FICO SCORE

[Reasonable]

My FICO score dropped 25 points. There has been no changes in anything with my finances. I checked my credit report, and no problems there. I have purchased nothing, no unusual spikes in spending, nothing I am behind on. But this precipitous dropped--unexplainable!

[JoeRockhead]

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@Reasonable wrote:

My FICO score dropped 25 points. There has been no changes in anything with my finances. I checked my credit report, and no problems there. I have purchased nothing, no unusual spikes in spending, nothing I am behind on. But this precipitous dropped--unexplainable!

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If the score changed, something in the reported data changed, even if there were no new accounts, inquiries, or late payments.  There are many other things that could cause a drop like this. 

• It could be reported utilization,
• An all zero penalty,
• The number of accounts reporting balances that month
• Score card thresholds.

You could provide more information such as the following (so members can try to help you find the reason for the drop):

• Your total number of accounts, and type of account (revolving, loan etc)
• Age of each of those accounts
• Reported balance of each account
• Credit limit of each account

FICO scores don’t just drop 25 points for no reason.

[Patient957]

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@Reasonable wrote:

My FICO score dropped 25 points. There has been no changes in anything with my finances. I checked my credit report, and no problems there. I have purchased nothing, no unusual spikes in spending, nothing I am behind on. But this precipitous dropped--unexplainable!

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We get this exact same thread about every few weeks.  Someone's score dropped and they think there's no reason why.  There's always a reason.  However, most people don't understand how Fico scoring works, so they don't even know what changes to look for in their credit report.  If you don't know what to look for, it seems like nothing important changed.

Let's start with some basic questions:

1) Which score are you looking at and where are you getting it from?

2) Did your score drop across all three bureaus?  

3) What was your score before the 25 point drop?

4) What is your average age of accounts?

Those answers will at least give us a place to start.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Any new credit card account opened or reported recently? Close a loan or a lease? Change in status on any accounts: open => closed, closed => no longer on report, student loan in deferment => active loan, DOFD on a derog updated to show a more recent date?

[FicoMike0]

@Reasonable 

You certainly got some ideas here. Your score drop is explainable, you just have to give the experts enough info. First, which fico score are you talking about? You have several. Which bureau? There are 3. Where did you get it from? When were the before and after scores?

[BrutalBodyShots]

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@Reasonable wrote:

My FICO score dropped 25 points. There has been no changes in anything with my finances. 

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Credit scores don't drop due to changes in one's finances. They change due to changes with one's credit report data.

If a FICO score (the output) moves it means the credit report data (the input) changed.

[FicoMike0]

Ditto @BrutalBodyShots 

You don't have to agree with the data either. And the more you question why it matters, the more it does.

[E36]

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@JoeRockhead wrote:

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@Reasonable wrote:

My FICO score dropped 25 points. There has been no changes in anything with my finances. I checked my credit report, and no problems there. I have purchased nothing, no unusual spikes in spending, nothing I am behind on. But this precipitous dropped--unexplainable!

---

If the score changed, something in the reported data changed, even if there were no new accounts, inquiries, or late payments.  There are many other things that could cause a drop like this. 

• It could be reported utilization,
• An all zero penalty,
• The number of accounts reporting balances that month
• Score card thresholds.

You could provide more information such as the following (so members can try to help you find the reason for the drop):

• Your total number of accounts, and type of account (revolving, loan etc)
• Age of each of those accounts
• Reported balance of each account
• Credit limit of each account

FICO scores don’t just drop 25 points for no reason.

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What's an all zero penalty?

[Vinjints]

If all your cards report a zero balance, you're deemed to have not used your credit that month and they penalize you. Similarly if you show balances on more than 50% of your cards, they think you're using too much credit even if they are all relatively small amounts.