Shaking my head!

[Anonymous]

I paid off the small balances on my VS and Cap 1 QS card.  Due to balance percent decrease (utilization dropped to 0%), I was rewarded - NOT.  Experian DROPPED 15 pts.  Equifax DROPPED 10 pts.   I will NEVER understand this stupid credit system.  Back in my early days, not owing anyone was a good thing.  They want to own you in order to give you a decent score.  How long is it going to take to recoup this?  We want to start house hunting in the next couple months.  I am going the WRONG way now!!! 

So if I charge something and leave a balance, will I get those points back??

[tufa4311]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I paid off the small balances on my VS and Cap 1 QS card.  Due to balance percent decrease (utilization dropped to 0%), I was rewarded - NOT.  Experian DROPPED 15 pts.  Equifax DROPPED 10 pts.   I will NEVER understand this stupid credit system.  Back in my early days, not owing anyone was a good thing.  They want to own you in order to give you a decent score.  How long is it going to take to recoup this?  We want to start house hunting in the next couple months.  I am going the WRONG way now!!! 

So if I charge something and leave a balance, will I get those points back??

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Utilization does not have a memory. As we say 89 million times, have a utilization on 1 card from 1-9% and on only one card. Zero balances all around are NOT good. Will you recoup your score? Maybe, too many factors but again you should gain with prime utilization.

[gdale6]

Yes you want to have a small balance reporting on one card, all cards reporting 0 dings your Fico score for not using any revolving credit.

[racer-x]

You won't get all the points back right away....maybe half or a little more.

And here's why....You will now get dinged for having an account reporting that 1-9% balance next cycle.

[Anonymous]

I totally understand keeping utilization under 10%.  The mistake I made was thinking that as an AU it would apply to my utilization.  I am an AU on 2 of my DH's cards.  One card has a balance.  I thought because of that, I could get rid of these small balances on my cards and still have utilization reporting.  Apparently, that wasn't the case and I paid for it.  I still don't thin this scoring system makes a bit of sense lol

[racer-x]

Hmmmm, I'm pretty sure that your DH's utilization that you are an AU on, would  be part of your utilization.

That's the point of having a responsible, established person that you can be an AU on.  Their responsible credit is reflected on their utilization on the cards that you're an AU on, thus helping your score.

Did he increase the balance on one of the cards you're on to create a point drop?  Keep in mind, somethimes a very small balance increase can cause significant point drops.

I recently had a $44 balance increase and dropped 5-6 pts.  Another member posted a balance increase from $9 to $156, and dropped 50+ pts.

[NRB525]

+1 to you won't get all those points back at once, after going to zero balances.

+1 to it would be good to see all your card information to get a perspective on your and DH influence on your score.

What was the reason for the rapid clmb from ~600 to high 600s in two months time?

[Anonymous]

I feel your pain, the same exact thing happened to me. -10 point drop yesterday, after utilization reported 43% last month, 26% this month. 

[Anonymous]

I have cap 1 qs, overstock and VS (all in November).  I am an AU on his Cap 1 QS and walmart card. The walmart card carries a balance every month to make sure he has something reporting. We normally PIF everything but one card.  I pay all the bills and the only one carrying the walmart card.   I paid the VS card the 4th of January - it just reported  My Cap 1 was paid first of this month.  Within 2 days, both of them reported.  Alerts went off.  Balance decreased.  Balance percentage decreased etc.  It shows my utilization at 0%  I am looking at his and there is clearly a balance with the walmart card.  My account doesn't reflect that. *insert confused face here*

As far as why there is such a jump in my scores.  I had some old medical collections that I was unaware of come off in January.  I have never pulled a credit report on myself until November.  I got married almost 2 years ago and we want to buy a house.  We both pulled everything to see what it looks like and what we need to do to qualify for a mortgage.  I am normally a cash only person.  He had a lot of credit but also had to file bk 4 years ago after a divorce.   He has bounced back and his scores are about the same range as mine.  He just gets prime cards because of his AAoA.  Althought I have one closed account that is 11 years old.  I haven't gotten credit in years so I am building that.

[racer-x]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have cap 1 qs, overstock and VS (all in November).  I am an AU on his Cap 1 QS and walmart card. The walmart card carries a balance every month to make sure he has something reporting. We normally PIF everything but one card.  I pay all the bills and the only one carrying the walmart card.   I paid the VS card the 4th of January - it just reported  My Cap 1 was paid first of this month.  Within 2 days, both of them reported.  Alerts went off.  Balance decreased.  Balance percentage decreased etc.  It shows my utilization at 0%  I am looking at his and there is clearly a balance with the walmart card.  My account doesn't reflect that. *insert confused face here*

As far as why there is such a jump in my scores.  I had some old medical collections that I was unaware of come off in January.  I have never pulled a credit report on myself until November.  I got married almost 2 years ago and we want to buy a house.  We both pulled everything to see what it looks like and what we need to do to qualify for a mortgage.  I am normally a cash only person.  He had a lot of credit but also had to file bk 4 years ago after a divorce.   He has bounced back and his scores are about the same range as mine.  He just gets prime cards because of his AAoA.  Althought I have one closed account that is 11 years old.  I haven't gotten credit in years so I am building that.

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Buuuuut, did the balance on the Walmart acct increase at all this past cycle?  That could be the tell tell sign even if it was by $1.

My overall amount of debt decreases every month , but if I have one account that has a balance increase, I lose pts.