Puzzled...?

[Anonymous]

I have been working diligently for the past 3 years to fix/correct my credit. As I have gotten older I have realized how incredibly important it is, I am 28. I started at 545 with 19 negatives, yes 19 including a judgment. Through a lot of time and my own money I was able to work it up to a 622 which was the last time I checked it through myFICO. I was recently delighted to find out that my worst collection AS WELL as my judgment was deleted from my EQ report. I couldn't wait to check my current FICO. To my dismay, it went DOWN to 608 which leads to me my question....

How in the world would my score go down after having not only a collection, but a judgment deleted off? Neither are showing on myFICO at my current score of 608, yet both were on there at 622....

[IOBA]

It may have affected your AAofA.    When the old accounts fell off your report, there were fewer reports to calculate your average age of accounts.   Also, your mix of credit may have changed, giving you a "thin" file.   Congratulations on cleaning up your credit!   My suggestion to start building the credit file and score is to apply for ONE new credit product - a cc or a secured loan (ie - personal loan with CD funds securing it).

Buckets (for aging) -

0-3 yrs

3-5 yrs

5-8 yrs

8-12 yrs

12 yrs +

[AndySoCal]

Depending on what the collection was for there could be several things it could be. Remember as the derogatory information gets older in time the impact on the score is less.  Here are a few questions presuming both reports were pulled here to help you find out why.

1) Any recently reported derogatory information ie late payment ?

2) How old are your bad accounts? Did you pay any of them off recently?

3) Did your credit utilization  change from report to report?