@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for all the replies.
Yes these are Vantage Scores from Credit Karma. In this case I'm trying to show her the factors involved in her score and what to do (and not do) to improve them. I'm aware that the Vantage Score may not reflect the real world but I'm not going to suggest to someone with a score below 600 score that they spend $300 a year to monitor their scores, especially when there are so many scores to monitor, and lenders often use their own anyway. Monitoring is fun but not really necessary: pay your bills on time and don't overspend, and the rest (late payments, credit age, etc.) will take care of itself.
The credit age went from 32 years to 7 years. The percent of credit limit essentially doubled. The card in question had a zero balance with no collections and the last payment to it was in 2014. That card was the only difference in the reports from TU and Equifax. WIth its removal the information in both reports is now the same. Yet the TU score is now 50 points higher than Equifax, which in itself makes no sense (never seen that large a discrepancy between them).
Basically I'm trying to explain to her what affects the score, and a 50 point jump based on removing that card makes me look foolish trying to explain it (trying to explain why removing an old account with a relatively high credit limit was a bad idea).
There is no sense when trying to make sense of Vantage scores. There are plenty of options to get Fico scores without paying $300/yr. Experian offers free fico scores, some creditors offer free fico scores. You can go to credit check total and sign up for a trial for $1 to get scores (just be sure to cancel the subscription) and rinse and repeat. That is $12/yr or less. You may not need all 28 Fico scores, but at least the basuc 3 Fico 8 scores is a good start.
I have had positive changes droo my vantage scores, negative changes raise my vantage score, and nearly insignificant change make my vantage scores swing wildly. Shifting upwards of 50-100 pts is not uncommon for vantage scores.
Trying to explain the Fico scores that are more well understood would be much easier.
You can have 700s vantage scores, but 500s fico scores or vice versa. They really can vary that drastically.
You would think not overspending and paying bills on-time is enough, but it unfortunately is not, especially in the (re)building phases. There are a lot of smaller variables that can build up a score/profile or drag it down. You dont have to monitor every move, but waiting out 7 years for every baddie to come off to see where you land is a long time. I know, I tried that method for decades. Now that I have been incredibly more proactive and monitoring my progress and changes, I have seen more growth than I ever have before.
