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45 point drop on Experian

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Anonymous
Not applicable

45 point drop on Experian

I don't understand why my score would drop 45 points today. All accounts are in excellent standing. No lates, no collections. I have 5 cards with a balance reported and 9 reporting zero. There was one card at $13 and paid it off to $0 and score fell. Then it mentions consumer finance account reporting is high risk. I have a loan with Lending Club and PenFed - no lates, excellent payment history. Why would my score drop 45 points? 

Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
Yasselife
Valued Contributor

Re: 45 point drop on Experian

I went with Marcus for a loan and is reporting as CFA as well but the drop was minor and only shows on Equifax. 45 points seems excessive, there's gotta be something else.






Message 2 of 13
tcbofade
Super Contributor

Re: 45 point drop on Experian

Did one of those five balances recently go up considerably?

 

I just lost more than 20 points when a large balance reported... still under 48%, but nearly an $8k balance transfer offer... and my Experian tanked.

02/01/24 Fico 8: EX 757, EQ 803, TU 783.
Fico 9: EX 760 12/16/23, EQ 790 02/04/24, TU No idea.

Zero percent financing is where the devil lives...
Message 3 of 13
SoCalGardener
Valued Contributor

Re: 45 point drop on Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

I don't understand why my score would drop 45 points today. All accounts are in excellent standing. No lates, no collections. I have 5 cards with a balance reported and 9 reporting zero. There was one card at $13 and paid it off to $0 and score fell. Then it mentions consumer finance account reporting is high risk. I have a loan with Lending Club and PenFed - no lates, excellent payment history. Why would my score drop 45 points? 


If the balance on any/all of those rose significantly, that can do it. And by significantly, I mean as little as a few hundred dollars! I routinely see my score plunge by 40, 50, 60 points because of a large purchase that temporarily put a card at >30% of its CL. I don't sweat it. I just ride it out, because I know it'll go back up next month after the payment (in full) is reported.

 

Depending on your credit limits, even a charge of $100 could put a card at >30% of its limit, and that can cause a plunge. And that number, 30%, isn't carved in stone, either. It seems to vary for reasons unknown to me. But the higher the percentage, the more it impacts your score, IOW 80% usage makes a much bigger score drop than 30%.

 

If you're sure everything's in order, just ride it out. If any account is higher than 30% of its limit, get it back down ASAP. If none of this applies and your score doesn't go back up, it's time to do a bit of research.

Amazon Prime Store CardAmerican Express Blue Cash Preferred CardAmerican Express Everyday CardBank of America Customized Cash VisaCapitalOne Quicksilver MastercardCapitalOne Quicksilver VisaCapitalOne Walmart Rewards MastercardChevron Texaco CardCiti Double Cash MastercardDiscover More CardJCPenney Gold MastercardOverstock.com CardSportsmans Guide Rewards VisaSynchrony Home Card
Message 4 of 13
DoogieBall
Regular Contributor

Re: 45 point drop on Experian

I had a 31 pt drop on Experian.  One charge put me at 21% from 1% util when it happened.  In your case, maybe EX has a unique way of scoring when balances drop to $0 

  

R.I.P Cards 





Message 5 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 45 point drop on Experian

My balances are going down every month but when I paid off 1 card from $13 bucks to $0 my score tanked. Should I report small balances on all cards (Like $20 each) instead of all zeros on the ones that are paid off?

Message 6 of 13
gdale6
Moderator Emeritus

Re: 45 point drop on Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

My balances are going down every month but when I paid off 1 card from $13 bucks to $0 my score tanked. Should I report small balances on all cards (Like $20 each) instead of all zeros on the ones that are paid off?


No do not let all cards report a balance even small ones that is a known AA trigger to start getting them shut down. Are we talking a reall fico score here or something else?

