Rebucketing and Dropping Oldest Account ##**!!##**!!

[veracious]

Lost my oldest account due to the 10 year drop off date. Had a 12 year oldest account record, now at 7yrs 1mo.

I opened a new account and My FICO saysI 'm punished for reason #1- you opened a new account recently

                                                                                                          reason#2-you've recently been looking for credit.

Isn't that saying the same thing twice?  Apparently, I being I'm being given a reason for punishment for what I can't  control.

Additionally I paid off an auto installment loan and that must be negative as well.

Like everyone else, my score has been dropping while paying off my debts.

My score, for various incomprehensible reasons has gone from a high of 789 to today's new 756.

I was doing better when I was carrying more debt and not trying to offset the oldest account dropoff.

Man, this makes no logical sense. Who actually benefits , when your score goes down and you try to help your score?

Certainly not me. I'm getting ready for a new mortgage soon. So frustrating!!!!

[llecs]

The hit would be due to the dropped account. Losing your oldest TL can really hurt. Not only does it impact the length, but could/would have hurt your AAoA too.

Reasons #1 and #2 AFAIK are two different things. #1 has to do with new credit with respect to your youngest TL and #2 is more with inquiries, I believe.

[Anonymous]

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@llecs wrote:

The hit would be due to the dropped account. Losing your oldest TL can really hurt. Not only does it impact the length, but could/would have hurt your AAoA too.

Right, and adding a new account at the same time creates a double wammy to AAofA.

Reasons #1 and #2 AFAIK are two different things. #1 has to do with new credit with respect to your youngest TL and #2 is more with inquiries, I believe.

That's my understanding, as well

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[veracious]

Thanks to both llecs and beamMeup.

I know you are both right about the two factors I mentioned.

Well, I still think it's unfair to hurt your score when you seek credit, how can you get  new credit without an inquiry,and for that matter,

how can you get  newcredit without it affecting your AoA. That's a double penalty.

I get frustrated because my score never rebounds to the highest score as I have read about from others here.

I guess at this point in time it would be impossible to raise my score for at least another year when my AoA increases or my oldest account

becomes 8 years.  Still, I may be rebucketed and lose even more points. I pulled my report today and the paid off auto loan

didn't report yet.        Do you think I will lose more points for that as well?

[Anonymous]

Hi veracious,

It's sometimes tempting to look at FICO like a letter grade you get on a paper for school, or on a test.

But FICO doesn't work that way.  It doesn't "hurt your score" when you seek credit, nor are you being "penalized".  It's not like having a B and being penalized for sloppy penmanship, so you come up with a C.  Or worse.  It's simply that your risk factors have changed.

FICO is an algorithm that measures risk of default.  Sometimes a change in your credit report groups you in such a way that your FICO score changes.  That means your risk of default, as measured by the activities of tons of other folks, has changed.

When I app for a new account, sometimes my FICO changes, and sometimes it doesn't.

When I open that new account, sometimes my FICO changes, and sometimes it doesn't.

When my AAofA changes, sometimes my FICO changes, and sometimes it doesn't.

It just depends on what else is on my report and how other folks with a similar report have behaved.  It's a risk measurement, not a letter grade.

For me, the best way I've found to improve my FICO score, is to pull it here, pay attention to the Items Hurting My FICO Score, and the Items Helping My FICO Score, apply for credit sparingly, Pay on Time and keep my utilization low.  Check the Estimator that comes with your FICO report and it will tell you your best case scenario - that's a great way to know your best moves for improving your FICO Scores.  Also - do you have any baddies?  If so, the Rebuilding Your Credit forums has great info on working with baddies while your rebuilding yoru credit.

I don't see you posting your FICO score - so I'm unsure what it is, or what your hoping to get it to.  Posting that is often pretty helpful.  Folks here are great at giving helpful advice, so the more info you can post the better responses folks will be able to give you.

[veracious]

Thanks,  hauling. 

Sometimes,  It's hard to keep the right perspective.

As you pointed out,  sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't  go up or down.

One question I have though, does your score return to it's highest, and if so how long does it take?

I wish you could see my FICO score history  chart. I tried to post it but  I got the warning that it exceeded 20,000 characters

Up down,up down for the silliest reasons.  I can't get it to rise by using credit and I can't get it to rise by not using credit.

I give up.....

[Imhotrodcrazy]

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@veracious wrote:

Up down,up down for the silliest reasons.  I can't get it to rise by using credit and I can't get it to rise by not using credit.

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IMO,  that's the way "they" want it, ( lenders ), because they make  money either way.  It's not worth stressing over.  All you can do is your best.   It's like trying to beat the house in  Vegas, it can't be done. 

[veracious]

 Thanks, Hotrod.

I guess to a certain extent , you can't really control your score.

Because of the random nature of FICO algorithms, you are left to chance  by what FICO determines it reads from your file.

[llecs]

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@veracious wrote:

I guess to a certain extent , you can't really control your score.

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IMO, you can. It's mostly predictable. I made a checklist in my head but I know if I do this or that, then I know what will happen to my score. Now I certainly can't predict the exact change (nobody can), but you can take an educated guess. And the score will always fluctuate a few here or there. Plus or minus a few is unimportant in the long run. But everytime your accounts update, your score can easily change as util changes. I know that if I add an account, then I lose points (IME-20-25). If I apply for anything, then I can lose with the inquiry (IME 0-5). I know if I changed my util from 90% to 0%, then I stand to gain some points (IME 70-110+). If I drop util from 30% to under 9% then I stand to gain 30-50 (IME) and of course the opposite is true. I know if I add a CA then I'll lose quite a bit (IME 50-100). If I lose a CO then I could easily gain points or lose points if it was super old. If an AAoA hits one more year then I stand to gain, but not always. If my oldest TL (overall, installment or revolving) hits a year older or a half-year older, then I could see a gain (but never always). If my youngest hits one-year, then I personally would expect a gain (10+ IME). And so on.

But that's why we say "YMMV" all the time. What's true for you is not true for me because my credit profile is different from yours and everyone else's. The best that I can do is read in here. If someone hits a major credit change, then all I can do is notate it. That's why we all ask about items that on the surface have no revelance to the topic at hand (e.g. someone want to know how many points they'd see if their last baddie falls and we ask about the AAoA, new credit, length of history, etc.), but have a direct impact on how that event plays out. FICO isn't random. It's very predictable, but I  know I just need to read more to get a better insight as to the cause and effect of events on FICO scoring.

[veracious]

Score went up 5 pts. when paid off auto loan reported.

Current EQ score 761. Back in tier #1 for mortgage loans!!

This is the kind of score change I like, but it's still an example of up down, up down.......so typical on my reports lately.

Well I'm happy for now.