Equifax and subtraction of score numbers.

[Anonymous]

I am coming back from the brink of bad credit from 2003 and score has been coming up slowly to 658 as of November 1, 2007

was 427 in Jan 2004.

Equifax gives me 13 to 14 points a month lately then I get to 656 in Sept. 2007 and they give me 2 stinking points to 658 on October 2007 2 points away from that magic number 660, where I can get 6.375% om my house refi. November 8th I get an alert they sent me from 658 down to 650. Got really pissed. Paid another. 10.00 to get a confirmation number because they will not talk to you if you do not have a current reference number that is not 30 days old.

There is NOTHING negative and only positive information being reported and they take away 8 points for nothing. HOW can they do this?

I sent them an e-mail that if they do not have a supervisor call me as to what exactly happened and a darn good reason, I am going to report them to the Federal Trade commison and contact a Consumer Law attorney. THIS IS nonsense they can play with your life like this.

These credit Companies have way too much control over our financial lives and are never held accountable for nonsense. As well as only reporting that they have August  info when I know they have up to October info from my payables, so to them I am missing 2 months of positive reporting.

I did dispute a mortgage co. CIT that reported me upside down for August, 47,800.00 on a original 47,500.00 mortgage that should have been 47,300.00 but it was in my favor and I should not be penalized for that.

WHAT can I do?

Thanks.

Message Edited by zman on 11-08-2007 08:04 AM

[Anonymous]

Hi zman, welcome to the forum. There is a wealth of information here for you to read and learn to help you rebuild your credit, and many knowledgeable people here to answer your questions.

What you've observed about your scores, even without any apparent reason, is widely discussed here. When I observe something like that on my credit scores(and it happens all the time) I pull all 3 credit reports, and carefully compare them to prior CR's, to see if something has changed. This is often the case. Like a new inquiry, or a late being added to your cr.

Another reason is that it could be you have "graduated" into a higher credit catagory (we call it buckets). For a complete discussion of "buckets", please type that word in the search box at top of screen.

Finally, there are 2 main types of credit scores:  FICO scores(the scoring method 90% of all major banks and lenders use), and then there are FAKO scores, that no lenders see, only the consumer requesting their score. The credit reports you can get from myFiCO are true FICO scores.

I highly suggest that you read the highly informative thread called "Credit Scoring 101" found at the top of this main section page:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=2654

Hope that helps.

Message Edited by Sylviatob on 11-08-2007 08:46 AM

[Anonymous]

Thanks for responding.

I have last months report I paid for and that is how I know everything is positive. NO negative stuff.

Also, I found out it went to 650 because I just happen to log onto Equifax because they use FICO not fako. I did not actually get an alert so there is no resoning behind the drop as far as Equifax is concerned.

There were no mentions about buckets.

I normally get a reason why the score went up like" a balance dropped and your credit limit went up blah blah blah"

But got nothing this time.

I will try and read about the buckets you mentioned.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

you can actually call equifax and talk to someone.  try it. number i s on website.

forget equifax then and call my fico.  they are very informative and knowledgable.

Message Edited by casinoannie97 on 11-10-2007 03:59 PM

[Anonymous]

When I call, I get hung up on before anyone answers. Also, most of the people that work there have no clue. I have found out in the past.

I think they run off a standard blurb sheet. they never have any real answers.  But thanks for the suggestion.

[haulingthescoreup]

zman, you've got Score Watch directly through EQ, instead of through myFICO, right? I wonder if they would send bucket notices, since that's a FICO thing.

With EQ and FICO having a business relationship, and so much about the two Score Watches being identical, I don't know if there is anything that you would not get from your version. Just thinking out loud, sorry (bad habit of mine! ) It does look awfully bucket-y, though.

When you compare your new score report with a previous one, has either your total length of credit history or your average credit age changed? You should be able to find both of these on screen 2, under the scales. You can also find the total length/ longest credit history on screen 4. I'm sure that there are other things that move you into a new bucket, but a change in total length seems to be what did it to me.

One good thing about mortgages is that they are not always purely score-driven. You might be able to bring your before and after reports and scores with you and see if they would give you the lower rate after all. (You never know.) good luck!

[Anonymous]

Got mail from Equifax about the drop finally. At least it is good news.

We have received your email inquiry.

We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry and for the inconvenience you have experienced.

There are many reasons why your credit score may increase or decrease.

FICO

uses "Score Cards" which are used to group individual information on a credit report.

When accounts are placed on the Equifax Credit Report (TM), an individual "Score Card" is recorded.

Previously, you were in the best of a certain group. Your group may have been of higher risk to potential credit lenders. Once elements such as balances and entire accounts change on your credit report, you moved to a different comparison group, where you are now in a better overall group, but with lower than average standing.

[marty56]

I am kinda new here but I dont see in the FICO score calculation a description of "score buckets".  I dont see how a score of say 707 is better then a score of 709 bacuse 707 is in a better

"score bucket" group.

Also everything I see about score ranges in terms of rates on CC and mortgages shows groups of scores that dont overlap and the higher the score, the better the rate.  Please explain.

[Anonymous]

I am fairly new here too, and nobody I know of can explain these Score cards myfico calls buckets.

I think it just means that when you get into a better bucket your score gets treated better and increases faster maybe. But I do not see why it would drop. I did gain 5 points back already since the 8 point drop 10 days or so ago.

Just very glad to be in better "bucket" after 2-1/2 years of struggling.

I am kinda new here but I dont see in the FICO score calculation a description of "score buckets".  I dont see how a score of say 707 is better then a score of 709 bacuse 707 is in a better

"score bucket" group.

Also everything I see about score ranges in terms of rates on CC and mortgages shows groups of scores that dont overlap and the higher the score, the better the rate.  Please explain.

[MidnightVoice]

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zman wrote:

I am fairly new here too, and nobody I know of can explain these Score cards myfico calls buckets.

I think it just means that when you get into a better bucket your score gets treated better and increases faster maybe. But I do not see why it would drop. I did gain 5 points back already since the 8 point drop 10 days or so ago.

Just very glad to be in better "bucket" after 2-1/2 years of struggling.

I am kinda new here but I dont see in the FICO score calculation a description of "score buckets".  I dont see how a score of say 707 is better then a score of 709 bacuse 707 is in a better

"score bucket" group.

Also everything I see about score ranges in terms of rates on CC and mortgages shows groups of scores that dont overlap and the higher the score, the better the rate.  Please explain.

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Look up mangos.  Fused does a good tropical fruit salad analogy