Credit Scores have dropped 50-100 points in a month.

[Anonymous]

The short of it: Credit Scores have dropped 50-100 points in a month.

The back story:

In the past three months, I've seen my CS go from the high 500s to the low 700s after cleaning up A TON of things on my CR (thanks to this forum). This allowed me to open several credit products which I did for several reasons: First, to put my fiancee & I in the best position possible to buy a house next year (ideal amount of unsecured lines, total accounts, utilization, types of accounts, etc.). Second, because I had no unsecured credit which was hurting my score.  Third, to earn rewards for expenditures I'm making everyday anyway ($10k + monthly including reimbursed business expenses).

Before I did this I had five total accounts: 3 Student Loans, 1 Auto Loan, 1 Secured Card ($350CL)

Now I have 14 total accounts: 3 Student Loans, 1 Auto Loan, 1 PLOC - $15k, 9 Unsecured Cards for around $35k in total CL's (only one store card-- Amazon, due to spending habits, otherwise all "Prime" or Credit Union Rewards Cards). Nearly $50k in total unsecured lines. **I did close the unsecured card**

My AAoA dropped precipitously, but is still over 2+ Years (was at 8). We do PIF, but I didn't realize when the first statements were getting cut so our UTIL is showing 14% which is obviously more than the 5% or so that we're aiming for, but it's not exactly bad. (We're now paying every week.)

I still have three late payments on all three CR all from more than 1 year ago, and I do show one account that says it was previously a colleciton and is now closed & PIF. (It was $80 from Verizon -- I've fought like hell with them... don't get me started.) Otherwise, nothing else bad on my report... except obviously my INQs! I have somewhere between 8-12 on each of the three CBs, nearly all coming in the past two months.

Here's the kicker... my scores have dropped between 50-100 points (between 609 - 660) after these changes. 

From reading this forum here's what I've gathered:

AAoA dropped six years, it's not hurting but it's not helping anymore. 

Closing my Secured Card didn't affect my credit because it'll still reporting (all positives) for the next ten years. And since it was a low CL and I have more accounts now, the affect should be negligible on my score.

INQs hurt a lot. They were a necessary evil in my case and I still believe I made good choices in taking the steps that I did, but is the entire score drop to blame on INQs?

I've seen people on this forum with dozens of inquiries and scores that have dipped but not dropped off a cliff like mine (obviously my file is still considered thin). I'm now concerned that my scores won't rebound in time to buy a house next year -- otherwise, I have ZERO PLANS for HPs for anything.

Is there something else going on? Is this really all the effect of INQs? Are there any steps I should be taking right now? Should I freeze my TU, Equi & Exp reports? And if so, does that affect automatic soft-pulls for CLI?

I appreciate any insight, you guys are the best.

[pizza1]

Where are you getting your sores from?

If its CK or someplace like that, those arent your true FICO scores.

[Anonymous]

You've said this has all happened in the last 3 months?

I'm wondering if some of your new accounts just started reporting.  Sometimes new accounts can cause a temporary dip in your credit score when they show up on your report, both because it's a new account and of course because of the obvious inquiry hit.  Your score will rebound naturally as long as everything is nurtured going forward.  Now may not be a terrible time to look into hanging out in the garden for a while so you can see your rebound happen

[sjt]

Where did you get your scores? 

[Anonymous]

Scores are from TU, EX & EQ themselves (free trial subscriptions).

[Dalmus]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Scores are from TU, EX & EQ themselves (free trial subscriptions).

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I believe TU and EQ don't give you a FICO score anymore... They give you a Vantage 3.0 score, which is the same score you get from Credit Karma.  I think EX is the only one that sells a FICO score.

[baller4life]

And there's your problem. Those are fako scores. Not Fico. Completely ignore them. Sign up with CCT $1 trial to get your fico scores.

[Anonymous]

You can use Discover and Amex to get your scores for free but it only updates monthly.

[Anonymous]

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@baller4life wrote:

And there's your problem. Those are fako scores. Not Fico. Completely ignore them. Sign up with CCT first  $1 trial to get your fico scores.

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@I'm with @baller4life sign up for Credit Check Total for the free trial and get your true FICO scores. Your score probably did take a hit since your accounts just started reporting but once your accounts age to 1 year and once your inquiries age to 1 year you will see the rebound of your scores. You will actually see an improvement in score earlier than that as the accounts age. I went on a app spree after I closed on my house and it hurt for a little while. My scores started to really rebound a couple of months later.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@baller4life wrote:

And there's your problem. Those are fako scores. Not Fico. Completely ignore them. Sign up with CCT first  $1 trial to get your fico scores.

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@I'm with @baller4life sign up for Credit Check Total for the free trial and get your true FICO scores. Your score probably did take a hit since your accounts just started reporting but once your accounts age to 1 year and once your inquiries age to 1 year you will see the rebound of your scores. You will actually see an improvement in score earlier than that as the accounts age. I went on a app spree after I closed on my house and it hurt for a little while. My scores started to really rebound a couple of months later.

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Also, it seems as if the Vantage scores take a harder hit from new accounts than FICO does