Is this place a hoax?

[hyp0luxa]

if your reported balance goes from 0 to even $1, that is considered a 100% increase. But it does not mean 100% util. Maybe your score went down because too many cards were reporting a balance?

[SunriseEarth]

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@hyp0luxa wrote:

if your reported balance goes from 0 to even $1, that is considered a 100% increase. But it does not mean 100% util. Maybe your score went down because too many cards were reporting a balance?

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+1

[azguy13]

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@Shogun wrote:

OK.. very strange, sorry this happened to you.  I don't see the 100% thing, so no idea about that.  Do you have multiple cards and maybe had a balance on a couple of cards?  I could see that as a small ding.

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The percentage is based on the previous months report of utilization. For example, if I had $50 report one month and $100 the next, it would say my balance has gone up 100%. Happens to me all the time. Just because of the wording is strange doesnt mean the algorithm thinks that your UTL is at 100%. If that were the case, OP would see about a 30-40 pt drop

[thom02099]

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@jbylake1 wrote:

Thom02099,

I do realise, that there's not a mean little man in a cubical, watching me and trying to piss me off, with "emotion", and emotion has nothing to do with it.  Only my emotion. Yes, I realize algorithims do the scoring.  But being a retired engineer, I also know that the "math" you mention, can be manipulated to do anything a company wants it to.  E.g. If I were working for MyFico, and wanted to create mass panic, (yes I know, a far fetched example, but I'm trying to illustrate a point), and had total acsess to the computer code, generating everyones scores, I could have your score drop if you did much more than pulled a card out of your wallet.

See my point.  No emotional boogeymen, but maybe enough forethought to keep members coming back and checking their scores out of concern. And keep paying the monthly fees for the priviledge.

Thanks for your reply,

J.

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Hey J,

Yup, I do see your point!  And I don't disagree with you on that point.  Certainly there is always the potential, with products here as well as other products, for manipulation to keep 'em coming back for more. But then, if something like that were to happen, it would challenge the credibility of MyFICO, or any other scoring organisation.

The emotion I was referring to was specifically the statements about "hoax" and "scam", which can appeal to the emotions of readers.  You're not the first to make statements such as that, and you won't be the last.  I understand that frustration can be interpreted as emotional.  Sometimes it is!  Frustration = something we all understand and can sympathise with, because we've dealt with it as well. 

Some good responses from some of the folks here about possible causes and remedies.  Can't really add anything more to their good advice!  Just don't let the frustration get the better of you!   Things can improve. 

[Jahmakan]

Similar thing happened to me recently.  I get my TU score with my Discover It card and the latest score showed a 27 point drop (from 809 to 782).  The ironic thing is that, I let a lesser balance than normal report this time around (not sure of what the amount was, but I know it was much lower than normal) and I expected my score to rise, but... 

I just looked at it like others have already responded... it will eventually go back up, and I am not applying for anything right now that would be affected by this drop, so I don't really care.  Hope yours go back up though!!

[ways2go]

  Fico Scoring is a bewilderment in itself.  One month I have $16 reported on my SHOPHQ card, then the other day it reported zero and my fico went up 6 points on that..  Its just amazing.  One month my fico dropped from  749 to 725  and nothing changed on my credit report...   Just weird.......

[One7]

Use to happen to me with my crappy Credit One card. I would use it then pay it in full and they would still charge me a $1 interest and would report that on my credit report.  Then I'd get an alert saying that it's balance went up % 100 and my score would drop 30 pts. I never used that card again and recently cancelled it. It almost seemed like the point drop was due to the card being maxed out even though it only had a $1 reporting.

[lg8302ch]

If you are a SW subscriber and do not intend to app for anything I would recommend to do a small Fico challenge. Let 1$ balance report on each account and look at your score and then repeat the  next month and do it with the same $ amount on 1 card the others to 0 balance. I guarantee you that you will be surprised by the results. For me the 8$ balance is worth 45+ points ...so when I get ready to apply I do the util manipulation and get my scores up to 810 but the rest of the time it will drop to 740-750  or so and my util is only 10% . So it is only where the util is not much of the amount. This varies on the profile but since I know the reaction on mine I am happy to pay for the service..it is well worth for me to get best terms on my apps like this.

[TiggerDat]

Even after the alert I thought it took a few days for the score to be affected.  Maybe the decrease was from having $0 reported to your report?  Having $0 report to your report actually lowers your score from what I understand.  Having something report less than 40%, but preferrably around 10% has the best impact to your score.  Also, I think if you have no balances reporting, when you then have a balance report it also lowers your score for a bit of time.  I think it is seen as a red flag, but I might be slightly wrong about the aspect of a sudden increase. 

[takeshi74]

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@jbylake1 wrote:

But here's the kick in the ass.  My FICO score drops 14 - 16 points. 

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It's not a hoax but I recommend not obsessing over the numbers and focusing on the data in your reports which is what scores are based on.  For one thing, you have no idea if a creditor will use the same scoring model as what myFICO provides and there could be a bigger delta in the difference in model than the 14-16 points you're needlessly worrying over.

The difference you're seeing may not be solely utilization based as indicated above.  It could be number of balances, it could be that you were shifted to another bucket.  Don't just assume that it's a linear and direct relationship.