Score impact of going from 89% util to <10%

[llecs]

OK, nerd alert: I'm very curious as to what causes what and was able to obtain a consolidated loan for the purposes of paying off revolving debt. I'm posting here to track those score changes. I'll update this first post as changes occur.

ETA....I expect TU to increase to 760 and EQ to 750. I guess I'll know by the end of the first week in Aug.; that's when my last CC w/ a balance reports. One will report a small balance to offset any loss from all $0s.

TU:

7/1 – 667 FICO – 89% util, 11 of 20 TLs reporting balances, revolving balances @ $18,626

7/8 – 682 FICO – 86% util, 9 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $17,621

7/15 – received consolidation loan for $14,325 after lender’s costs.

7/20 – 680 FICO – 79% util, 8 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $16,232 (still don’t know why FICO dropped)

7/24 - 682 FICO - 74% util, 7 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $15,191 (BofA updated on TU to $0)

7/28 - 690 FICO - 47% util, 6 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $9,865 (Discover & WF updated)

7/29 - 723 FICO - 27% util, 5 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $5,906

7/30 - 732 FICO - 14% util, 5 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $3,359 (Amex finally updated the balance to July 15's statement amount)

8/7 - 735 FICO - 10% util, 4 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $2,537 (one update to go)

8/8 - 758 FICO - 3% util, 3 of 20 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $1,133

DONE with TU! While Amex (Green) doesn't factor into util for EQ one bit, it does for this version of TU (TU98). So, that why you see 3% vs. 1%. Macys doesn't factor at all because of their non-reporting of CLs, and the only other balance is the Discover at $25.

EQ:

7/1 – 652 FICO – 86% util, 11 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $18,626

7/7 – 656 FICO – 83% util, 10 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $18,103

7/15 – received consolidation loan for $14,325 after lender’s costs.

7/15 – 659 FICO – 82% util, 9 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $16,232

7/22 – 668 FICO – 82% util, 8 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $13,681 (the balance decrease was Amex, hence the no-change in util, but the increase could have been as a result of 1-yr anniversary of 3 TLs? IDK. I did see large unexplained gains in May.

7/23 - 673 FICO - 75% util, 7 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $12,644

7/25 - 695 FICO - 59% util, 7 of 21 reporting balances (Discover updated, but w/ $25 in interest instead of $0), revolving balances @ $10,201

7/27 - 719 FICO - 40% util, 6 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $7,318

7/28 - 763 FICO - 14% util, 5 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $3,359

8/6 - 774 FICO - 9% util, 4 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $2,537

8/7 - 777 FICO - 1% util, 3 of 21 reporting balances, revolving balances @ $1,133 

DONE! The $1,133 represents Amex Green and Macys store, both of which aren't factored into util. The only balance that is factored that is reporting is $25 on Discover for left over interest charges after the paydown.

FAKO Comparison (like I care…for entertainment purposes only):

TU:

7/6 – 637 FAKO TU PLUS; 632 TU TransRisk via CK

7/15 - 637 FAKO TU PLUS; 658 TU TransRisk via CK

7/23 – 646 FAKO TU PLUS; 684 TU TransRisk via CK

7/24 - 646 FAKO TU PLUS; 684 TU TransRisk via CK

7/27 - 668 FAKO TU PLUS; 695 TU TransRisk via CK; 498 TU CC-enhanced TransRisk via Juniper

7/29 - 693 FAKO TU PLUS; 726 TU TransRisk via CK; 587 TU CC-enhanced TransRisk via Juniper

7/30 - 693 FAKO TU PLUS; 730 TU TransRisk via CK; 638 TU CC-enhanced TransRisk via Juniper

8/7 - 698 FAKO TU PLUS; 743 TU TransRisk via CK

8/8 - 705 FAKO TU PLUS; 751 TU TransRisk via CK; 690 TU CC-enhanced TransRisk via Juniper

EQ:

7/6 – 651 FAKO EQ PLUS

7/15 – 651 FAKO EQ PLUS

7/23 – 651 FAKO EQ PLUS

7/25 - 667 FAKO EQ PLUS

7/27 - 673 FAKO EQ PLUS

7/28 - 698 FAKO EQ PLUS

8/6 - 698 FAKO EQ PLUS

8/7 - 710 FAKO EQ PLUS

[vanillabean]

I don't know what a consolidated loan is, but it looks like you have a well focused plan!

I assume you got a better interest rate and perhaps even didn't have to close any cards?

