Has FICO Scoring Changed

[chrys]

I was just informed by MyFico -Equifax that my score dropped from 775 to 734...a 41 point drop. Has the scoring method changed recently? I have a lot of accounts (29) but only 6 with balances. I've had these account for quite a while. The ratio of my revolving balances to my credit limits is 6%. I notice there were 3 inquiries but they were not by me. In fact one of the inquiries by Advanta closed the account for lack of activity. There are no negatives from the CC companies; so I can't dispute anything. I'd like to talk to FICO about their scoring but I don't think they accept calls or inquiries.

One after thought do you think they are including business card activity but not showing it. I have a couple of business cards but that would bring by debt/credit limit ratio up to about 8 or 9 per cent.

Do I have any options?

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, welcome to the forums! Sorry to hear about the startling drop.

If you pull your myFICO EQ report, it will list the negative factors that are affecting your score, with the most significant one being listed first. If you've never pulled one before, it will be hard to compare, but that will give you a start. You'll also be able to tell which accounts are reporting.

If you were notified via Scorewatch, don't worry about the reasons on the alert. They can be pretty lunatic.

The scoring formula hasn't changed, though.

[Anonymous]

Did you have any accounts fall off recently or did your total credit history hit a new year milestone? If you pulled a score report recently, pull one now and compare the two and let us know the differences. If you don't have any derogs in your report it could be from a recent loss of account history or your credit profile being compared to more competitive profiles because your profile has aged and placed you in a new "credit bucket"

[chrys]

Thanks for your insight. I've reviewed my FICO scores:

02/03/2007    737

03/14/2007    745

05/29/2007    738

08/18/2007    743

04/15/2008    775

09/03/2009    734

I pulled all 3 reports and there is nothing unusual from a year ago except the balances have all decreased and my debt/credit limit ratio declines which is good. If anything the FICO score should be going up. There appears to be a lot of variability in the scoring. The scores did spike in April of last year so maybe I am just returning to the mean.

Still disconcerting.

Is there a service that can analyze my 3 in 1 report and identify the problem? Can FICO take a second look? Maybe next month it will be higher. I could close some of those accounts I'm not using but I thought it was good to keep them open since the age data might be negatively impacted. It just seems crazy that I should suffer a 41 point decline.

[Anonymous]

I think it might have changed. I heard a story on the radio this morning about "new FICO scoring model" and here's an article on MSN money, http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/the-new-math-of-FICO-credit-scores.asp...

Hope it's ok to post this link, otherwise Mods, feel free to delete.

[llecs]

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GoldenDreams wrote:

I think it might have changed. I heard a story on the radio this morning about "new FICO scoring model" and here's an article on MSN money, http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/the-new-math-of-FICO-credit-scores.asp...

Hope it's ok to post this link, otherwise Mods, feel free to delete.

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Feel free to post links anytime, so as long as you aren't selling something or the link leads to an inappropriate website.

The scores here are the same model as always. When the formula used on myFICO changes, everyone will be given a heads up first, I certain.

There are different FICO formulas for each CRA and new ones are being introduced all the time to keep up with the demands of lenders, to adapt to the economy, etc. The latest versions to roll out are the FICO08 versions. It was introduced to TU last fall, EQ in the spring, and finally EX this summer. The formula differs in several ways and a very teeny tiny minority of lenders are using them now. You probably won't see a widespread use of this FICO08 version for another few years.

This website and the others that allow you to pull your own score (myFICO, transunioncs.com (note the cs), and Equifax.com (EQ only)) still sell the same versions as always (TU98 and Beacon 5.0). Some lenders out there are using different versions, but a large vast majority still use the same EQ score as the one found here (Beacon 5.0) and a majority use a TU version that actually differs  from the one use here; most use TU04.

[chrys]

Thanks. That Money article was interesting. All my utility bills are paid in full each month; so, I don't think that's the issue. However,this caught my interest:

 "FICO 08 aims to single out individuals who are named as authorized sources through deceptive means, Ulzheimer said. Those people won't see their credit scores rise as a result. But the scores of legitimate authorized users will be treated as they always have been."

Now, how are they going to do that? By last name? I'm an authorized user on my partner's AMEX card and my last name is different than his. His FICO score is higher than mine and now a lot more after taking that 41 point hit.

[Anonymous]

From what I understand, if you're an authorized user on a family member's card (husband, parent, etc.) it's fine, but they're targeting those companies that advertize help to raise credit scores by adding peoples names to credit accounts to help increase scores. Evidently, people can pay to have their name added to credit accounts in good standing and their scores go up accordingly. I think they're trying to close this loophole.

[AndySoCal]

The FICO 2008 does not apply here. FICO 2008 is not availible to consumers yet.

[Anonymous]

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@chrys wrote:

Thanks for your insight. I've reviewed my FICO scores:

02/03/2007    737

03/14/2007    745

05/29/2007    738

08/18/2007    743

04/15/2008    775

09/03/2009    734

I pulled all 3 reports and there is nothing unusual from a year ago except the balances have all decreased and my debt/credit limit ratio declines which is good. If anything the FICO score should be going up. There appears to be a lot of variability in the scoring. The scores did spike in April of last year so maybe I am just returning to the mean.

Still disconcerting.

Is there a service that can analyze my 3 in 1 report and identify the problem? Can FICO take a second look? Maybe next month it will be higher. I could close some of those accounts I'm not using but I thought it was good to keep them open since the age data might be negatively impacted. It just seems crazy that I should suffer a 41 point decline.

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Welcome to the forums!

Did you pull all these reports/scores from here? Are they EQ or TU? If you did look very carefully through the information provided - page by page. Something on your CBR has changed. The scoring model has not.

If you pulled them somewhere else: Are they all from the same place? Where from? Is it a FICO score?