What's the deal?

[gbwhite1]

My scores have been dropping over the last month or two and I don't know why. I haven't used my CCcards, No late payments. I opened an account, I did that because the account I had didn't give me a credit limit increase after 6 years with no late payments so I closed that account and opened the new one. Can someone give me an idea why my scores are dropping?

TIA

[NRB525]

Do any of your credit cards report any sort of balance on the statement? If both are zero (closed would likely be zero) then you aren't "active" with any cards and your score will drop.

Like you never even happened....

Use the new card, let the statement report, pay in full by the payment due date, use the card again, let it report on the statement, etc, and your scores will start to climb as that continues to report some sort of balance on each statement.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@gbwhite1 wrote:

My scores have been dropping over the last month or two and I don't know why. I haven't used my CCcards, No late payments. I opened an account, I did that because the account I had didn't give me a credit limit increase after 6 years with no late payments so I closed that account and opened the new one. Can someone give me an idea why my scores are dropping?

TIA

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Bad combination of events. You closed a 6 year old and opened a new one. Your average age of account dropped due to the new card and age of your newest account drops from years to 1 month. Both of these age factors impact score. Unfortunately, the new card also triggers a hard inquiry and that drops score (particularly going from 0 to 1 inq). The inquiry will influence score for 12 months before aging off.

If you are not using your new card yet, you may be getting dinged for "not showing use of credit". Whatever cards you do have, it is best to use them periodically to keep them active - say at least once a year (even a small purchase counts).

Try to keep old CC accounts with solid payment history open and active, they help your score.

I closed a 20 year old CC account 10 years ago because they sent a notice saying they were going to start sharing some of my info with their "partners" (all banks do that now) - bad mistake on my part. The account just dropped off my report - 20 years of solid payment history gone.

[Anonymous]

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@gbwhite1 wrote:

My scores have been dropping over the last month or two and I don't know why. I haven't used my CCcards, No late payments. I opened an account, I did that because the account I had didn't give me a credit limit increase after 6 years with no late payments so I closed that account and opened the new one. Can someone give me an idea why my scores are dropping?

TIA

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Bad combination of events. You closed a 6 year old and opened a new one. Your average age of account dropped due to the new card and age of your newest account drops from years to 1 month. Both of these age factors impact score. Unfortunately, the new card also triggers a hard inquiry and that drops score (particularly going from 0 to 1 inq). The inquiry will influence score for 12 months before aging off.

If you are not using your new card yet, you may be getting dinged for "not showing use of credit". Whatever cards you do have, it is best to use them periodically to keep them active - say at least once a year (even a small purchase counts).

Try to keep old CC accounts with solid payment history open and active, they help your score.

I closed a 20 year old CC account 10 years ago because they sent a notice saying they were going to start sharing some of my info with their "partners" (all banks do that now) - bad mistake on my part. The account just dropped off my report - 20 years of solid payment history gone.

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That's normally not how it happens.  Vast majority of closed accounts remain on your credit report for 10 years and therefore have no immediate effect on AAoA.  I would say in in the OP's case that more than likely that their closed account is still on their reports and the score drop is just due to the new account and its affect on his/her AAoA

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@gbwhite1 wrote:

My scores have been dropping over the last month or two and I don't know why. I haven't used my CCcards, No late payments. I opened an account, I did that because the account I had didn't give me a credit limit increase after 6 years with no late payments so I closed that account and opened the new one. Can someone give me an idea why my scores are dropping?

TIA

---

Bad combination of events. You closed a 6 year old and opened a new one. Your average age of account dropped due to the new card and age of your newest account drops from years to 1 month. Both of these age factors impact score. Unfortunately, the new card also triggers a hard inquiry and that drops score (particularly going from 0 to 1 inq). The inquiry will influence score for 12 months before aging off.

If you are not using your new card yet, you may be getting dinged for "not showing use of credit". Whatever cards you do have, it is best to use them periodically to keep them active - say at least once a year (even a small purchase counts).

Try to keep old CC accounts with solid payment history open and active, they help your score.

I closed a 20 year old CC account 10 years ago because they sent a notice saying they were going to start sharing some of my info with their "partners" (all banks do that now) - bad mistake on my part. The old account just dropped off my report (which was 10 years from closure date)- 20 years of solid payment history gone.

