Why would 2 scores go up and 1 go way down?

[PYGMY]

Until this morning my Experian score was in the 680's, Equifax was just above 700 and Transunion was also in the 680's. 

I've got 3 credit cards and a charge account that have never had any late payments.

I only use the credit cards for very small purchases just to keep them alive and active and always pay them off before the due date.

I've been making $40 or more a month payments on the charge account since late last summer and have brought the balance down from a high of just under $800 to $300. 

A couple weeks ago I decided to just pay off the remaining $300 in one payment.

The credit agencies updated my scores this morning. Experian and Transunion both went up about 10 points to the 690's. But the Equifax score dropped nearly 40 points all the way down to the 660's. 

Why would this happen and why would the drop be so drastic? Also, can I expect it to return to its former glory somewhat soon or is it gonna take me many months to get those 40 points back?

My car will be paid off in October and I was really hoping to have all three scores into the 700's by sometime this summer so I could lease a new car a couple months before my current car is paid off. 

Thank you.

[disdreamin]

Is there a chance that all accounts now show as zero on that one report? I'm wondering if perhaps you got tagged with an all-zero penalty.

[PYGMY]

That's a thing?

Yes, all three credit cards and the charge account now have zero balances. The only two accounts on my reports with balances are my car loan and a personal loan that still have low amounts on them. 

[PYGMY]

They're the same way though on the two agencies that increased my scores.

[FinStar]

Welcome to the forums @PYGMY 

What is the source of your scores? Is this through a Credit Monitoring System like WalletHub, Credit Karma? Or, are these directly from FICO?

[PYGMY]

Thank you!

I monitor my scores through both the free Credit Karma service and the Fico Experian service that costs $21 a month to monitor all three agencies. The same thing happened on both sites. Only difference is that on Credit Karma my Vantage scores were much higher than my Fico scores on the Experian site. All my Vantage scores were in the mid 700's. But the 10 point increase and big 40 point drop were the same amounts on both sites. 

-EDIT-

As I'm sure you all know, Credit Karma doesn't give your your Vantage Experian. The reason I know what that score is, is because I moved into a new apartment a month and a half ago and the credit check they pulled was of my Vantage Experian. Which happened to be my highest Vantage score of them all. Of course I can't say for certain if that score increased by 10 points as well. I'm only assuming because the changes to my two other Vantage scores were the same as my Fico scores. 

[Remedios]

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@PYGMY wrote:

That's a thing?

Yes, all three credit cards and the charge account now have zero balances. The only two accounts on my reports with balances are my car loan and a personal loan that still have low amounts on them. 

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Yes, it's a thing 

When all revolving accounts report zero, score drops. 

This does not mean you're supposed to carry a balance, it only means to allow card to report a balance.

Once this happens, you will get all your points back that were lost for this reason. 

[PYGMY]

Ok, I see. Thank you for letting me know that.

So would the best coarse of action be to let the credit cards report small balances and then pay off those balances so that the next time they report to the agencies they're all at zero? I should I just keep doing it the way I am where I use the cards for small purchases and pay off the balance before they're due so that the cards are always reporting zero balances? 

[Remedios]

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@PYGMY wrote:

Ok, I see. Thank you for letting me know that.

So would the best coarse of action be to let the credit cards report small balances and then pay off those balances so that the next time they report to the agencies they're all at zero? I should I just keep doing it the way I am where I use the cards for small purchases and pay off the balance before they're due so that the cards are always reporting zero balances? 

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If you want your points back, you have to allow at least one card to report a balance.

Let the statement cut (you can pay it down but not to $0.00), then once statement is available, pay off rest. 

If you pay all your cards before statement cuts, penalty will stay as long as all cards are reporting $0.00 

[PYGMY]

Ok. I understand. That's what I'll do. Thanks again for the help.