topic Check this alert on Equifax in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Check this alert on Equifax

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 15:48:57 GMT

Last month I got a hit on reports for getting all my bankcards reporting 0% utilization. I did not wanted to go to 0%, but since I am not planning to apply for anything I was ok with fixing it the next month. This month when Cap One reported my balance, it went from $20 to $415 with a % increase of 1915%. I am no mathematician, but this seems odd to me. Is this % increase normal? This Increase came with a 10 points deduction on Equifax. Equifax went from 706 to 796.

The Cap One CC has a CL of $5500 and its reporting $415 now. Tried to post a pic of the alert, but dont know how to.

Re: Check this alert on Equifax

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:44:41 GMT

If you add 395 to 20 you have 415. Divide 395 by 20 you get 19.75. Multiply 19.75 by 100 you get 1975. That was the real increase in the alert not 1915. lol I was confusing the alert with Utilization. So the alert is fine, Im the one that is wrong. You see why some of us get in financial trouble?

Re: Check this alert on Equifax

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 17:31:05 GMT

My comments in blue below. Hope they help! Best wishes...

@Anonymous wrote:
Last month I got a hit on reports for getting all my bankcards reporting 0% utilization. I did not wanted to go to 0%, but since I am not planning to apply for anything I was ok with fixing it the next month.

Good idea. So your CCs last month were all reading $0 -- right?

This month when Cap One reported my balance, it went from $20 to $415 with a % increase of 1915%.

You say that this month your Cap One balance went from $20 to $415. The only way I know how to read that is that you are saying that last month your Cap One balance was $20 and this month it is now $415. (it went FROM x TO y.)

But earlier you said that last month all of your cards were reporting a $0 balance, which would have included the Cap One, yes? Can you clarify what your reported balances actually were?

Forgetting about that for a moment, though, let's assume that you have a card that last month reported at $20 and this month is reporting at $415. You seem puzzled by the alert that this balance has increased 1915% and you write:

I am no mathematician, but this seems odd to me. Is this % increase normal?

It sounds like you may need a little help understanding how percents work. Let's start with the $20 balance. If you were to have a 15% increase, that means you would multiply 0.15 times 20 and get $3. That's how much the balance would increase, so the balance next month would be $23.

If you had an 85% increase, you'd multiply 0.85 times 20 and get $17. That's how much the balance would increase, so the balance next month would be $37.

If you had an 285% increase, you'd multiply 2.85 times 20 and get $57. That's how much the balance would increase, so the balance next month would be $77.

So... if you had a 1915% increase, you would (you can do the math yourself this time). The only thing that puzzles me is that the percent that the alert gives is not exactly right. It's still reasonably close though. About a 20-fold increase.

This Increase came with a 10 points deduction on Equifax. Equifax went from 706 to 796.

You say that you experienced a 10 point deduction on Equifax, but then describe an 90 point increase on Equifax. I am unclear which one happened.

The Cap One CC has a CL of $5500 and its reporting $415 now. Tried to post a pic of the alert, but dont know how to.

Re: Check this alert on Equifax

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 17:19:47 GMT

Thanks CreditGuyInDixie for your reply. Please see my previous reply to my own thread. Sorry for wasting your time. The previous balance was $20 but combined with my other limits it was reporting 0%. Im not only bad at percentges, It seems I am also dyslexic lol. The score went from 706 to 696 and the % increase was 1975 not 1915. I was mixing that increase on balace with utilization. Thanks!!

Re: Check this alert on Equifax

Anonymous — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 17:32:01 GMT

Glad you figured everything out. Good luck!