Help me understand...(score drop)

[Anonymous]

Hello,

I'm not sure what is going on, but my transunion dropped 2x points and equifax went down 51!! points.  There are no new accounts, late payments, most recent balance change was within $50 on a total credit line of 70k, no closed accounts, or even inquiries.  I don't understand.  My credit has been on a steady incline for a couple of years and it is like I am starting over again (drop on equifax took me from 789 to 738 ). 

[Revelate]

That sounds like something either got removed or added (deliquency or derogatory) to your account; I'd pull reports from the bureaus and check them.

For completeness, what service did you use to see the score drops?

[Anonymous]

I pulled the reports and there was no change in previously mentioned things...

[Anonymous]

It has dropped using myfico and I saw a drop a few weeks before on CK (but thought less of it at the time)....

[Anonymous]

The only things IMO that could result in a score drop that big (50+ points) would be the introduction of a negative item, or a pretty substantial increase in utilization.  No other factors would cause that great of a drop as far as I can tell.

Definitely don't look at those CK scores and stick with FICO scores from MF.  Compare your reports both before and after the score drop.  Look at your negative reason codes.  What were your negative reason codes before the drop?  How about after?  That should give you a clue as to what changed in the eyes of FICO.

[Anonymous]

Check to see if dates on negatives have been updated to make them look recent.

[Anonymous]

There has been no reason given, that's my issue.  Pulled my reports and I still have zero derogatories, no new accounts, and the overall balance changed by .04% in the alst 3-4 weeks.  

[DollyLama]

I'm thinking the $50 balance on a 70k card might be scored at 0% utilization even though you have a small balance, perhaps letting $75 -$100 balance will be at minimum 1% or tad higher. So FICO may not think all cards are 0% utilization. 

[Glen_M]

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@DollyLama wrote:

I'm thinking the $50 balance on a 70k card might be scored at 0% utilization even though you have a small balance, perhaps letting $75 -$100 balance will be at minimum 1% or tad higher. So FICO may not think all cards are 0% utilization. 

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Going from 0-1% utilization should not cause a 50pt change, or even the 20 for most people.  That is in the range of a significant derogatory like non-payment or a charge-off.

Did the reporting status of an old account change?  There are always reason codes given, even for someone with a perfect score, what were the previous ones and what has changed?

[Anonymous]

Sorry not what I meant.  It went from 9% to about 9.1% (less actually) utilization.  I meant the balance amount had changed by that small amount.