Score Keeps Bouncing Up & Down

iph2911 · ‎05-09-2026

Hello everyone,

I'm not sure where to post this so I'm starting here and the admins can move it they need to. My credit got wrecked during Covid & a few cards went to collections and those collectors sued me and won, with 4 of them showing on my EX, 6 on TU & 0 on EQ. I've just been ignoring the calls, blocking the new number blocks when they refresh and excepted my scores being in the upper 400's for the past few years. So, around Christmas of 2025 I got an alert of a change on my EX report and I mostly ignore these, I logged in to find my score rose more than a 100 points to 620, I then found TU & EQ also rose to 617 & 618. I went on a small spree with Sync and was approved for 4 cards with $400, (2)$500 & $1k at Sams. My scores fell back down into the mid 500's a week or so later and stayed there until March, when EX went to 640, TU to 617 & EQ 602, I app'd for a few majors from the preditors, AVANT, Seen, Prosper, Merrick & Milestone, as well as Michaels, Burlington, Amazon Store, Tire Rack & Sync Home. Now my scores have fallen again to the mid 500's. I also understand that I am really pressing my luck with poking the Synchrony baer they I have, and I will also be closing a few of the majors before the insane 2nd year fees hit, but I guess what I'm asking is, will my score keep bouncing around like it has been? Will these cards being reporting and aging even matter with the collections continuing the show until 2031? Should I have just not opened any of these cards until after 2031? and I suppose it probably only a matter of time before Sync lowers or closes some or all of the lines because my score has dropped well below what it was when they granted the credit to being with. I appreciate everyone's input and perspectives.

FicoMike0 · ‎05-09-2026

100 points is a lot of bounce! Utilization can cause short term changes, have you looked at that? Renember, it's reported utilization, not what you think it is. New accounts and hps will hit to.

if you have unpaid collections or charge offs, those will hurt until they fall off.

You mentioned collectors sued and won, which you are ignoring. I would assume they have judgements. I would think those would fall under public records, that's another catagory, I don't know if judgements expire.

1lifeisworthit · ‎05-11-2026

If you are in the U.S. you should be going to annualcreditreport.com to read your official, untruncated, reports, and see everything that your creditors are saying about you.

Some things I know about...

The obvious one is utilization. Your score will move every month just because of utilization. On to less known things...

Every time you apply for a credit account, either a loan or a card, you get an inquiry. My inquiries cost me about 15 to 20 points each, because my profile isn't awesome. They affect my FICO scores for 12 months. There's also a thing called a New Revolver, which suppresses the score for 12 months after you open the last card. And then every new account shortens the Average Age of Accounts, and a shorter life is going to be suppressing more at the beginning than later as you allow your AAoA to age.

Younger ages are more volatile than older. So that can be part of your swings.

Something else that is volatile is VantageScore rather than Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO)

So you want to make certain you are following the same model, preferably FICO, rather than mixing them up.

experian.com shows FICO 8 based on Experian reports

creditwise.com shows FICO 8 based on Transunion reports

myfico.com/free shows FICO 8 based on Equifax reports.

If you are getting your scores elsewhere, you may be getting Vantage scores, rather than FICO. transunion.com and equifax.com show Vantage 3, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, many banking apps, all show Vantage. That isn't useful for seeing what your creditors are looking for.

Whatever is pushing your scores up I can't tell you because I can't read your reports, but that's where your answer is going to be. For instance, some of your negatives may be being removed from your reports so they are no longer suppressing your scores.

All of the above links are free. You can also get a paid 3B account here at MyFICO and see all your FICO scores, not just 8. But that isn't free.

iph2911 · ‎05-11-2026

@1lifeisworthit wrote:
If you are in the U.S. you should be going to annualcreditreport.com to read your official, untruncated, reports, and see everything that your creditors are saying about you.

Some things I know about...
The obvious one is utilization. Your score will move every month just because of utilization. On to less known things...
Every time you apply for a credit account, either a loan or a card, you get an inquiry. My inquiries cost me about 15 to 20 points each, because my profile isn't awesome. They affect my FICO scores for 12 months. There's also a thing called a New Revolver, which suppresses the score for 12 months after you open the last card. And then every new account shortens the Average Age of Accounts, and a shorter life is going to be suppressing more at the beginning than later as you allow your AAoA to age.

Younger ages are more volatile than older. So that can be part of your swings.
Something else that is volatile is VantageScore rather than Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO)

So you want to make certain you are following the same model, preferably FICO, rather than mixing them up.
experian.com shows FICO 8 based on Experian reports
creditwise.com shows FICO 8 based on Transunion reports
myfico.com/free shows FICO 8 based on Equifax reports.

If you are getting your scores elsewhere, you may be getting Vantage scores, rather than FICO. transunion.com and equifax.com show Vantage 3, Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, many banking apps, all show Vantage. That isn't useful for seeing what your creditors are looking for.

Whatever is pushing your scores up I can't tell you because I can't read your reports, but that's where your answer is going to be. For instance, some of your negatives may be being removed from your reports so they are no longer suppressing your scores.

All of the above links are free. You can also get a paid 3B account here at MyFICO and see all your FICO scores, not just 8. But that isn't free.

I appreciate the detailed reply. I will use the links you provided to keep tabs on the scores. As you mentioned the TU score is quite different between Creditwise and Transunion.com.