What to do next after a credit score drop??

Anonymous · ‎07-11-2016

I recently had my scores on all 3 bureas drop due to balance decrease. I have two revolving accounts; one being Capital One and the other Home Depot. C1 reports early in the month while HD later in the month. I also have a Personal Finance account. All of my bills get paid on time. My dropped score came from my $0 balance from C1 and wondering should I expect the same from HD as well. If so, what do I need to do in order to gain my points back? Will raising my balance drop my score even more? That's another area I'm concerned about. Any advice would help being that I'm new to this credit building process.

Equifax: 664, TransUnion 673, Experian 674. Target: 720 or more across the board.

Anonymous · ‎07-11-2016

You would probably be better off posting this question in the rebuilding section of this forum but for fico scoring purposes it is best to carry a small balance on just one of your credit cards.1-10% is optimal.Its also best to have Atleast 3 revolving credit lines.

Anonymous · ‎07-11-2016

Thanks for the feedback! I will take my question to the section you mentioned.

Anonymous · ‎07-12-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I recently had my scores on all 3 bureas drop due to balance decrease. I have two revolving accounts; one being Capital One and the other Home Depot. C1 reports early in the month while HD later in the month. I also have a Personal Finance account. All of my bills get paid on time. My dropped score came from my $0 balance from C1 and wondering should I expect the same from HD as well. If so, what do I need to do in order to gain my points back? Will raising my balance drop my score even more? That's another area I'm concerned about. Any advice would help being that I'm new to this credit building process.

Equifax: 664, TransUnion 673, Experian 674. Target: 720 or more across the board.

First off - how much of a "drop" are we talking? Second, you need three revolving accounts in order to maximize your scores.

Anonymous · ‎07-12-2016

I dropped 7 points with Equifax, 18 points with TransUnion, and 10 points with Experian. I did see where Capital One showed a 0% utilization along with reporting the $0 balance. Would that have anything to do with it?

And seeing that I need 3 revolving accounts, how soon can I apply for a new card without being rejected for having too new credit? Last application I was approved of was the end of April.

Equifax: 664
TransUnion: 673
Experian: 674

Anonymous · ‎07-12-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I recently had my scores on all 3 bureas drop due to balance decrease. I have two revolving accounts; one being Capital One and the other Home Depot. C1 reports early in the month while HD later in the month. I also have a Personal Finance account. All of my bills get paid on time. My dropped score came from my $0 balance from C1 and wondering should I expect the same from HD as well. If so, what do I need to do in order to gain my points back? Will raising my balance drop my score even more? That's another area I'm concerned about. Any advice would help being that I'm new to this credit building process.

Equifax: 664, TransUnion 673, Experian 674. Target: 720 or more across the board.

HI there! welcome to this forum - where you will grown and learn so many tips and advice from so many people that understands you since they been in the same boat!

Let me ask, are you planning to purchase a home or a car anytime soon? or are you trying to get a new credit soon? The reason I'm asking because your score fluctuates from different angles. Like you said, you just paid off your CC and now your points drop, rule of thumb I have HEARD that you want to maintain atleast less than 10% utilization on one card and 0 balance on the rest for optimal result. With that said, you need optimal result ONLY when you are planning to make some major purchases... or trying to impress some CC maybe for SP CLI? anyway best of luck to you, if that's the only difference in your report right now, then you learned that you should keep some balance in your credit for next time Best of luck to you!

Anonymous · ‎07-12-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I recently had my scores on all 3 bureas drop due to balance decrease. I have two revolving accounts; one being Capital One and the other Home Depot. C1 reports early in the month while HD later in the month. I also have a Personal Finance account. All of my bills get paid on time. My dropped score came from my $0 balance from C1 and wondering should I expect the same from HD as well. If so, what do I need to do in order to gain my points back? Will raising my balance drop my score even more? That's another area I'm concerned about. Any advice would help being that I'm new to this credit building process.

Equifax: 664, TransUnion 673, Experian 674. Target: 720 or more across the board.
HI there! welcome to this forum - where you will grown and learn so many tips and advice from so many people that understands you since they been in the same boat!

Let me ask, are you planning to purchase a home or a car anytime soon? or are you trying to get a new credit soon? The reason I'm asking because your score fluctuates from different angles. Like you said, you just paid off your CC and now your points drop, rule of thumb I have HEARD that you want to maintain atleast less than 10% utilization on one card and 0 balance on the rest for optimal result. With that said, you need optimal result ONLY when you are planning to make some major purchases... or trying to impress some CC maybe for SP CLI? anyway best of luck to you, if that's the only difference in your report right now, then you learned that you should keep some balance in your credit for next time Best of luck to you!

Yes! I'm looking to purchase a home before Fall comes around. Just trying to build my score up to at least the 700 or more. Thanks for your reply!

Anonymous · ‎07-12-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
I dropped 7 points with Equifax, 18 points with TransUnion, and 10 points with Experian. I did see where Capital One showed a 0% utilization along with reporting the $0 balance. Would that have anything to do with it?

And seeing that I need 3 revolving accounts, how soon can I apply for a new card without being rejected for having too new credit? Last application I was approved of was the end of April.

Equifax: 664
TransUnion: 673
Experian: 674

Those drops are aabout right for when you UTI hits zero. BUT, its UTI so its not a lasting injury - as soon as your UTI changes to a more favorable number the score will immediately reflect that. In other word, don't sweat score changes that result from UTI changes.

As to your second question - it depends on who you apply with. Most lenders don't care if you just opened a new account. I would suggest first trying for a second Cap One card.

Anonymous · ‎07-13-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I dropped 7 points with Equifax, 18 points with TransUnion, and 10 points with Experian. I did see where Capital One showed a 0% utilization along with reporting the $0 balance. Would that have anything to do with it?

And seeing that I need 3 revolving accounts, how soon can I apply for a new card without being rejected for having too new credit? Last application I was approved of was the end of April.

Equifax: 664
TransUnion: 673
Experian: 674
Those drops are aabout right for when you UTI hits zero. BUT, its UTI so its not a lasting injury - as soon as your UTI changes to a more favorable number the score will immediately reflect that. In other word, don't sweat score changes that result from UTI changes.

As to your second question - it depends on who you apply with. Most lenders don't care if you just opened a new account. I would suggest first trying for a second Cap One card.

Thanks for your feedback. This helped make sense of it all.

Anonymous · ‎07-13-2016

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I dropped 7 points with Equifax, 18 points with TransUnion, and 10 points with Experian. I did see where Capital One showed a 0% utilization along with reporting the $0 balance. Would that have anything to do with it?

And seeing that I need 3 revolving accounts, how soon can I apply for a new card without being rejected for having too new credit? Last application I was approved of was the end of April.

Equifax: 664
TransUnion: 673
Experian: 674
Those drops are aabout right for when you UTI hits zero. BUT, its UTI so its not a lasting injury - as soon as your UTI changes to a more favorable number the score will immediately reflect that. In other word, don't sweat score changes that result from UTI changes.

As to your second question - it depends on who you apply with. Most lenders don't care if you just opened a new account. I would suggest first trying for a second Cap One card.

However, if you've applied with Cap One within the last six months, they'll deny you immediately.