Will Points Come Back

mystikal1 · ‎06-28-2009

In rebuilding our credit we had our CC paid down from maxed to >45%, but due to an emergency and paying of some collections we had to use our cards and our utl is now up around 70% will the points we lost come back as quick as we lost them?

llecs · ‎06-29-2009

If all is equal, then yes, your points will return about as fast as you lost then, depending on how fast you repay the debt.

mystikal1 · ‎06-29-2009

Thanks llecs, I figured you would know the answer.

RobertEG · ‎07-03-2009

CC & util has no historical memory in FICO scoring.

You are only as good or bad in % util in your most recent CR

Paying off colletions may have saved you from further legal action, and in the months to follow, may prove to have been a very smart move.

You clearly understand credit and it appears that you are conscientious.

Unless you are about to apply for new credit within the next few months, your FICO score is little more than a dust in the wind.,

mystikal1 · ‎07-05-2009

Thanks. I am looking 3-6 months down the road so I should be OK.

Anonymous · ‎07-05-2009

If the paid CA's are on your report, and if they update your report (which they need to show the paid balance) then you will have a more recent reported/updated date which could hurt your FICO for a while, even if you pay down the utilization on CC's. That's one of the catch22's on CA's, unless you get a PFD.

RobertEG · ‎07-05-2009

txjohn, I dont dispute your advice, I just dont fully understand it.

Once a CA is on your credit file, it continues as a major derog until deleted at 7 1/2 years from the DOFD on the OC account that resulted in the CA account posting. Of that, I think we can all agree.

What I dont understand is how the negative impact of a CA can further hurt FICO scoring due to later activity.

CA account status is either open, paid, or deleled. How does FICO dig lower than this, when a CA does not report any monthly status other than one of these three?

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

Anonymous · ‎07-06-2009

Any activity on a CA redates it on your credit report. This can happen by paying the collection, disputing the account, or simply by the CA constently updating every month.

I've had limited experience with this but can tell how it affected me:

In 2007 I had 2 CAs reporting the same account. I disputed them both as duplicate accounts. One was removed, the other updated the reporting date (went from 2/04 to 3/07). My reports read this as a new collection account and I lost over 70 points.

I regained some of these lost points as this new reporting date aged. Then, sometime in 2008, this CA stopped reporting and a new CA started reporting the account. Anotter big drop in points as the account appeared "newer" than it had been. This CA continued to update monthly, making the account appear as constantly new. After several months of watching this, and knowing that it could do no more harm than it was currently doing, I decided to dispute it and had it removed from all reports.

I need to mention that this was not a legitimate collection account. It occurred from a vendetta with a former landlord who thought I was going to sue over an injury. Unknown to me for some time (this was before I started checking my CRs) he reported my owing some small move out cost and later turned it over to a CA.. Lesson learned...you don't always receive any notice that you owe a collection. I would never go any real length of time between checking reports now!

Anonymous · ‎07-07-2009

@RobertEG wrote:
txjohn, I dont dispute your advice, I just dont fully understand it.
Once a CA is on your credit file, it continues as a major derog until deleted at 7 1/2 years from the DOFD on the OC account that resulted in the CA account posting. Of that, I think we can all agree.

What I dont understand is how the negative impact of a CA can further hurt FICO scoring due to later activity.
CA account status is either open, paid, or deleled. How does FICO dig lower than this, when a CA does not report any monthly status other than one of these three?

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

Date Reported, DOLA and Date Verified all have an impact on FICO. Yes, DOFD is what determines when it drops from your CR, the other dates affect how FICO calculates your score.

Whether PAID or UNPAID makes no difference on FICO. The date it was reported does or last reported does. Many, many, many, many people have learned this the hard way. They had an "old" CA that they paid off for a mortgage and then saw their FICO's plunge when it updated on their report with the more recent date reported/updated.