Why Have My Credit Scores Changed (lower)

[was_a_guru]

About six months ago I checked my credit scores and found they had decreased by ~5-7%. They were all in the 800+ range previously. The only  financial changes that took place were that we sold our house, and moved back in to a rental unit that we owned and is paid off. So we eliminated the debt on our house and now have no other debt than a few credit cards which we have always paid in full monthly.

So why would our credit scores go down? Could it have anything to do with a change in zip code? Please enlighten me. Thanks.

[user5387]

Here are a few possibilities.

1.  An open installment loan (house) often benefits your scores.

2.  Utilization on your cards is calculated based on reported balances, and the fact that you PIF doesn't change this.  If you let relatively large balances report before PIF, then your utilization may get yanked around month to month, and likewise your scores.

3.  There are many variants of FICO and FAKO scores.  If you do a longitudinal comparison using different scoring models, then that comparison is basically meaningless.  For example, if the first score is TU 98, and the second TU 08, then they're probably not going to match, and one may be higher or lower than the other in an arbitrary way.