12 point loss on TU for a zero balance

[Imhotrodcrazy]

I just pulled my TU report,  just for kicks,  and found that I lost 12 points because of a zero balance on my cc.  The statements on the report  I find ridiculous.   One of them  states  "no recent balances",  they were paid off a matter of days ago.  The other statement says  that I might "consider" moderate and responsible "use" of my credit cards.  I would think that paying off a card is about as "responsible" as you can get.   Fico score reasoning,  ( or the lack thereof ), is absolutely ridiculous.  I know I will get the points back next month.  I just thought the statements were  crazy. 

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There are no recent balances on your revolving credit accounts.

Your credit report shows no RECENT  balances on your revolving accounts [?]. Your FICO score was hurt because you are not currently demonstrating active revolving credit management.

What to do about this: You might consider moderate and RESPONSIBLE  use of your credit cards (such as charging low balances and repaying them on time).

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[haulingthescoreup]

Out of curiosity, was this EQ? I lose about this many points on EQ for all cards with $0, but I gain on TU. 

[Imhotrodcrazy]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

Out of curiosity, was this EQ? I lose about this many points on EQ for all cards with $0, but I gain on TU. 

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This was on my TU.   I haven't pulled my EQ yet,  hope it didn't get dinged that bad or it will fall below 700. 

[haulingthescoreup]

Well, some people report the opposite, that TU dings them and EQ rewards them.

It might be different in my case, because I have a HELOC with a balance. Even though it's not included in my util, TU regards it as revolving (which actually it is), so that might make my experience different.

The good news is that it's easily turned around. Just let the next card in line report. Or if this is your only one, it will fix itself next month.

[Imhotrodcrazy]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

Well, some people report the opposite, that TU dings them and EQ rewards them.

It might be different in my case, because I have a HELOC with a balance. Even though it's not included in my util, TU regards it as revolving (which actually it is), so that might make my experience different.

The good news is that it's easily turned around. Just let the next card in line report. Or if this is your only one, it will fix itself next month.

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Just checked my scorewatch, did not take a hit on EQ showing a zero balance.  I have 3 cc's but use my US Bank flexperks 98% of the time.  This old man needs to keep it simple when it comes to bill paying.    At least I learned something from this.   EQ doesn't ding me for a zero balance while TU does.  I am waiting to see if I get  bump in my scores when my two accounts hit a year in December. 

[kal9988]

There have been posts on here both in favor and against $0 balances. What I believe (and am working on experimenting) is this. Keep a balance on only one card, the rest at $0. Then every 3 months, buy something on ALL your cards (even a cup of coffee), then pay off all but one card. That way, all your cards are considered "active."

[Anonymous]

just posted something similar.

Tu rewarded me 12 pts for showing a balance on 1 out of 2 cards, but EQ stayed the same.  *Note EQ hasn't budged up or down with $0 balance on both cards as well.

I'm going to experiment and let a small balannce report on the 2nd card and see if EQ has a pulse.  Hopefully won't get dinged by TU... it seems to like only 1 reporting a balance.

I'll let you know.

[Anonymous]

Any idea whether having your only open CC card reporting a balance (1/1) is better or worse than 0/1? My fico report says my "Amount of Debt" is "Very Good" on TU with 1/1, but is "Great" on EF with 2/3. Note that EF reports 3 open CCs while TU reports only 1 for me.

The feedback makes me think 0/1 is better than 1/1 on TU, but I am not sure. Has anyone explicitly experimented with these two scenarios?

[Imhotrodcrazy]

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@Anonymous wrote:

just posted something similar.

Tu rewarded me 12 pts for showing a balance on 1 out of 2 cards, but EQ stayed the same.  *Note EQ hasn't budged up or down with $0 balance on both cards as well.

I'm going to experiment and let a small balannce report on the 2nd card and see if EQ has a pulse.  Hopefully won't get dinged by TU... it seems to like only 1 reporting a balance.

I'll let you know.

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Well, this month I am going to leave a small balance and see if I get my 12 points back.  I will report back when I pull my TU report about mid Nov. 

[Proverb]

I AGREE.  I paid off my car loan and my score did not change at all.  Sometimes I fell like I should have WAITED SEVEN years I let everything fall off.  You DOOMED if you do and your DOOMED if you don't.  I have a revolving account that I am going to pay down.  I will see how that works.  Now I guess I have to open up another credit card account to get my score to go up CRAZY.  I GIVE UP.