$0 debt but my credit scores dropped from 770 to 680?

[owlflavored]

No debt. 

No credit cards open at the moment. Just debit. 

Yet, my scores have been dropping, and my credit reports are clean. Why is this and how can I fix it so I can get a mortgage

[Anonymous]

Have you pulled all three credit reports in the last week or two?  Reports are different from scores and are more important.

If you have not, let us know if you don't know how to do that.  AnnualCreditReport.com would be a great place to start.  We can't make much progress on helping you without knowing what is on all three reports.

If you have, can you tell us exactly what accounts are on your reports?  Tell us....

the name of the account

whether it is a credit card, loan, etc.

current balance as it reads on the report itself

whether it is listed as closed or open

if it is closed, the month/year it was closed

the date it was opened

We also need to know if there are any derogs on your report.  These are things like lates, collections, chargeoffs, liens, judgments, public records, etc.

You mention your scores... can you tell us where you are getting these scores from?

[Anonymous]

You need to have at least one installment loan(small one) and ideally 3 credit cards. You need to use credit to have optimal scoring

[Anonymous]

PS.  If you have reports from when your scores were 770 and also reports now, it would be useful for you to compare them line by line and see what has changed.  That might include accounts being closed, late payments occuring, balances on accounts changing, etc.

[Anonymous]

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@owlflavored wrote:

Why is this and how can I fix it so I can get a mortgage

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When do you realistically think you'll be going for that mortgage?  If it's > 1 year from now (say) 2 years, it could be beneficial for you to acquire at least 1 if not a couple of revolvers now.  If you were to do that, by that time your profile would be much stronger and would actually help your mortgage scores.

[JTC-137]

Disregard the score dropping you’re doing great! It’s falling because you’re not actively managing open credit accounts. If you can show you can afford the mortgage payments and have a stable employment history, you can get a manually underwritten mortgage. Try checking the mortgage sub-forum for more info on that. I’m aspiring to be in your position in the near future but, due to having filthy reports, I pretty much have to employ the 3 revolving/1 installment account strategy mentioned above. Huge congrats on being debt free!

[owlflavored]

I think this answers everything...

>>I had a BofA secured card paid in full 3/2012-5/2017 Account paid as agreed.

>>I had a BofA regular credit card with ONE 30-day late (was doing autopay and apparently it has to be renewed every year) paid in full closed at credit grantor's request. Account paid as agreed. Open 7/2014 to 1/2019

>>I had an AmEx Delta Platinum 06/1996 to 10/2018 Account paid as agreed. Paid in full closed at credit grantor's request

current balance as it reads on the report itself

>>ALL balances are zero.

We also need to know if there are any derogs on your report.  These are things like lates, collections, chargeoffs, liens, judgments, public records, etc.

>>Other than the one 30-day late, nothing.

I got the credit scores here from myfico.com. Not sure how to get the other scores-new here...

Thanks for the intel!

[KLEXH25]

Is there any reason the accounts were closed at their request? You need to have some open accounts to raise those scores. That’s pretty much where I was (score wise) before I got cards again last year. The good thing though is that you have age, so they should bounce back pretty quickly if you space out your applications and use / pay responsibly.