FICO score dropped 16 points!

[Anonymous]

I am a newbie here. I had gone to the WaMu website to check my credit score and it showed with TransUnion a score of 682 which I am very disappointed with. My score had been 698 for four months in a row, now this. I had not pulled a credit report to see why this has transpired, but I wonder if paying my last car payment in September could be the cause. Also, there is a new car loan that was taken out in November, could these factors play into the downward spiral of my credit score? Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.

[Anonymous]

IMPO it was the new car loan because I had mine with GMAC just hit my report this month and I saw a 16 point decrease and it really hurt my feelings but they say that in time with good payments you get more than that back so I just keep looking forward to that.

Debbie

[Anonymous]

Thanks Debbie, that gives me some relief to what I can look forward to. My husband has a new truck loan with GMAC, but that was from a couple of months ago. Maybe that could have been the cause, we don't know how long it takes for these to get into the system. I figured with these two new loans that would help, not hurt our credit worthiness. Hopefully things will turn out better in the long run and we will see the 700 club again soon. We had a credit score of 713 in June and then it went down from there to what it is now. Thanks again for your input. Blessings!

[Anonymous]

Jark............yep, the car loan did it. We all  take a hit with a new loan. When I started my auto lease in May '05 I took a 60 point hit. Slowly but surely you'll get it back. Just make sure you pay on time every month. If you can, set your payment on automatic - this is one loan you don't want to miss a payment on.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Cobra19 for your input in this. I guess I will just have to accept that this is how it is done. Your FICO scores are impressive, must be nice to have those high numbers. Good for you! Blessings!

[jackg]

Jarakana,

Please don't be so hard on yourself, one data point does not constitute a "downward spiral" you need at least 3 in a row. Holy cow, ease up on yourself!!

Paying off an installment does have a negative impact to your FICO score and, it's most likely that the new car loan isn't reporting yet but if I were you I wouldn't expect for the new account to make up for the points lost because your utilization of the new acct wil be close to 100%. Your old acct was decreasing in utilization each month thus adding points to FICO for payment history.

Let me clear up something before I post this, because I know others will want to "help" me understand the error of my ways. I referred to "utilization" for an installment account when in fact there is a better descriptor. On this board "utilization" is used in the context of revolving credit but in my experience, auto loans impact "debt to income ratios", thus loss of FICO points for a new loan as it's a monthly event and you are committed for the entire amount, almost. For me it's just easier to refer to it as utilization and I will apoligize in advance to those who object to my doing so.

[Anonymous]

From my understanding the scores that are given on WAMU is PFICO scores. You may need to ck your real FICO scores and reports to see whats up.

[haulingthescoreup]

jaybee's right, the WaMu PFICO score is a specialized form of your TU FICO that is tweaked for the credit card industry. Your regular FICO could be higher. PFICO's give higher weight to your CC history. And all of them will take a temporary ding from the new account.