Angry about FICO scoring

[Anonymous]

I am doing everything  I can not to use profanity because I am really upset about this.  I know I am not alone but I figured that I needed to share this with people who MIGHT understand or give a flip. 

For the last 3 years my wife and I have been doing what we can within the limits of our budget to improve our spending habits and bill paying.  I thought that we had been doing much much better and over that period of time I have seen some very minimal increases in our fico score.  In October of 2006 our score was high enough to get approved for an auto loan on a new vehicle.  Eight or nine months later when I went back to that dealer to try and get out of that vehicle and get into some thing cheaper I was told that my FICO score was much lower than it was when I first got my loan and that there was nothing they could do to help me.  I guess making those payments on time and never being late meant zip to them and to the credit gods. 

My wife and I have established new credit and have not been late on any of those credit accounts until just recently when a payment was marked as 30 days late.  The credit gods dinged my FICO score for 40 points.  I can not tell you how angry that makes me feel after all of the uphill struggle that we have made to try and raise the stupid score up.   It almost makes me feel as if this effort is pretty much useless.  The fact that my wife has been out of work since July has not helped the situation at all.  We have been in contact with all of the creditors and for the most part they are working with me except for this one  creditor that I am fixing to call. 

[sh9730]

I am very sorry to hear about your troubles, but this is FICO's fault how exactly?   If you have been working on upgrading your score over the last couple of years, you are aware of how much a recent late payment will kill your score until it ages a little.  It also sounds like you have opened up new credit recently, which is good in the long run, but it takes a little while to age!

Sounds like your creditors are working with you for the most part, and not reporting to the CRAs except for this one...but FICO just reports what the CRAs give them...unless its inaccurate its not really THEIR fault...

FICO definetely has some wierd quirks that I think are harsh (like getting dinged for PAYING a bill), but in this case I dont see it as their problem....

I hope it all works out for you in the end. 

[Anonymous]

I dont think it is anyone's fault but my own. 

You make a late payment they nail you to the wall over it.  I understand HOW  it works.  What I do not understand or (maybe better stated is that I dont like it) is that they give you so very few points for doing good but if you do something bad they take three or four times the amount of points away from you.  Does that make sense?  Does my thinking that the point system is unfair make me a bad person or unreasonable with how I feel? 

Thanks for the response....

[Anonymous]

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Technopappa wrote:

I dont think it is anyone's fault but my own. 

You make a late payment they nail you to the wall over it.  I understand HOW  it works.  What I do not understand or (maybe better stated is that I dont like it) is that they give you so very few points for doing good but if you do something bad they take three or four times the amount of points away from you.  Does that make sense?  Does my thinking that the point system is unfair make me a bad person or unreasonable with how I feel? 

Thanks for the response....

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Nobody said you were a bad person.  Don't equate your FICO score with your worth as a human being.

I am sorry this happened to you.  It is frustrating to feel like you're starting over from square one during the rebuilding process.

Having said that, I think FICO scoring is fair in this respect.

There are many areas of life where it can take years to recover from a mistake, only to have all your efforts erased in an instant when you make the same mistake again.  This is true in personal relationships, professional relationships, and also relationships with creditors.

[sh9730]

Techno,

Its all about the risk assigned.  Assume that you HAD gotten more points sooner than they had and you had been approved for even MORE credit and gotten into your financial troubles of late?  All the score is a way for creditors to assign risk in lending to you. It appears that even the credit you have been given was more than you could handle since you have gone late at least once (reported) and more than once with others who are NOT reporting. 

As the other poster said, this doesnt mean you are a bad person (this is coming from a person who took MANY years to repair past credit damage and am ALMOST done), FICO is just a way to help someone decide whether they should give you their money or not!

Im done on this one...I wish you the best...

[Anonymous]

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cheddar wrote:

There are many areas of life where it can take years to recover from a mistake, only to have all your efforts erased in an instant when you make the same mistake again.  This is true in personal relationships, professional relationships, and also relationships with creditors.

Excellent point.  It is also true in some other other financial situations -- like gambling, and also the stock market (when you buy high, freak out, and sell low).

To the OP:  Keep in mind that a mortgage lender commits to a 30-year relationship.  You can see why they need to feel comfortable with your paying habits over a reasonable period of time.

Best of luck, and hang in there!

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

your right it sucks!...

Good news is in a few months it won't hurt quite so bad as it ages..

Have you thought about writing a GW letter maybe you can get it removed...I know alot of folks have had good luck with them? Its cheap, easy and worth a try.

   good luck

[wmarat]

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Technopappa wrote:

I dont think it is anyone's fault but my own. 

You make a late payment they nail you to the wall over it.  I understand HOW  it works.  What I do not understand or (maybe better stated is that I dont like it) is that they give you so very few points for doing good but if you do something bad they take three or four times the amount of points away from you.  Does that make sense? It makes perfect sence. How else banks increase your APR.  Does my thinking that the point system is unfair make me a bad person or unreasonable with how I feel? 

Thanks for the response....

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