AMEX $15,000 PERSONAL LOAN PAID OFF 2/17/2024. URGENT FICO SCORE QUESTION!

[jcc332006]

Hello All,

I have a question regarding a recent $15,000 AMEX Personal Loan I just paid off  2/17/2024 and weird Fico Scoring drop even though I still have a 18 month NFCU Pledge loan thats remains on report 95% paid back with a remaining balance of $165.00 $4.00 a month 60month term with original balance starting at  $3001 dollars.

When I took the  loan 6 months ago my fico scores were as follows

Experian 797

Transunion jumped to 799 as of January 2023

Equifax 813 as of January 2023

Upon accepting I immediately paid back to 63% Amex loan utilization and all 3 bueaus still showed 94% paid back on pledge loan. Initially once Amex loan reported I expected a score drop but to my suprise up until January 31st 2023 (3-4 months with new loan) scores remained the same.

However this is where it gets weird and downright infuriating...

I received alerts indicating decreases in my fico scores from ALL 3 Bureaus

EXPERIAN -29 POINT DECREASE

TRANSUNION- 23 POINT DECREASE

EQUIFAX (wait for it.....)- 49 POINT DECREASE!!!

How in the heck does this happen when my credit profile has stayed consistently the same.

NO LATES

0%-1% CC UTILIZATION

$128,000 Available credit

$ 5.00 small balance AZEO on 1 of 8 revolving accounts

0 INQUIRY EXPERIAN

2 INQUIRIES (NO RECENTS) TRANSUNION

1 INQUIRY EQUIFAX (NO RECENT)

OLDEST ACCOUNT 9 YEARS 11 MONTHS

AVERAGE AGE OF ACCOUNT 2 YEARS 11 MONTHS

NEWEST AMEX LOAN (6 MONTHS)(JUSTPAID OFF 2.17.24)

Prior to this point drop 1 factor I consistentl saw listed in POSITIVE FACTORS LIST was: 

"SUBSTANTIAL LOAN REPAYMENT" and this was present for 4 months prior to January 31st even with $15,000 loan  with 63% paid back showing  in fico's aglorithm generating my score.

I did however note that with the score drop I now see with the exception of Experian who has now removed it since I paid it off in full a new factor '"LOAN BALANCES as a 3rd NEGATIVE Factor. The previous positive factor up until January 31st 'SUBSTANTIAL LOAN REPAYMENT HAS DISAPPEARED!!"

Suffice to say seeing the huge drop in my fico scores is maddening especially when I had worked so hard to reach the 800 club  or so.

I would appreciate any clarification from anyone else who may have experienced this.....

I paid the $15,000 AMEX Personal Loan off and expected EXPERIAN to kindly return my 29 points since I still have my 18 month Pledge installment laon still present and reporting but LO and behold they only gave me 5 points back. Am I missing something? Now sitting at 773 from  but I feel like I got robbed and they refuse to reinstate my 24 points.

Paid in full and Closed Amex Loan hasn't hit EQUIFAX AND TRANSUNION yet but if EXPERIAN only gave me 5 points back I hate to see what theyre going to do.

I thought that in the event one had 2 installment  loans and 1 was paid off and closed that as long as one installment loan remained which in my case is an OPEN 18 month NFCU pledge loan currently reporting 94% paid back that I would have all the Loan balance fico points taken would immedietly be restored once installment utilization returned to what it was when score was 797.

Has any one had this happen and saw their fico score points restored when aglorithm sees amount OWED has decreased and the same  18 month pledge installment laon remains. Instead of having 2 loans the only loan that remains open now is the previous loan before AMEX installment loan. 

I hope i'm making sense . I'm pissed that EXPERIAN didnt immediately restore my 29 points once AMEX Loan was paid in full and closed and noted an installment loan at 94% paid still remains as it was.

Any other experiences shared would be greatly appreciated. 

[Zoostation1]

You might get better better responses if this were moved to the "understanding fico scoring" section.  

[jcc332006]

---

@Zoostation1 wrote:

You might get better better responses if this were moved to the "understanding fico scoring" section.  

---

---

Thanks. Considering it's Amex personal loan/installment loan related and I'm requesting other members experience with this as well and effect on their ficos seemed it would fit here as well. If noone shares their input. I'll survive. Lol

---

[pizzadude]

First, can you confirm where you're pulling your FICO scores, is it from myFICO ?

Second, in general you shouldn't expect to your FICO score to bounce back exactly to where it was before you took out the personal loan because your report is not identical now.  You've added a new account, your AAoA would be lower, for example.

Also I'll move this to Understanding FICO Scoring for better visibility

[markbeiser]

BAD debt slave, you stopped owing a bank money!🤪

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Gotta love everyone saying you'll get your points back because you xyz. No, that's not how it works. People should really stop making that claim. As mentioned above your report has changed. This goes for anything like inquiries and utilization. Your points don't always come back just because something falls off or reports go back to what they were. You were hit especially hard due to how high your scores were. 800s have greater drops than someone with a 720 doing the same thing. 

[jcc332006]

---

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:

Gotta love everyone saying you'll get your points back because you xyz. No, that's not how it works. People should really stop making that claim. As mentioned above your report has changed. This goes for anything like inquiries and utilization. Your points don't always come back just because something falls off or reports go back to what they were. You were hit especially hard due to how high your scores were. 800s have greater drops than someone with a 720 doing the same thing. 

---

Got it thanks!

[SouthJamaica]

What I find odd is that you didn't get the score drop when the Amex loan was first reported.

If you have experian.com you can compare your current EX report with the EX report from the day the Amex loan reported. That might give you a clue as to what is going on.

[jcc332006]

---

@SouthJamaica wrote:

What I find odd is that you didn't get the score drop when the Amex loan was first reported.

If you have experian.com you can compare your current EX report with the EX report from the day the Amex loan reported. That might give you a clue as to what is going on.

---

Exactly!!! This is what infuriates me. I recall you chiming in when I 1st took the Amex Loan I didn't need lol and my questions at that time about effect it may or may not have on my fico score. Score didn't change at all after loan after paying it down to 6500ish before it reported. I've looked at the report before the drop and I see absolutely nothing that changed in that 4 month period. Score stayed at 797 until January 31st and then bang a huge 29 point  drop out of nowhere.  49 points on equifax 23 points on Transunion. It's crazy.

It's almost like I got hit for nothing. 😡

[jonath]

Out of curiosity, did your score rebound in the 7-8 months since?