I'm having the same issue! Actually for me, it doesn't seem to matter what I do! I paid off my cards and my score dropped 30 points. I used a couple of cards to book some rooms and buy some stuff for a trip to Michigan and my score dropped another 10 points because my balance increased! If I pay off my debt my score drops. If I use my credit my score drops. I understand they want you to be in debt so you can continue paying interest so they can make money. I also understand if you don't use credit they have liability and the will cut your limit, but a credit report is just a list of rich people you're making richer and if you don't stay in debt to them they'll cut your limit and lower your score making you pay higher interest rates to other rich people! It's 100% legal too! Then FICO comes out with what, 17 different scoring models and not everyone subscribes to the same model, and not everyone reports to the same reporting bureaus so your score depends on who uses what model and what bureau they report to. If you apply for credit that drops your score because you're a risk because you're looking for credit. If you miss a payment it stays on your credit report for 7 years! There are felons who do less time than that! If you pay off that collection on your credit report it renews how long it can be reported! Isn't paying taxes so felons and the poor can have free health care enough of a financial burden without being penalized for 7 years of paying higher interest rates for being a few days late on a Visa payment when there's no consistency in the system that keeps our score or where our records are being reported? Look at all the research and charity our taxes pay for, in the US and around the world, yet we miss a payment and that's one-third of our FICO score down the tubes all because some billion dollar company didn't get their $35 in interest this month!
