topic Re: Score Watch Alert??? in myFICO® Product Feedback

Score Watch Alert???

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:18:48 GMT

Hey all! I'm new here and I just had a quick question about Score Watch. I just got an alert that my DH score went up from 639 to 648, but it doesn't say why. How do I figure out what made his score jump up? Any help would be appreciated!!

Re: Score Watch Alert???

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:36:16 GMT

Your FICO® score went up on a day when there were no credit alerts on your Equifax Credit Report™. This can happen if:

The balances on one or more of your credit accounts decreased. In general, less debt is better for your score.
The credit limit on one or more of your credit accounts increased. Larger credit limits tend to help your FICO® scores if your balances remain the same.
Negative information on your credit report, such as a bankruptcy, collection, or record of a late payment, was removed because it was more than 7 years old (or 10 years old in the case of a bankruptcy).
Negative information on your credit report is not harming your FICO® score as much as before because it is now older. Past negative credit behavior, like missing payments or defaulting on loans, are offset over time by more recent history of credit responsibility

Does that mean all of that happened or could have? Thanks!

Re: Score Watch Alert???

Booner72 — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:58:35 GMT

It could be one of those, or more than one, or none of this. The only way to know for sure is to compare your last credit report side by side with this one.

Re: Score Watch Alert???

crunching_numbers — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:15:00 GMT

There are two types os SW notifications. The first type is from one of the special events listed for SW happening such as: new account posts, inquiry, inactive account becomes active, derogatory information posts, account balance increases. In this situation, SW tells you the exact event, and gives you your current FICO. Note, that in addition to the event you have been notified about, other things may have changed since your last FICO score was given to you that will impact the new number you were given, such as a balance decrease on a CC.

The second type of alert happens every 7-10 days. SW calculates your FICO, and notifies you if your FICO is the same or if it has changed. When this happens, SW does not tell you the exact event that made your score change. It just gives you your FICO and the generic list that you have posted above. The only way to be certain of what is in your report is to view it.

Re: Score Watch Alert???

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:20:36 GMT

Thanks for the quick responses! Makes sense now.