Message 7 of 13
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: 45 point drop on Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

I don't understand why my score would drop 45 points today. All accounts are in excellent standing. No lates, no collections. I have 5 cards with a balance reported and 9 reporting zero. There was one card at $13 and paid it off to $0 and score fell. Then it mentions consumer finance account reporting is high risk. I have a loan with Lending Club and PenFed - no lates, excellent payment history. Why would my score drop 45 points? 


Obviously nothing you've mentioned would cause a 45 point score drop, so you need to scour today's report and yesterday's to get the answer.

 

Or you could wait until tomorrow to see if the points come right back.  In which case it was a glitch.


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 8 of 13
risingup2day
Regular Contributor

Re: 45 point drop on Experian

Full disclosure, I am not a detective, even though my wife said I missed my calling. I do like a good mystery from time to time!

 

Not knowing all the details of your story, but one can slowly see start to conjure one up...lots of layers to go through here, but I promise if you read this, it will be one heck of a ride!!! 

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/Discover-card-CLI-request/td-p/6349011 

 

Above - In your Discover post +/- ten days removed, you mention, 50% utilization...is that one card or overall utilization? 

 


@Anonymous wrote:

I don't understand why my score would drop 45 points today. All accounts are in excellent standing. No lates, no collections. I have 5 cards with a balance reported and 9 reporting zero. There was one card at $13 and paid it off to $0 and score fell. Then it mentions consumer finance account reporting is high risk. I have a loan with Lending Club and PenFed - no lates, excellent payment history. Why would my score drop 45 points? 

I would first look at your 5 cards with balances. Was there a recent run up with one of your balances? 


1. When do these 5 cards report to the Credit Bureaus? * please note Credit Bureaus will be identified as "CB".

Easy way to know, call your creditors and ask when does your statement close or cuts each month? This is important because this is when your creditors report to CB. If you wanna guess time line maybe off, but would say anywhere from 3-10 days AFTER your due date your statement will close/cut. However, I don't like these types of surprises! Devil is in the detail, I want accurate information, a phone call and marked date on your calendar to serve as a reminder!

You might find that one of your cards "may" just have reported a high balance to the CB within the last 2 weeks of the post above and likely the reason your score dropped.

 

Then again, you mention in another post in late May that you were just approved for a Penfed loan... maybe that just reported? 


https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Personal-Finance/Pen-Fed-Signature-Loan-Pre-Approval-how-solid-is-it/m-p/6337580#M231881

If this loan is a "Debt Consolidation" loan IE; used to pay off your credits cards, BUT your creditors that you paid off WITH this loan have YET to report to the CB, BUT your Penfed loan just reported 🤔🤔🤔 lots to consider here.  **Important here because I am saying that your debts are paid off using this loan, but your creditors have yet to cut your up to date statement to reflect the "paid in full" amount and now reporting a big loan.. IE; lots of credit card debt on top of a large loan = lots of debt! then.....

 

"Oh my God, Mr. Watson, I think we may have uncovered your reason for you credit score dropping 45 points" Sherlock Holmes reference... 😂

 

or a combination of both scenarios is what lead you to a 45pts drop on one of your reports,  which is just one of the three major CB. If it is the latter of the three scenarios then expect similar drops on your other two reports. If it is the second scenario, then this is just a temporary drop and your scores will recover a little bit next month when all is reporting properly. Maybe not the full 45pts. 

 

I think maybe this has something to do with your drop. Find comfort in knowing your $13 dollar payoff did NOt tanked your score. 


Hope this helps. Please let us know what you uncover, lots of details to go over and this information would be helpful to others reading or may find it later. Good luck!

Message 9 of 13
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: 45 point drop on Experian


@Anonymous wrote:

My balances are going down every month but when I paid off 1 card from $13 bucks to $0 my score tanked. Should I report small balances on all cards (Like $20 each) instead of all zeros on the ones that are paid off?


No you should not.

 

You need to go over the 2 days reports and find out what actually happened. The small change in your balances is not what caused a 45 point drop,.


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 10 of 13
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