mrstuart wrote:
...Also is there generally a better time of the month (such as month end) to pull a score or does it not matter?
Take a look at the statement dates on all your accounts, and see when they fall.
Almost every lender updates your reports on the date that your statement posts (falls, drops, etc.) They report the balance due that is on that statement. Even if you pay it the next day, your reports will show what was owed.
Known exceptions to the report dates:
- HSBC/ Orchard bank cards report on the last business day of the month, reporting the balance that you had at that point. (I write bank cards, because my HSBC Best Buy store card updates on the statement date.)
- American Express reports the balance due on your statement, but they don't report this until four weeks later. So if your statement drops on the 15th, they don't send the info to the CRA's until the 12th of the following month. Then several days later, on the 15th again, they start all over. This is a real pain if you're trying to control the amounts reported to the bureaus.
Many CCC's will change your dates if you ask. However, they're used to people asking if they will change the
due dates, not the statement dates, so you may have to get out the calendar and do some counting to make this work out for you.
About half my accounts update between the first and the fifth of each month. Some of the rest clump around the 15th-18th, and the rest are just whenever. If you haven't requested specific dates, it's going to depend on when you opened each account.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
