Why Did My Score Drop?

[cambob]

Hi all, 

This is my first post in this forum, but I've been lurking around and reading for a year or so here. I regularly keep an eye on my scores through TransUnion and Equifax. Today my TransUnion score took a 27 point hit for no apparent reason. Equifax seems unaffected, so far. There were no alerts other than a $300 drop on my auto loan. My scores have steadily been climbing steadily over the last three years and I've got a decent mix of credit - three revolving accounts, student loans, auto loan. No negatives. It is frustrating to see my score drop from the low 700s back into the 600s, since I am planning on purchasing my first home early in 2014.

The only thing I can think is that maybe I'm "over-reliable." I pay everything early and I always pay more than the minimum. In the case of my loans, I pay 2x the payment amount. Credit cards can be anywhere from all of the balance to 4-5x the minimum - it all depends. Do overpayments harm scores? Should I just pay the minimum for a couple of months? 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[guiness56]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

Are the scores you look at FICO scores?

No, overpayments do not affect your score.  Especially with installment loans.

If you are paying all of your CC to a 0 balance that could affect the score.  FICO doesn't like to see all CC at 0 balances.  For optimum scoring it is best to let all but one report a 0 balance and the other at 9% or below.  At the same time, having too many CC with balances can also hurt your score.

What is your AAoA?  It is possible you went to the next level and that could cause a score drop.

[cambob]

I am looking at FICO scores. I leave a balance on at least one card each month, so my overall utilization is always between 5 and 15% at anytime. Currently two have small balances for a 7% utilization. I started doing that when my scores stagnated for several months and carrying a small balance seemed to push them up in small increments.

My AAoA is just under 4 years (if I remember right from yesterday it's 3.8 or close to that.) After more reading last night, it seems I might be to the point of not being considered new credit anymore?

[llecs]

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@cambob wrote:

Today my TransUnion score took a 27 point hit for no apparent reason. Equifax seems unaffected, so far. 

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The only place you can buy your TU FICO score is your lender or myFICO, and you can get it for free from a couple of other sources.

Did you buy a new FICO report? If so, what is different between the pos/neg factors on the 2nd or 3rd page of your FICO report? That's pretty telling.

If you didn't buy a new TU FICO report, where did the FICO score come from? *tries to narrow out sources of error, like comparing 2 different types of FICO scores*

[cambob]

I bought a TU FICO (or I think its a real FICO) through myFICO the other day. I was comparing it to the lender pulled scores when I purchased a car in mid-August. I regularly track TU through CreditKarma, but I'm not sure that that is a real FICO score, so I mostly watch that one for unauthorized activity. The reason I decided to check by purchasing a TU FICO here was because CreditKarma showed an even bigger drop than the real report. I don't think the drop would be because of the auto loan either since its been reporting for a couple months now through CreditKarma and ScoreWatch. It actually gave me a boost when it first reported.

[llecs]

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@cambob wrote:

I bought a TU FICO (or I think its a real FICO) through myFICO the other day. I was comparing it to the lender pulled scores when I purchased a car in mid-August. I regularly track TU through CreditKarma, but I'm not sure that that is a real FICO score, so I mostly watch that one for unauthorized activity. The reason I decided to check by purchasing a TU FICO here was because CreditKarma showed an even bigger drop than the real report. I don't think the drop would be because of the auto loan either since its been reporting for a couple months now through CreditKarma and ScoreWatch. It actually gave me a boost when it first reported.

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The TU FICO on here is a TU98 score. The one from your lender could easily be a newer FICO version and/or an auto-enhanced FICO version. That can easily account for your score difference. It definitely doesn't mean your FICO dropped.

The score from CreditKarma is a FAKO. Ignore it.

[cambob]

I was mostly alarmed by the fact that the TU report from her and Credit Karma (which draws from TU info) both showed a significant drop, although of different amounts. It seemed more than coincidence.

[Kratos-TM]

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@guiness56 wrote:

What is your AAoA?  It is possible you went to the next level and that could cause a score drop.

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Aaahhh, didn't know that. So waiting to get to a new AAoA isn't necessarily a guarantee to a score increase........You may drop........hmmmmm........this gives me a lot to ponder on...........

[guiness56]

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@Kratos-TM wrote:

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@guiness56 wrote:

What is your AAoA?  It is possible you went to the next level and that could cause a score drop.

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Aaahhh, didn't know that. So waiting to get to a new AAoA isn't necessarily a guarantee to a score increase........You may drop........hmmmmm........this gives me a lot to ponder on...........

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It is one of the buckets so frequently talked about here.  Moving to another one could drop your score if you are at the bottom of the totem pole with the others in the same bucket.  A score increase could just as easily happen too.

Just like getting your last major derogatory removed.  Most would expect and increase but sometimes it is a decrease due to rebucketing.

It can really go either way.

As always, your entire credit profile will play into it.

[Kratos-TM]

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@guiness56 wrote:

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@Kratos-TM wrote:

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@guiness56 wrote:

What is your AAoA?  It is possible you went to the next level and that could cause a score drop.

---

Aaahhh, didn't know that. So waiting to get to a new AAoA isn't necessarily a guarantee to a score increase........You may drop........hmmmmm........this gives me a lot to ponder on...........

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It is one of the buckets so frequently talked about here.  Moving to another one could drop your score if you are at the bottom of the totem pole with the others in the same bucket.  A score increase could just as easily happen too.

Just like getting your last major derogatory removed.  Most would expect and increase but sometimes it is a decrease due to rebucketing.

It can really go either way.

As always, your entire credit profile will play into it.

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Thanks a lot. This has allowed me to not hold AAoA in as high regard as I did. I will allow my entire credit profile to speak for itself, like you said.