Why did my score drop?!

[Vic1]

My Equifax score dropped 11 points because a "remark" was added to an old, paid charge off account from 2014. It's due to be removed this year so I can't imagine that it would be causing my score to drop. Has anyone had an issue with this before? 

[thornback]

Hi and welcome to the forums.

From where are you getting your Equifax score (is it FICO or Vantage) and what was the remark?

[Vic1]

I got my score from myFICO app and the remark was 

"Consumer disputes after resolution. Account transferred or sold. Chargeoff account amount in high credit is original charge off amount" 

Balance went from $0 to $0 

I never disputed anything which is why I have no idea what that means or why is causing my score to drop. 

[thornback]

Strange that a remark like that appeared for an account you've never disputed.  It"s doubtful the simple addition of the remark caused your score to drop.  Did you check the payment history of the tradeline? Did the creditor add any additional CO notations or change the 'last updated' date? You should pull your EQ report from annualcreditreport.com to review the entire tradeline.

Q: Did you receive an alert about the remark which showed an updated score? I just want to make sure you understand that, for myFICO alerts,  the alertable event is not necessarily why the score changed. The alert is just telling you about an event that occurred and prompts the retrieval of an updated score. However - the score could have changed at anytime prior (between the last time the score was pulled and the time of this alertable event).  There is often no correlation between the alertable event and the score change. 

That said - pull your full EQ report and check that tradeline for other changes made by the creditor. 

[Anonymous]

Your score change doesn't have to be related to the alert reason provided.  IMO, they are unrelated.

[Vic1]

Thank you for the advice. I got the notification that my score dropped and that was the notification about the remark. The last activity reported was 10/14/2014 so nothing new but the remark added. It might just be a fluke but I had just gotten my scores to "good" and now one is back at fair because of the score drop. I will check out my annual credit report and see what's going on. 

thank you!

[Vic1]

I can't imagine what it would be. I got the updated that an account was updated and a score decrease. Scoring model are so touchy sometimes. The littlest things set them off 

[thornback]

I understand-  every single point counts while rebuilding -- I've been there.  Definitely review that tradeline and everything else on your report.  Something made your score drop - just unlikely it was the remark that caused it. 

[Anonymous]

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@Vic1 wrote:

I got the notification that my score dropped and that was the notification about the remark.

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Right, but understand that the alert reason provided often has nothing to do with the score change you're seeing at the same time.  There are tons of things going on with your report from day to day that aren't alertable / you won't get a notification about, but they can change your score.  Then when you get a notification and are provided with a new score you may incorrectly believe that the change in score was due to the alert reason when it wasn't.  There are lots of alertable events that won't impact a score.  A remark is one of them.  Look at this hypothetical example:

Cornelius pulls his CR/score on December 27 and it's 700.  On December 29, an inquiry on his file reaches 365 days of age.  This is not an alertable event.  On Jan 1, his  AAoA increases by 1 month reaching a threshold that positively impacts scoring.  This is not an alertable event either.  Also on Jan 1, his only negative item (say a 90 day late payment) ages 1 more month which crosses a threshold dramatically reducing its adverse scoring impact.  This too is not an alertable event.  Let's say that these 3 changes were "worth" 4 points for the inquiry, 6 points for the AAoA gain and 30 points for the baddie aging just for the sake of numbers and discussion.

On Jan 5, Cornelius receives an alert of an updated address on his credit report.  Along with the alert he's provided with a new score, which is now 740.  He incorrectly assumes that the 40 point gain came due to the alert reason and that the address change positively impacted his score.  He thinks that nothing else changed in the last week or so when in fact there were 3 non-alertable score-changing factors that combined raised his score 40 points.

[Anonymous]

Were there any other changes to your balances that might cause a drop?  I recently got an alert that a new remark was added to an old, but still active, savings account (I still need to pull my annual credit report to see what the new remark is), and then last week my score dropped by 19 points.  I assumed the remark must have caused the drop, but it looks like it was actually due to me paying off all of my balances.

I usually have a balance on at least one of my cards by the time the billing cycle ends.  I only recently saw that there is a penalty for carrying 0% revolving credit, which is bizzar to me.  I guess the credit buerues hate "deadbeats" for never carrying a balance as much as the creditors who never make any interest off us either, lol.  I guess I'll just leave a smallish balance on one of my cards at the end of my billing cycle, so it gets reported, and see if the score goes back up.