topic Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 15:28:27 GMT

For the 2nd time, my EX MF score drops after paying to $0. Not just a few points here...received a -17 pts score drop, taking me from 667 to 650. This is the 2nd time my EX score dropped after bringing account to $0..last time it was -3 pts which hurt me from "good" back down to "fair." As you can see on the screenshot, I never did get those 3 pts points back from the last time it happened.

M EXPERIAN "reported" changes...

Today... Paid $15 to $0 to KOHLS.... -17 pts
10/17 ... Received CLI from $1600 to $1800... 0 pts
10/17 ... (1) EX Inquiry in past 6 months (CapOne-approved for $3,000 on 10/18, but not reporting yet) ... 0 pts
9/29 ... Received CLI from $400 to $750 ...
9/29 ... Paid $9 to $0 to CapOne ...-3 pts.

Hoping some of your expertise can shed some light on what I am doing wrong. I am literally confused and discouraged at this point. Every time I am waiting for "positive" effects to report, EX throws me for a loop while I wait.

Am I missing something here? I have attached a SS w/notations of my most recent MF alerts. Thank you for any and every tips/reply to help me understand what is going on here.

Other changes not reporting yet:

My 10/17 CapOne app was approved for $3,000.
On 10/14 HSN approved for $950 on "SCT trick gone wrong" (was not an EX inquiry though).

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

simplynoir — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 15:39:56 GMT

While I imagine one of the mods will move this I'll answer this one.

Long story short is FICO 08 scoring models don't like it when you have $0 balances on all cards. For maximum scoring purposes it's best to have all but one card reporting a balance. And for the one card reporting a balance have it be <8.9% of the card's utilization. That should give you the best score for your credit reports.

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 15:54:44 GMT

Thank you.

My utilization is typically between 1-5% every month, with CapOne reporting between $5-15. However, happens Kohl's reported 3 days earlier than CapOne this month. CapOne will be reporting with at 1% in a day or 2.

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

simplynoir — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 15:59:56 GMT

If that's the case expect your score to go back up once that Capital One balance reports to the credit bureaus. I dunno it'll completely recover from the dip because the new CapOne account you got will perhaps affecting your AAoA but defintely will go back up.

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

JR_TX — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 16:04:42 GMT

AZEO / AZE1

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

simplynoir — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 16:07:18 GMT

For "newbies" it's best to explain these things rather than using acronyms which will confuse some.

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

AverageJoesCredit — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 16:11:21 GMT

Lol, oreo zztop JR

Simplynoir is correct. All cards to zero except 1 method.

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 16:21:15 GMT

Sorry to go off topic..which monitoring service is that you posted?

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 17:57:58 GMT

As soon as your Capital One reports a non-zero balance, you'll get back all the points you lost from having all $0 balances reported.

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 18:41:09 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
As soon as your Capital One reports a non-zero balance, you'll get back all the points you lost from having all $0 balances reported.

Ouch! MF alerts are killing my excitement I had for just receiving my new QS card yesterday.

I surely hope to get all those points back. Just got another alert... "your balance on one of your accounts has decreased by 100% -- $15 to $0" for both EQ and TU as well. Now my highest score just dropped from EQ 670 to 662 (-14 pts)...and my TU score dropped from 645 to 643 (-2 pts).

I am at my 1 yr mark since filing ch. 7...felt good to see 2 scores be in the "yellow/good" range. So kind of blows now to see the progress be undone from a $15 balance. lol.

Re: EX MF score dropped 17 pts for payment?

Anonymous — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 20:11:30 GMT

Keep in mind that alerts more often than not have nothing to do with the score change you are being presented with. It's a common misconception that the alert received is the reason for the score change.