-17 pts for under 10% util on CC

[dunn2500]

i have $1300 limit and used $175  and got nailed 17 pts from TU......i dont understand, i here keep small balance i hear no balance and it even posted today and my statement dates are 18th on one and 28th on the other.....i always spend under 30% total during month and keep balance low at due dates........kinda frustrating as there doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason for these algorithms......ive had same scenario with auto purchases 3 times and all 3 times my pts changed in different ways........

a couple of friends and even my parents pay all their balances in full every month on due date and they all over 800......i may just take this approach as the other one doesnt seem to be working very well......i only have 2 CC and auto loan and all on time so cant imagine what else it would be......any help aprreciated

[Anonymous]

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@dunn2500 wrote:

i have $1300 limit and used $175  and got nailed 17 pts from TU......i dont understand, i here keep small balance i hear no balance and it even posted today and my statement dates are 18th on one and 28th on the other.....i always spend under 30% total during month and keep balance low at due dates........kinda frustrating as there doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason for these algorithms......ive had same scenario with auto purchases 3 times and all 3 times my pts changed in different ways........

a couple of friends and even my parents pay all their balances in full every month on due date and they all over 800......i may just take this approach as the other one doesnt seem to be working very well......i only have 2 CC and auto loan and all on time so cant imagine what else it would be......any help aprreciated

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@dunn2500 You've already identified the problem.  The FICO algorithm penalized your for "too many accounts with balances" and "too many credit cards carrying balances."

The penalty appears to be specific to individual credit profiles but seems to kick in when more than one-third of accounts on Equifax report balances, or when 50 percent or more accounts report balances on Experian and TransUnion.

Since you only have three accounts in total, and assuming there isn't anything you can do about the auto loan, then allowing one or both of your credit cards to report balances will cause both penalties.  This is the reason why its often suggested in these forums that three credit cards is the optimal amount.  In that scenario, allowing one card to report a balance would not exceed the one-third breakpoint.

You can't compare your profile to your parents or friends; its likely they have more accounts reporting on their credit reports and have established them over a longer period of time.

[SouthJamaica]

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@dunn2500 wrote:

i have $1300 limit and used $175  and got nailed 17 pts from TU......i dont understand, i here keep small balance i hear no balance and it even posted today and my statement dates are 18th on one and 28th on the other.....i always spend under 30% total during month and keep balance low at due dates........kinda frustrating as there doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason for these algorithms......ive had same scenario with auto purchases 3 times and all 3 times my pts changed in different ways........

a couple of friends and even my parents pay all their balances in full every month on due date and they all over 800......i may just take this approach as the other one doesnt seem to be working very well......i only have 2 CC and auto loan and all on time so cant imagine what else it would be......any help aprreciated

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There's probably no connection between your having a $175 balance on a $1300 limit card, and the 17 point drop.  Something else most likely caused the drop. The only way to know what it was, is to find out what date the score changed, and compare the report from that day with the report from the day before. Most likely this is impossible for you to do.

[REDBOYYY56]

I've lost 10-15 points from Equifax in the past for having most of my bankcards reporting a balance. It's not unusual.

[dunn2500]

it posted today.....one card has the balance and other i dont use (2 cards total with $1300 limit), standard auto loan i pay on every month.....but your right my friends and family have much thicker files...also they dont report consistently on any specific day, when i had 1 card it did but now i have 2 its random and not on either statement day......from 13th to 21st.....ill keep it under $100 and see what happens

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@REDBOYYY56 wrote:

I've lost 10-15 points from Equifax in the past for having most of my bankcards reporting a balance. It's not unusual.

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[Kforce]

Maybe I am reading this wrong, but I think you might have 3 problems.

1)  Total Util: 175/1300 is more than 13% not what you posted and should be less than 9% and ideal at less than 4%.

2) If that 175 is on a card with small limit you might have a single card threshold or many that you are crossing. More points lost.

3) The "too many accounts with balances" and "too many credit cards carrying balances." From only having two cards.

Best you can do now is let only one card report a few dollars.

[Anonymous]

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@dunn2500 wrote:

i have $1300 limit and used $175  and got nailed 17 pts from TU......i dont understand, i here keep small balance i hear no balance and it even posted today and my statement dates are 18th on one and 28th on the other.....i always spend under 30% total during month and keep balance low at due dates........kinda frustrating as there doesnt seem to be any rhyme or reason for these algorithms......ive had same scenario with auto purchases 3 times and all 3 times my pts changed in different ways........

a couple of friends and even my parents pay all their balances in full every month on due date and they all over 800......i may just take this approach as the other one doesnt seem to be working very well......i only have 2 CC and auto loan and all on time so cant imagine what else it would be......any help aprreciated

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I have hit exactly 10% util on a single card and definitely been nailed several points for it.

Thought is individual util is 30%, but the regular thresholds apply, IME. Get it under 10% and you should gain some points back.

Sonce you only have 2 CCs, you have 50% of your revolvers reporting a abalnce. Having 3 CCs get you under that threshold that is also costing you some points.

[dunn2500]

ive had it at $24 on few different months and gained 1 or 2 pts or 0 pts, just frustrated that it seems they just wanna nail you......auto payments not posting and when they do its again 1 or 2 pts.....i feel like they only see the bad ( and really its way b4 my statement date on that card anyway which would have been paid).....if i used the other card god knows when they would report......i guess more cards with higher limits makes sense as i would never cross the line......

[joeyv1985]

This is the reason why its often suggested in these forums that three credit cards is the optimal amount.  In that scenario, allowing one card to report a balance would not exceed the one-third breakpoint.

I didn't know about this until this week. I have 5 personal cards. 1 of which is an Amex Plat, which usually shows a balance as well as my CSP.  Everything else usually shows a Zero Balance. Anyway, I charged $48 on one of my CC's that I rarely use,  just so they don't close it and the balance reported. For some reason the I thought the billing period was another 2 weeks away, but it was reported 3 days after the transaction was posted(7/12), which probably triggered the one-third breakpoint. I also have a Business Credit Card that doesn't show on my personal credit report and I opened it up just for that reason not to have too many cards reporting. With that said, did the credit card company, Captial One, move this up because of little or no activity? To the best of my knowledge, I think I've used the card 2 or 3 times this year. 

[dunn2500]

going to get a 3rd card this week, i may wait til next month when scores hopefully bounce back.......just above 700 right now

seems like once i got past 700 the score bumps really slowed down, i used to get 10, 15, 25pt bumps when my auto loan posted early and my 1 card was under 10%......since 700 its been a very slow climb even though i am doing everything the same..... why 20 pt deduction was so frustrating.......2 steps forward and one back since i started this deal......