is the AMEX and refi Mortgage reporting  on credit report yet ?

[IOBA]

Good question...

What *might* have happened is your first mortgage reported being paid in full, while the refi and the Gold card were not reporting yet.   It sometimes takes a few weeks to a few months for the new mortgage and new card to start reporting.

Congrats on your refi and your gold card!

[edselpdx]

Oh, and I forgot... I also had an orthodontics office run a credit check for thier 0% financing option just after the mortgage closed. I have not pulled another full report, but I suspect you guys are right about the mortgages and AMEX not yet "showing" on the reports, or perhaps even the old one showing paid off. The paid mortgage was not showing paid on the free EX report (not score) that I pulled in early Sept, but neither was the new mortgage, as it had literally closed days before. I'll wait and see what happens, but am still puzzled by all of this.

Surely the "hard pull" from the mortgage officer's inquiry in August should have affected my score in a way other than up by 20. I never got a SW alert about a hard pull, but I was sitting in the office with her when she did it after asking my permission. She pulled an EQ report on the computer I could see and we went through it; I knew ahead of time that was the only report they pulled routinely. It was spot-on with the score/alerts I was aware of on SW. Is it possible that she could get the info she wanted with a "soft" pull? I seriously doubt that any lender (even my tiny, awesome one-office CU) does that.

This is a puzzling game, and luckily that's how I am able to look at it. I don't post much, but have learned much by reading the forums. Thanks to all.