topic Re: Impressive Score Drop in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 15:29:28 GMT

I'm impressed at the impact 9% can have, the three overlords really socked it to me for that one. I know that FICO has no memory of UTI and I can boost my score by AZEOing them, but I didn't figure it'd be that bad.

I went from aggregate 1% UTI to 10% and across the board dropped an impressive 30-34 points. I was expecting 5-10, maybe up to 15 by going from paying early to just paying statement in full. Experian was the one that hit the hardest at 34 points, 749 to 715. Equifax decided it didn't like me in the 700s anymore and dropped me 30 points from 728 to 698.

Seeing how many points they dock me for a difference of 9% (highest individual is 20%, owe $200 on my US Bank out of $1000 total). I question how harsh actually running up close to 30% overall would be.

Not complaining or anything, I knew my scores would drop by letting more actually report, I just though it was impressive how much a meager 9% means to the scores. I might AZEO next month just to see that wild swing and note if I actually get those 30+ points back.

Other notes: No derogs, perfect payment history, always PIF, never late.

EDIT: **bleep** so many typos, I hate this keyboard.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Jnbmom — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 15:38:10 GMT

Bummer. Heaven forbid we use any of our credit lines we get dinged ☹️

I found it odd Dh’s lost 7 points yeah not much , but went from 3% utilization to 4%, so no threshold but nothing else changed and I went line for line . Seems very silly to me .

Yes you can have high scores just don’t use those cards 😅

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 15:39:58 GMT

You have to get high scores to get the cards, but you can't use 'em. No sir. If you don't use them, we'll take it away! But if you use them, your score look bad, so we can't give you more. Ahh, the catch 22 of credit.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Remedios — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 16:07:22 GMT

Masterlink, how many out of your 4 cards reported balances?
If 2 or more, that can be contributing factor, in addition for crossing individual utilization threshold at 9% and aggregate at 9%, if going from AZEO.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 16:13:48 GMT

Three reported, the other two report at 7% and 15%. So 2 individual 9+ and overall 9+ strikes.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

SouthJamaica — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 17:25:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I'm impressed at the impact 9% can have, the three overlords really socked it to me for that one. I know that FICO has no memory of UTI and I can boost my score by AZEOing them, but I didn't figure it'd be that bad.

I went from aggregate 1% UTI to 10% and across the board dropped an impressive 30-34 points. I was expecting 5-10, maybe up to 15 by going from paying early to just paying statement in full. Experian was the one that hit the hardest at 34 points, 749 to 715. Equifax decided it didn't like me in the 700s anymore and dropped me 30 points from 728 to 698.

Seeing how many points they dock me for a difference of 9% (highest individual is 20%, owe $200 on my US Bank out of $1000 total). I question how harsh actually running up close to 30% overall would be.

Not complaining or anything, I knew my scores would drop by letting more actually report, I just though it was impressive how much a meager 9% means to the scores. I might AZEO next month just to see that wild swing and note if I actually get those 30+ points back.

Other notes: No derogs, perfect payment history, always PIF, never late.

EDIT: **bleep** so many typos, I hate this keyboard.

My experience has been very similar to yours: huge point swings with changes in aggregate utilization.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

BallBounces — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 18:39:59 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

Other notes: No derogs, perfect payment history, always PIF, never late.

This is key. I can discern 0 points difference going from 16% to 5% UTI AZEO.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 19:41:50 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
You have to get high scores to get the cards, but you can't use 'em. No sir. If you don't use them, we'll take it away! But if you use them, your score look bad, so we can't give you more. Ahh, the catch 22 of credit.

You can use them all you like, you just need to watch your reported balances/utilization since your profile isn't rock-solid yet if you're interested in maximizing your Fico scores. Rem makes a good point above regarding your number of accounts with a balance. You're taking at least a 5-10 point ding for rolling with 3/4 relative to 1/4, for example.

Also, what are your age of accounts factors? With a clean file and low utilization your scores are indicative of a young file IMO. An older file would no doubt be in the upper 700's+, so I'm just curious where your [3] age of accounts factors currently stand.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 19:49:01 GMT

Fairly young overall. AoOA is 3 years, AAoA is 1 year, 3 months. AoYA is 7 months. Not really concerned about achieving the highest score possible currently, not aiming for any cards for at least a few months. I just thought I'd share some observations.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 21:31:47 GMT

Worth noting that if you avoid any new accounts for another 5 months, once your AoYA reaches 12 months you should see some solid 15-20 point score gains on your Fico scores.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 22:18:20 GMT

^^^ those age points, plus dropping back to AZEO or to under 8.9% aggregate would possibly recover all your lost points. AZEO, <8.9% aggregate, and <8.9% individual would likely push you higher than you were.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 23:46:13 GMT

While I don't disagree with the points made above overall, getting below 8.9% on an individual line likely isn't an issue, as the OP is at 20% on highest individual account and most won't see a penalty until over 28.9%, some even 48.9%.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

ldkcivilservant — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 15:08:38 GMT

I had a similar thing, I am AZEO (but that one was carrying 33% a balance) and allowed that one to report at 39% this month.

Total Util went from 13% to 15%

5-8 point ding for what amounted to three hundred dollars in actual balance. It's already been paid down but sheez. Painful to see that 767 drop back to 762 and one into the 750's

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Thu, 10 Oct 2019 15:10:05 GMT

It was painful to see that 698.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

HeavenOhio — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 04:32:41 GMT

I'd like to see AZEO scores just for the data point. True AZEO scores come from posting a balance of at least $5 but not much more.

Moving forward, I think you can find a comfortable spot somewhere between AZEO and where you're sitting now. You now know what it takes to drop one of your scores below 700. You may as well avoid that.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Revelate — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 04:49:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Fairly young overall. AoOA is 3 years, AAoA is 1 year, 3 months. AoYA is 7 months. Not really concerned about achieving the highest score possible currently, not aiming for any cards for at least a few months. I just thought I'd share some observations.

I suspect the large swing you saw was a result of being on a new credit / accounts scorecard.

Based on a ton of anecdotal data you won't get that sort of swing once your file is more established and/or your rate of account opening slows down. Basically you look like a bigger risk and as such even a comparitively minor blip on utilization can have an outsized impact. Most files don't see that, and if you hold pat you'll be well above 760 quickly if not 800 if you just hang out 9 months or whatever.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

OmarR — Sun, 20 Oct 2019 18:00:18 GMT

@HeavenOhio wrote:
I'd like to see AZEO scores just for the data point. True AZEO scores come from posting a balance of at least $5 but not much more.

I am curious as well.

AZEO only gains me 3 points on FICO8. And yes, I am aware that my current file will be less of a swing than the OP's.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 00:14:40 GMT

@OmarR wrote:
AZEO only gains me 3 points on FICO8.

AZEO relative to what though? You could be talking going from 2 of 3 revolvers to 1 of 3 revolvers, or going from 2 of 20 revolvers to 1 of 20 revolvers, for example.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

HeavenOhio — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 03:12:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@OmarR wrote:
AZEO only gains me 3 points on FICO8.
AZEO relative to what though? You could be talking going from 2 of 3 revolvers to 1 of 3 revolvers, or going from 2 of 20 revolvers to 1 of 20 revolvers, for example.

Or it could be a single card with a balance change.

Re: Impressive Score Drop

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 04:31:06 GMT

Right, so whatever it is needs to be clarified. Simply saying that one sees 3 points from going to AZEO isn't meaningful without knowing more information. Someone could see 0 points or 15 points, for example, based on their profile.