Why did FICO drop my EQ score?

[Uniqua]

I am not understanding this FICO scoring system and it is starting to "tee" me off.  I disputed some items on my CR which were updated today.  One stayed the same and the other, which had a late payment 7 years ago, was updated to show "paid as agreed and refinanced."  My FICO score decreased by 26 points.  WHAT FOR?  I don't deserve this drop and I don't know what I can do to get it back up.  I don't have any revolving CLs at the moment.  I just have a student loan I am paying off with no lates.  What is going on??  Fair Isaac needs to be slapped

[llecs]

Disputing can be bad. During the dispute process, FICO, via the CRAs, will not consider items in your CR that are being disputed. Therefore, when you disputed, you disputed accounts that were helping you. So, when you disputed, in FICO's eyes, those accounts were deleted for scoring calculations. Now if all of them were updated or verified, your score should go back to where it was before, assuming your creditors didn't change anything. What happened was the history in those disputed accounts were no longer factored into your score. That caused your avg. age to drop causing a score drop.

There are better ways to repairing your credit. I did the same that you did initially. I had an account with 1 30 day late. It was recently closed but had a 15 yr history. I disputed and it was deleted. Score dropped 30-40 points then.

The best way to remove a late is via a GW letter. That 7 yr late isn't impacting you all that much. Single digit points at the most.

Edit to add....try adding 2 revolving and 1 store card to your mix. You'll likely see a score bump.

Message Edited by llecs on 05-02-2008 09:42 AM

[Anonymous]

Same problem here.  I am disputting several items and my score dropped 30 points today.  Its suppose to go the other way up not down.  What the heck!

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Same problem here.  I am disputting several items and my score dropped 30 points today.  Its suppose to go the other way up not down.  What the heck!

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When an account is being disputed, except for a public judgment or collection (I think these are the exceptions), the account is removed from scoring during the duration of the dispute.

It is entirely possible that an account with a derog on it is more helpful than damaging, for instance, if it's older than your average credit age. Not saying don't work on inaccuracies in your reports; just be aware that all this stuff is meshed together, and few things are purely positive or purely negative.

[Uniqua]

Thanks, hauling. I get it now. Although I still do not like it.

I was getting ready to apply for a CC with my CU who said they only pull EQ when approving. That drop may cause me a higher interest rate, which I was trying to avoid.

I am hoping and praying that when my Ch 13 BK is discharged any day now, I will get some sort of jump in my score. I also disputed again with EQ who are supposed to be deleting some of the accounts I disputed. So, hopefully, I'll get those points back sooner rather than later.

Thank you every one for your responses.

[haulingthescoreup]

Good luck! Hope you get back where you wanted to be.

I should have added that the reason disputed accounts are removed from scoring is actually for the consumer's benefit. If you pulled your scores one day, and they dropped 50 points overnight because a new late had just been posted incorrectly, you would obviously want to dispute the late. With the disputed account being held out, that 50 point drop wouldn't show. Of course, the account's history also wouldn't be counted during this period, so you might temporarily lose 10 points or something, but that beats 50.

Once the dispute is finished one way or the other, the account is factored back in to scoring again.