Greetings, I am new to this forum, so I am not sure how to "search". Forgive me if this has already been covered.
I am trying to rebuild my credit. Two and one half years ago I had a rough spot (thankfully no bks or foreclosure/repos, but there were late credit card payments that ultimately led to a charge off and various collections). I fully own up to all of that and have since paid all of the accounts in collections (including the one that was charged off). Last year I opened a few credit accounts to get myself on the right track and have paid them on time, every time since the day that I opened them. The result of my efforts were FICO scores that were actually decent - 660 Transunion, Equifax 689 and Experian 680. That made me very happy and incentivized me to continue the good work. Those aforementioned scores were pulled in September.
I received an alert from another site that my Experian credit score had changed, so I pulled my FICO scores again on 10/3 to make sure. My FICO scores did in fact change and for Experian, the change was a full 24 points. My Transunion remained the same, Equifax went down by two to 687 and Experian went down to 656. I admit that I am ignorant somewhat about credit reporting data, so when I received the report I really couldn't see the reason for such a big change since I wasn't deliquent on any account. There were no additional collection accounts or delinquencies or inquiries. Nothing seemed different, at least to me. I spoke with a counselor and they told me that while they can't speak for FICO, they believe that one of my positive accounts being put in "dispute" status as well as me paying off my credit card balances immediately in full could be contributors. Is that true? Could both of these things cause my score to take such a fall? Should I worry? Should I always carry a balance so that it shows usage for the credit card? I am so scared of racking up credit card debt that I immediately pay off whatever I charge. I'm thinking that that would help me, not hurt me. Can disputes hurt your score by that much? I guess since I do have derog marks on my report like a charge off (which I didn't realize was almost on par with a BK), every little thing can cause it to change.
I'm confused and a bit worried because my score went down even though I am paying all of my bills on time and have no new derogatory marks. I'm worried because I'd like to apply for a home loan and I want to get to 700 by mid next year if I can. You all seem wise, so thanks for your help.
