My score is constantly changing.

[DaveSignal]

By "constantly", I mean 4 times in less than 1 month of subscribing to score watch:

There have been no major changes to my credit report other than 2 inquiries and a new account, but those are the 3 alerts (675 score) listed where my score didn't change at all.

Is this normal? 

[Anonymous]

My bet it is balances on cards updating. Do you have a bunch of crediT cards

[DaveSignal]

Yeah, I have lots.  I have been disputing negative items too.  Could it be the disputes?

[MarineVietVet]

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@DaveSignal wrote:

Yeah, I have lots.  I have been disputing negative items too.  Could it be the disputes?

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Do you consider these negative items inaccurate or do you just want them gone?

[DaveSignal]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

Do you consider these negative items inaccurate or do you just want them gone?

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I am disputing everything.  This is the method advocated by my superiors in the United States Army.  What is your better method?

[MarineVietVet]

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@DaveSignal wrote:

I am disputing everything.  This is the method advocated by my superiors in the United States Army.  What is your better method?

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Only information that you truly feel is incorrect should be disputed and discussion of disputing everything is a violation of the forum's Credit repair Discussion Guidelines which state:

The only credit repair discussions allowed in FICO Forums are ones that exchange information on how to correct or remove real errors from your credit report – not accurate information that you want to get rid of because it may be negatively affecting your credit score.

So with all due respect to your superiors they are wrong in this instance as far as the standards of myFICO are concerned.

[DaveSignal]

In that case, everything I am disputing is partially inaccurate.  Could the disputes result in the score changes considering that the dispute usually ends in no change?

[DaveSignal]

UPDATE:  I found a blog post here that states that an active dispute WILL lower EQ FICO while in progress.  This is good to know for the future if I ever need good credit for something.

[MarineVietVet]

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@DaveSignal wrote:

UPDATE:  I found a blog post here that states that an active dispute WILL lower EQ FICO while in progress.  This is good to know for the future if I ever need good credit for something.

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Just be aware that disputing can have unintended consequences.

 1) Disputing can cause your score to drop. A dispute removes certain aspects on OC TLs per FICO like your balance or CL and that can negatively impact your score if it actually helped your util.

2) Disputing can lead to the early demise of an OC TL. While that may sound good if you have a CO or a TL with a bunch of lates, if that TL was one of your oldest or helped your AAoA, then it's depature can possibly drop your score if the history helped more than the baddie hurt. Also, some OCs will automatically remove the negative aspects at the 7 yr mark and it could have reported as a positive for a while longer.

3) Disputing can lead the OC or CA to report worse than what they were before. If an OC wasn't reporting every late or if the OC/CA had not updated in a while, then they can update their reporting and that can cause your FICO scores to drop.

4) Disputing will almost always lead to increased collection activity if the debt is unpaid, including increased letters, calls, or increased risk of being sued.

5) Disputing makes it harder to get a PFD or GW accepted. I recall calling for a GW for Verizon once and they said that since I disputed an accurate account then they wouldn't grant the GW (though I don't they they'd accept it anyway).

6) Disputing can lead to a fraud alert in some instances if you dispute as "not mine" (I'm sure it depends on the OC/CA).

7) Disputing takes too much time. Sending a GW or calling in a GW if paid or a PFD if unpaid takes a week tops. A dispute can take up to 30-45 days.

8) When disputing, you typically only have one shot before being labeled a "frivolous disputer" by the CRAs (EX in particular).

9) A dispute comment can lead to a mortgage denial. YMMV on the lender.

10) A dispute can lead to a split file (primarily EQ).

[Anonymous]

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@MarineVietVet wrote:

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@DaveSignal wrote:

UPDATE:  I found a blog post here that states that an active dispute WILL lower EQ FICO while in progress.  This is good to know for the future if I ever need good credit for something.

---

Just be aware that disputing can have unintended consequences.

 1) Disputing can cause your score to drop. A dispute removes certain aspects on OC TLs per FICO like your balance or CL and that can negatively impact your score if it actually helped your util.

2) Disputing can lead to the early demise of an OC TL. While that may sound good if you have a CO or a TL with a bunch of lates, if that TL was one of your oldest or helped your AAoA, then it's depature can possibly drop your score if the history helped more than the baddie hurt. Also, some OCs will automatically remove the negative aspects at the 7 yr mark and it could have reported as a positive for a while longer.

3) Disputing can lead the OC or CA to report worse than what they were before. If an OC wasn't reporting every late or if the OC/CA had not updated in a while, then they can update their reporting and that can cause your FICO scores to drop.

4) Disputing will almost always lead to increased collection activity if the debt is unpaid, including increased letters, calls, or increased risk of being sued.

5) Disputing makes it harder to get a PFD or GW accepted. I recall calling for a GW for Verizon once and they said that since I disputed an accurate account then they wouldn't grant the GW (though I don't they they'd accept it anyway).

6) Disputing can lead to a fraud alert in some instances if you dispute as "not mine" (I'm sure it depends on the OC/CA).

7) Disputing takes too much time. Sending a GW or calling in a GW if paid or a PFD if unpaid takes a week tops. A dispute can take up to 30-45 days.

8) When disputing, you typically only have one shot before being labeled a "frivolous disputer" by the CRAs (EX in particular).

9) A dispute comment can lead to a mortgage denial. YMMV on the lender.

10) A dispute can lead to a split file (primarily EQ).

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These items don't seem to be mentioned enough... The first "vibe" I got around these parts is that many folks just dispute everything, in hopes that something will stick. Thanks for validating my suspicion that disputing is really just a tool to deal with inaccurate info.