Credit keeps dropping every day

[ericc]

I just recently moved to a new apartment and every day for the past 2 weeks, I receive an SW alert that my address has changed. Along with it, it says my credit has dropped a couple of points. Does changing addresses negatively affect credit?

My credit score was 555 in the beginning of October, and now it has dropped down to 521. I haven't used my credit cards in months since I'm on a credit counseling program. I've recently paid off 2 creditors, and they closed my account since I'm on the counseling program. What is causing my credit to drop so dramatically?

Any suggestions on improving my credit score?

Thanks!

[Madison]

1) closing accounts doesn't remove any baddies. It does however lower your Credit Limit when CC are closed. Thus it probably raised your utilization.

2) I suspect the apartment management group pulled a hard credit report on you which shows up as an inquiry

3) Don't waste your money with that credit assistance. You can do the same and save the money. Be sure they are actually paying your bills with the money. Some have been known not to pay your bills and you wind up in a bigger mess.

Message Edited by Madison on 11-17-2008 02:03 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

I agree with Madison.

And address changes don't affect scores.

What does your myFICO EQ score report say is bad (and good) with your report? There's a lot more to it than the score. You need to get really familiar with all the elements in your score report, especially screen 2 (the balance scales.)

And although no one likes to pay for it, you need to do the same with your other two FICO scores (TU and EX.) You can start with the info on EQ for now, but once you really get going, you'll need to be aware of the contents of all of your reports.

If you haven't already done so, read the first main post on Credit Scoring 101. Also, read the myFICO PDF booklet about scoring. Both are stickied in my siggy.

Any advice you get here, no matter how accurate and useful, won't be as helpful as it could be if you don't have a basic understanding of credit scoring.

For anyone else reading this, if you haven't checked out that PDF booklet, you should take a look at it! It answers a lot of the questions that are asked here over and over and over.