[fused]

Ilecs, I want to play along with you. Can you refresh our memories on your baddies, credit mix, length of credit and AAoA? After we know this stuff, we can start wagering. LOL!

[llecs]

Fair enough...

TU:

3 yr AAoA

oldest TL is 9.3 yrs ago

20 TLs reporting: 15 are active and open CCs (Amex charge, store charge, Visas, MCs, etc.). No reported loans. The closed are PIF loans or CCs.

1 inquiry from last November.

The only baddie is a redeemed repo that is factored in as a baddie. It lists "1" with a red flag for "Accounts with negative indicators.

EQ:

3 yr AAoA

oldest TL is 13.5 yrs old

21 TLs reporting: 15 are active and open CCs (Amex charge, store charge, Visas, MCs, etc.). No reported loans. The closed are PIF loans or CCs.

6 inquiries in past year w/ the last being last December and 4 of the 6 being in last July.

The only baddie is a redeemed repo w/ the last late at 5.5 yrs old, but FICO isn't scoring this. "Great" is my payment history and there's no red flag and says "0" for "Accounts with negative indicators".

I'm pretty certain as to my score, but here's a tip. Last year my util had hit a long-while low of 18%. TU hit 740 and EQ hit 720. Added TLs, higher util, and DSNB accounts (lost $7k in CLs) didn't help.

[llecs]

BTW, I'll pull CCT daily and as I see a change in balances, as they report the new statement balance, then I'll come back here and pull a new report and post the results in my org. post.

As an FYI, BofA is set to update on TU any moment. Wells Fargo and Discover will start to update probably tomorrow. PNC will start to update by Monday. My CapOne will update around the first. Macys by the 5th. Juniper by the 7th. Amex hasn't updated for TU in over a month. Amex doesn't really factor into EQ's util and isn't scheduled to update until Aug. 15. Once CapOne updates, my util on paper would be 9.8% assuming I don't pay Junny or Macys (which I will when due).

ETA....7/24: Discover and WF's statements cut. Discover ended up reporting a small balance due to the interest in the tune of $25 and already reported to EX.

[fused]

I'm wondering how many points you'll lose for the new account (loan) reporting. I'm sure it will impact your AAoA, but how much. Other than that, I think scores around 750 is likely. 

[llecs]

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@fused wrote:

I'm wondering how many points you'll lose for the new account (loan) reporting. I'm sure it will impact your AAoA, but how much. Other than that, I think scores around 750 is likely. 

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I'm guessing, if it reports, a 20-25 pt loss. However, to date, Lending Club still has yet to report and they didn't hit me up with an inquiry (but did a soft the day I applied). Time will tell. The first due date is at the end of August. If it does report, then my 750/760 guesstimate would be off by that much.

If they do report, then my AAoA drops from 3.1 yrs to 2.9 yrs on both EX and TU (not bad place to be considering). If the open date is set at 7/1, then my AAoA reverts to 3 years in September. If 8/1, then I'd have to wait until October. For EQ, it goes from 3.5 to 3.4, so no impact.

Discover updated on EX this morning, but left a $25 balance from the interest. I guess I'll have to force a payment to the remaining if I want all but one to report a balance. Plus there's the issue of Amex too. It won't update until mid-August.

[fused]

Up to 25 points?? Yikes!!!! I was thinking 12-18, but you're smarter than me when it comes to this stuff. I still think you will hit 750 with TU and EQ.

[llecs]

Well, with 15 new TLs added within the past 3 yrs, I'd had some time to think about it. LOL. Hopefully the new TL reporting won't coincide with a balance update.

[llecs]

UPDATE...

I'm in the home stretch now with 3 TLs (well, really 2, because one is Macys with no CL listed) left to update. For the past many days I have updated the first post showing the changes to util in relation to changes to score. The three remaining cards are CapOne 822/1000 and that should update starting on Tuesday, 1460/1500 for Juniper and that should update starting the 4th. Finally Macys has a $600 balance and that should update on the 5th, but isn't factored into util. As of today, my util is less than 1% once everything reports with balances only on Amex and $25 on Discover.

As you can see, the scores went up by a fair amount. Despite TU dropping 75% to date, the increase was a lot less than I thought it would at 65 points. Now I'm not complaining any, but I thought the change would be more. Conversely, EQ went above and beyond. 111 points for 72% less in util is a lot more than I thought it would be.

I'll post a final update later this week.