topic Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 15:49:10 GMT

Why woul my score drop 81 points and the only activity I show is

1. Paid a collection off

2. Paid down credit card $160 with a new balance of $180 and limit of $2500

3. Paid down Student loan $75

4. Paid collection down $50

I was in the process of buying a house and now I am unable because of this and my preapproval is now out the window.

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 15:53:47 GMT

Where are you getting these scores?

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 15:59:51 GMT

From Credit Wise on my Cap1 card. I have MYFico but it has not updated yet, also credit Karma

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

thornback — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:05:08 GMT

Sorry to hear that..

First - just to be clear, you are monitoring your FICO scores (not Vantage), correct? That's an awfully big drop for FICO. If you are using Vantage, stop. Vantage does not respond to changes the same as FICO.

Assuming what you've stated are the only changes that have occurred on your reports:

Paying the derogatory (collection) account could have resulted in an update of negative info - specifically, the one you paid down but not off in full. That $50 payment could have caused in an update of a new negative balance - resulting in additional dings (tho not that large) to your score because the updates make the collection appear more recent. Did you try negotiating a pay-for-delete (PFD) with the collection agencies before paying them?

The paid in full collection, credit card & student loan pay downs would not cause your scores to decrease like that.

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:07:09 GMT

I am monitoring both Vantage with Credit Karma and Fico with MyFico.com, I am not sure what Credit wise uses

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

thornback — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:08:04 GMT

CreditWise and Credit Karma are Vantage scores, not FICO. Ignore them. Only use those sites to monitor report changes / updates - not scores.

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:08:58 GMT

You should only pay attention to what a credit monitoring service (CMS) says about your scores if the scores it gives are FICO scores. Non-FICO models can behave wildly differently from FICO models -- and lenders do not use them for decisions.

And even if the scores from a CMS are indeed FICO scores, you need to ask yourself whether your lender will be using this particular model. For example, it sounds as though you have the myFICO Ultimate CMS. It will likely give you updated FICO 8 scores in the next 3-4 days. But these are not your mortgage scores, and again the FICO 8 model can behave very differently from the FICO mortgage models.

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:10:08 GMT

Is there any other sites you recommend to get the 3 Fico scores? I am not sure when my score will update on MYFico.com

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:12:11 GMT

Do you have the $30/month version of myFICO Ultimate, or the one that costs $40/month?

When was the last time you got a full 3B report from myFICO Ultimate (with roughly two dozen FICO scores)?

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:15:05 GMT

I have the $40 subscription and just started it right before thanksgiving

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:15:17 GMT

When was the last time you got a full 3B report from myFICO Ultimate (with roughly two dozen FICO scores)?

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

thornback — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:15:58 GMT

You need your mortgage scores. MyFICO is the best resource for those for all three bureaus. CreditCkeckTotal.com will give you all 3 FICO8 scores (but not FICO mortgage scores) for a $1 / 7-day trial.

You can purchase a one-time report from myFICO - just make sure it's the one that includes your mortgage scores (I think it's the Ultimate 3B but I'm not positive - you'll need to confirm that).

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:17:52 GMT

I have only one 3B report from 11/21 when I started the account.

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:17:53 GMT

Looks like you edited your last post to answer both my questions. The $40 subscription gets you the full 3B report every 30 days. So add 30 days to the date you last got your report and that is when you will get the next one (which will include your mortgage scores).

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 16:20:56 GMT

As other commenters have mentioned you can purchase an additional 3B report for $60 which will be based on whatever data is in your reports at the moment you buy it.

https://www1.myfico.com/products/fico-scores-one-time-credit-reports

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

trusty — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 21:30:34 GMT

As far as I can remember, paying off collections does not absolve the derogatory ding from their existence.

This is one of the flaws of credit scoring. It only is designed to determine worst case scenario risk evaluation. So, it's not designed to reward coming back from the depths of debt.

It can only take into account whether or not you have a collection showing up on your reports... regardless of whether it is paid.

Which is why you have a whole community of consumers that try to offer advice on how to set up, "pay for delete," settlements; or dispute information, based on technicalities... so that items that hurt your score get stricken from your reports, in total.

Unfortunately, you've just learned that paying off a collection not only doesn't help, but it strengthens its grip on veracity; because, victims don't pay off debts that they didn't owe. They dispute them.

This is essentially the first rule of credit repair. Don't pay derogatory items, without first figuring out how to get them off of your reports. It's so counter-intuitive to common sense, but it's how to take control of your financial history.

A costly and time-consuming lesson you have just learned.

Now, there are practical reasons why one must settle debts... usually to obtain a large loan, or to get a job, or to obtain a security clearance; which requires no outstanding debt.

Regardless, credit scoring is largely designed to ignore any johnny come lately payments, to satisfy old debts. Which is tough, because people want to be rewarded for catching up... or for just having the commitment to satisfy their obligations.

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 22:14:26 GMT

I was unemployed for a long time and unemployment gave me the run around, since I got back to work full time I have been working on repaired the damage. I sent pay fro delete letters to each of the collections I paid off and no one would accept them. Maybe I should have sent a second one

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

RonM21 — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 23:00:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I was unemployed for a long time and unemployment gave me the run around, since I got back to work full time I have been working on repaired the damage. I sent pay fro delete letters to each of the collections I paid off and no one would accept them. Maybe I should have sent a second one

Welcome @Anonymous! Absolutley you can send the PFD letters multiple times. I have seen many people, including myself get collections that were paid deleted after multiple attempts. My theory is the worst that can happen is they keep saying no. But that one time, you may just get the right person willing to help you out. It is worth it for the help it does for your credit.

On your scores, all may not be lost just yet until you get the updated Ficos and see what they are. Then you can better evaluate from there.

Re: Massive score drop with only positive changes

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Dec 2018 02:11:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
From Credit Wise on my Cap1 card. I have MYFico but it has not updated yet, also credit Karma

Others have already commented on this, but your CW and CK scores are meaningless. Unless you FICO scores dropped 81 points, I wouldn't be concerned.