What the....?!?

[Anonymous]

Ok, so this is wierd!! I requested a CLI on one of my cards (and got it, yeah!!). They did a hard pull yesterday. I just got a score alert from EQ that I had a score change...logged on and, sure enough, it changed by 3 points. BUT....it wen't UP!!!! I've been over every single account and can't find a single difference from my report 3 days ago to todays other than that INQ. Even checked to see if anyone reported since the last pull, giving an account another month of good history....no one has reported.  So.....any ideas?

Along the same lines, I understand INQ's hurt (supposedly....lol), but how many is too many? I have 3 showing on EQ, one from AT&T and two from the bank my CC is through, one for the approval and one yesterday for the CLI. Should I avoid apping for any others until some of those fall off? Or is 3 not a big deal? 

As always, thanks a ton for any and all input!! 

[haulingthescoreup]

A three-point drop for an inq sounds about right. Going from 2 to 3 inqs on EQ could easily have done it. Those with really high scores have seen much worse damage than that.

I'm not sure why you were expecting to see an increase. --?

If you show balances, your score might come back up when the CLI shows up, probably when your statement updates next. This would be a result of having a higher total credit limit. But even then, it depends on the percentage change. You don't get score improvements for every percentage improvement in util; just when it crosses into a lower range.

[Anonymous]

I wasn't expecting to see an increase....that's why I was so surprised! My SW said my score went UP, from 641 to 644. It said it was based on a recent change in my credit report, then listed the changes. The only thing it listed was in INQ. After a very careful review of my report from today vs. 3 days ago, that INQ is the ONLY thing that changed. Hence the surprise.

[haulingthescoreup]

Oh, duh me, I'm sorry, I read your post wrong, The apostrophe threw me.

Maybe you had a "birthday", where an account or baddie got older? Usually, it's when they turn a year old, but you can also see increases at 3 months, 6 months, and so forth. I've gotten to where I'm so aware of when something is due to age that I start twitching a few days before.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I didn't even see the apostrophe either!! Must be 'cause I've been twitching for almost a month...lol According to the FICO simulator my EQ should be getting close to 700 if my utl goes from 85% to less than 9%. So, I paid off one and paid the other down to 12% before this months statement cut (the day before the CLI). The one that's paid off has reported, the CLI'd one has yet to report, so now I'm REALLY twitching...hoping a recent payment after the statement date and the CLI are included, putting me at about 4%!!!!

So, enough about my emotional state....lol  Quick question about aging...does the account need to report to show another month of age, or is it based on some "line in the sand" passed at some time of month? I ask this because, according to todays report, no line has reported since the report from 3 days ago. So, could FICO still see one or more as having aged, or do they have to report for that to happen? 

[Anonymous]

Baddies - I have a couple, and they're aging quite nicely (most recent is 22 months, unless Chase relents and GW's, then most recent will be over 3yrs! Exactly what does FICO consider "recent" anyway?!?)

Birthdays - I only have one birthday in the 1st quarter. The CC that's paid off (they reported last week) was opened 3/08. Would that constitute a birthday since they've reported for 12 months? If so, that brings the question....why wouldn't the score have gone up last week when they reported. If this is the source of the bump, then might it be that EQ didn't recalculate the score until something "changed"...that change being an INQ? I know there's no accurate answer for this, but what range of bump should one expect to see when a TL reaches 1 year? 

[haulingthescoreup]

I wish I knew that!

I had a bunch of new accounts turn one year old in February. I got a huge score jump in TU at the very beginning of the month, even though there weren't any TU inqs. But both EQ and (presumably) EX didn't budge until the actual dates that they hit one year old. I say presumably in the case of EX because the birthdays began on the 18th, and EX pulled the plug on the FICO score on the 13th, so I'm left in limbo. At any rate, there had not been an EX score increase up to that point.

As to whether the formula knows the birthdate, or whether there has to be an update by the lender, I don't know.

Sorry, kind of a useless answer, other than to say that as always, things vary by CRA, and also probably by credit report and the phase of the moon!

[Anonymous]

I'm banking more on the "Phase of the moon" than anything else. lol Except....well....I did get a haircut today. So maybe that 3pt jump was due to a drop in my shampoo utl? At any rate...I'll take it!!!

Any insight into how many INQs are viewd as bad? I'm working on paying down my current car loan (from 14K to 2K in two months...I SOOO love overtime when travelling!!! lol) and hoping to buy a new car in the next 2 months...so, I don't want to harm my chances of getting approved for that. At the same time, I only have 2 cards, one with 2K limit and one now with 3K and would like to add a little headroom for business travel as well as rewards. 

Having said all that, I think I just answerd my own question...don't open any new CCs until after the car loan. lol