Crummy and inconsistent FICO scoring!!

[Anonymous]

I filed BK 8/18, it was discharged 11/18, my scores were 511-604 between 12/19 and 3/19....as of 8/19, my scores are 672 EQ, 648 TU, and 636 EX.  I am so ANGRY at how these 3 companies judge the SAME criteria so differently.  My scores were 652 EX, 649 TU, and 669 EQ just 1 week ago, then I PAID off $71 in credit crads, and EQ bumps my score UP (YAY, now I'm over to the 'good' threshold), TU drops me 1 point, and EX DROPS me 16 pints!!  You know, this is truly a HUGE discouragement, as I've worked hard to get back to a good score post BK, and I am just so mad at how all 3 companies will either lower or lift your score for the SAME thing.  I use a small amount of credit to report some usage, my score goes up or down based on which company feels like crushing me or raising me, then I pay it off to show responsibility, I use a small amount of credit and pay in full, then they DROP my score a whopping 16 points!!  This is all such a huge game, and I wish there were regulations for all 3 companies to judge the criteria the same....do you want me to run up my credit or not use it??  You want me somewhere in the middle?  I thought I did that, and that stupid EX is just penalizing me no matter what I do!  Almost 1 year out, and I hate EX, they are the ones the auto dealers LOVE to use, probably because they report the lowest, and I just can't win....no new car for a while with a puny 636 score.  UGH, I wish I could dispute a credit score!!  Between a 672 and 636, that's a HUGE (36 points, one score in good range the other is stuck in fair) difference in scores, there should not be a huge gap like that in scoring for the same credit file!

[KLEXH25]

Do you know what is on each credit report? If each bureau has slightly different information on it, it could be the reason for the discrepancy. Also, the timing of what balance is on your cards at the time of reporting can have an effect. What are you using to track your scores? I know it can be frustrating to figure out which actions affect your scores, but as long as your reported utilization is low <8.9% and paying in full on time, you are on the right track. I suggest going over to the Fico Scoring section and learning which actions have a positive affect and which result in a negative. For example, if all your cards report at $0, you’ll take a score hit. However having $0 balances on all cards EXCEPT one (which should be less than 8.9% of CL), will maximize your scores.

[Anonymous]

I subscribe to the monthly myfico reporting, so every time something changes, they notify me and when my score changes, it says 'decrease' or 'increase' in score....'your balance went down by $71 on this credit card', and EX is the one that dropped me by 16 points, as the other 2 reported that same $71 decrease, my score went down by 1 point for TU and up by 3 points for EQ.....I'm not sure if all reports show the same info, but they all reported the same credit card balance, and they all treated that decrease differently, which is what irks me.  I was at 652 with EX, trying to climb above that 670 threshold, thought it would look good to pay off that small amount, and then I go the opposite direction in my score!!  It's absolutely maddening, I tell ya!!

[Anonymous]

"I'm not sure if all reports show the same info,"

Start there. Pull up each report and review it line by line. Reports generate the score. The individual action you were notified about is not necessarily what is driving the score change.

[KLEXH25]

When tracking with MyFICO, the score change doesn’t always line up with the status alert change. In fact it almost never does, so it is quite misleading. I suggest getting a copy of each credit report and see if they are reporting all the same accounts and information. Chances are there are some discrepancies which accounts for the difference in scores. For example, if EX lists a derogatory that isn’t included on EQ or TU, it can result in a large score difference. Also, you may want to consider signing up with creditchecktotal.com (aka Experian) and do a free trial with them, as their alerts and score updates seem to coincide more accurately. I like them a lot more than MyFICO for tracking that I have a paid membership.