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That's normally not how it happens.  Vast majority of closed accounts remain on your credit report for 10 years and therefore have no immediate effect on AAoA.  I would say in in the OP's case that more than likely that their closed account is still on their reports and the score drop is just due to the new account and its affect on his/her AAoA

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Irish80, Sorry if my write-up was confusing.

My statement was the immediate effect on AAoA is the NEW account. This is substantial particularly if there are very few accounts in the file.

The new card drives down the average age of accounts. The old card still counts in the average calculation until it falls off the report 10 years from closure. 

[Anonymous]

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@gbwhite1 wrote:

My scores have been dropping over the last month or two and I don't know why. I haven't used my CCcards, No late payments. I opened an account, I did that because the account I had didn't give me a credit limit increase after 6 years with no late payments so I closed that account and opened the new one. Can someone give me an idea why my scores are dropping?

TIA

---

Bad combination of events. You closed a 6 year old and opened a new one. Your average age of account dropped due to the new card and age of your newest account drops from years to 1 month. Both of these age factors impact score. Unfortunately, the new card also triggers a hard inquiry and that drops score (particularly going from 0 to 1 inq). The inquiry will influence score for 12 months before aging off.

If you are not using your new card yet, you may be getting dinged for "not showing use of credit". Whatever cards you do have, it is best to use them periodically to keep them active - say at least once a year (even a small purchase counts).

Try to keep old CC accounts with solid payment history open and active, they help your score.

I closed a 20 year old CC account 10 years ago because they sent a notice saying they were going to start sharing some of my info with their "partners" (all banks do that now) - bad mistake on my part. The old account just dropped off my report (which was 10 years from closure date)- 20 years of solid payment history gone.

---

That's normally not how it happens.  Vast majority of closed accounts remain on your credit report for 10 years and therefore have no immediate effect on AAoA.  I would say in in the OP's case that more than likely that their closed account is still on their reports and the score drop is just due to the new account and its affect on his/her AAoA

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Irish80, Sorry if my write-up was confusing.

My statement was the immediate effect on AAoA is the NEW account. This is substantial particularly if there are very few accounts in the file.

The new card drives down the average age of accounts. The old card still counts in the average calculation until it falls off the report 10 years from closure. 

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Oh ok.  I misread what you wrote.

[gbwhite1]

Thank you all for the input! I'll have to see what I can do to bring those scores back up.

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@gbwhite1 wrote:

My scores have been dropping over the last month or two and I don't know why. I haven't used my CCcards, No late payments. I opened an account, I did that because the account I had didn't give me a credit limit increase after 6 years with no late payments so I closed that account and opened the new one. Can someone give me an idea why my scores are dropping?

TIA

---

Bad combination of events. You closed a 6 year old and opened a new one. Your average age of account dropped due to the new card and age of your newest account drops from years to 1 month. Both of these age factors impact score. Unfortunately, the new card also triggers a hard inquiry and that drops score (particularly going from 0 to 1 inq). The inquiry will influence score for 12 months before aging off.

If you are not using your new card yet, you may be getting dinged for "not showing use of credit". Whatever cards you do have, it is best to use them periodically to keep them active - say at least once a year (even a small purchase counts).

Try to keep old CC accounts with solid payment history open and active, they help your score.

I closed a 20 year old CC account 10 years ago because they sent a notice saying they were going to start sharing some of my info with their "partners" (all banks do that now) - bad mistake on my part. The old account just dropped off my report (which was 10 years from closure date)- 20 years of solid payment history gone.

---

That's normally not how it happens.  Vast majority of closed accounts remain on your credit report for 10 years and therefore have no immediate effect on AAoA.  I would say in in the OP's case that more than likely that their closed account is still on their reports and the score drop is just due to the new account and its affect on his/her AAoA

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Irish80, Sorry if my write-up was confusing.

My statement was the immediate effect on AAoA is the NEW account. This is substantial particularly if there are very few accounts in the file.

The new card drives down the average age of accounts. The old card still counts in the average calculation until it falls off the report 10 years from closure. 

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Oh ok.  I misread what you wrote.

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