@poops wrote:Judgment fell off my EQ FICO report last week. I was waiting to see a score bump. Instead, my score went down from 691 to 678. The only other change to my CR was that my utilization went up 2%. Is that really enough to drag down my score by 13 pts?
A new negative score factor also appeared saying that I have 2 consumer finance accounts. That wasn't on there when I checked my report 2 months ago... And, I have not opened up any new accounts. No new accounts and no new inquiries. I haven't had any inquiries for almost 2 years. My utilization is the only thing that's killing my score...
I don't understand... If I had hair to pull out, I would!
On EQ, I had my util go from 7 to 10% and I got an 8 points drop ;everything else staying the same.
@poops wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Not all your negatives display, especially here.
On a lender's pull, like a mortgage pull, it will display the top four negatives, if you have negatives.
Here on myFICO, it displays fewer and fewer the higher you go, essentially because the lower they rank, the less effect they have on your score.
I'd say that the consumer finance account ding was there all along, and when the judgment fell off, it now displays. It's not a new negative, just a newly-displayed negative.
The combination of now being in a "clean" score bucket (score card), plus possibly a ding from crossing the 40% util mark might have done it. People with clean histories often see a higher penalty for high util, and 41% is definitely high.
When you pulled your new score, what were the negatives, listed in order, on screen 2 on the left? (The positives are nice for warm fuzzies, but they're otherwise pretty meaningless.)
1. Heavy use of available revolving credit
2. Recently missed payment (30 day late from 10/2010)
3. Too many CC'c carrying balances
4. Have consumer finance account
Also, when I pulled my EQ CR from FICO on 11/29/11, the judgment was listed as the #1 reason my score was what it was... Logically, I thought that once the judgment was removed, my score would get a nice upward bump...
OK, so:
- High revolving util: This probably didn't hurt you as much when you had the judgment, because people with judgments are more likely to owe more money, so you looked better than them. Now that you're being compared to those with (mostly) clean history, the 41% util makes you a higher risk.
- Recent 30-day late: well, at least it's over 12 months, and it was only a 30. Once it goes over 24, I don't think it will have much impact at all. (That's because it's a 30. Don't expect the same degree of mercy with bigger lates.) Not great, but not disastrous. Don't do it again.
- Too many CC's with balances: this is the one that we address with the FICO Scoring Game. Unless you're actually carrying balances from month to month, which you never want to do unless it's at 0% or something, you want to minimize the number of accounts with balances. Here's how you play the Game: go online on each account 3-4 days before its next statement is due. Pay it off. Go back on the morning of the day that the statement will post and pay again, if anything else popped up. Do this with all your cards, except for one. (You lose points if they all report $0. Pause while some readers go pour themselves another drink and contemplate this.) On this one card, go online 3-4 days before the statement date, and pay off all but $20 or so. Allow that amount to report (show up on your statement), and then pay it off. <--It's really easy to forget to make this second payment, and if you do, you'll have an internal late. Not one that gets reported, but it'll goober up your APR's etc. No, you don't have to play the game; yes, you'll probably get addicted to the improved scores that result.
- Presence of a consumer finance account: eh. Don't worry about it. If it's number 4 on your list, it's not carrying a lot of weight.