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advice please! score drop 26pts -- 2nd UPDATE!

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JcT21
Frequent Contributor

advice please! score drop 26pts -- 2nd UPDATE!

woke up this morning, logged in to my exp credit monitoring and did my daily credit check...omg..... why did my experian fico score drop 26 points for paying off my debt?  reasons given was i have no credit card activity.  is that correct?  so if i dont have debt my score drops?   fico punishes me for being responsible and paying bills?   but i have debt, i have  2 auto loans reporting.  is that not counted as activity?

 

is there anything i can do to bring my score back to normal again, soon?   is it gonna take months to rebuild back to 700's again? 

 

THIS SUCKS!  any advice is appreciated....

 

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UPDATE 6-13

 

just checked equifax.  the updated payoff is being reflected and my score has JUMPED 5 points.   how can the same action that caused a 26 point drop on experian, cause a  5 point gain on equifax?   im thankful for the gain but very confused!  ..thoughts??

 

all info is identical on all 3 reports.   the updated payoff is not showing on TU yet.

 

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update 6-26

 

seems that $31 tank of gas has reported and just like that, my score rebounds 30 points.  a 4 point gain from the 26 loss, just for letting $31 report.   my TU and EQ stayed the same.  glad my experian jumped back to normal.  

 

lesson learned.  always let something report, paying off to 0 balance / 0% utilization will drop the score.  atleast in my case.

 

 

 

fico scores - March 2024:
TU - 727 | EX - 732 | EQ - 736 |
TCL - 168K - UTIL - less than 1%
Message 1 of 23
22 REPLIES 22
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....

Let a balance report on a statement, then pay the full balance.

 

Wash, rinse, repeat. FICO will go back up in no time.

Message 2 of 23
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....

Keep a small balence on 1 card, let the rest show 0. They are penalizing you thinking your not using your cards.
Message 3 of 23
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....

Yes, they like to see utilization.

Message 4 of 23
JcT21
Frequent Contributor

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....

well its safe to say that from this day forward something will always report to the bureaus.   ive always let something report, i just wanted the feeling of being "paid off" but i never dreamed i would drop so many points.

 

my cap1 statement will cut in a few days,    if i charge something and let that balance report next week, will my score go back up?  what are the chances of it going back up 26 points i lost?   any idea on how much of  a balance i should let report?  something small like less than $100?

 

 

 

fico scores - March 2024:
TU - 727 | EX - 732 | EQ - 736 |
TCL - 168K - UTIL - less than 1%
Message 5 of 23
Scupra
Super Contributor

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....


@JcT21 wrote:

well its safe to say that from this day forward something will always report to the bureaus.   ive always let something report, i just wanted the feeling of being "paid off" but i never dreamed i would drop so many points.

 

my cap1 statement will cut in a few days,    if i charge something and let that balance report next week, will my score go back up?  what are the chances of it going back up 26 points i lost?   any idea on how much of  a balance i should let report?  something small like less than $100?

 

 

 


Something between 1-9% util of the card. If you have no cards with a balance FICO thinks you just aren't using them. You can pay off right after the statement cuts so no worries

Filed BK7: 7/2012 (start score EQ 560 / TU 529) Discharge 10/2012
801 EQ FICO 06/2022
797 TU FICO 04/2022
793 EX FICO 04/2022
$30k NFCU Platinum | $30.7k NFCU cashRewards Sig | $15k NavChek | $7.1k Cap1 Quicksilver | $10k Amazon Store | $19k Cap1 VentureOne | $16k Barclay Aviator | $5k Chase Freedom | $5k Chase Sapphire Preferred | $9k Costco Visa | $20k AMEX BCE | AMEX Gold | NFCU Platinum #2 $19.3k | Apple $8.5k
Message 6 of 23
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....


@JcT21 wrote:

well its safe to say that from this day forward something will always report to the bureaus.   ive always let something report, i just wanted the feeling of being "paid off" but i never dreamed i would drop so many points.

 

my cap1 statement will cut in a few days,    if i charge something and let that balance report next week, will my score go back up?  what are the chances of it going back up 26 points i lost?   any idea on how much of  a balance i should let report?  something small like less than $100?

 

 

 


Let only the Cap1 card that will close in a few days with a balance (charge 1% of the CL on that card) and the others at 0. You should recover those point you lost. Remember to come back here and post your results. Good luck!

Message 7 of 23
NRB525
Super Contributor

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....


@JcT21 wrote:

woke up this morning, logged in to my exp credit monitoring and did my daily credit check...omg..... why did my experian fico score drop 26 points for paying off my debt?  reasons given was i have no credit card activity.  is that correct?  so if i dont have debt my score drops?   fico punishes me for being responsible and paying bills?   but i have debt, i have  2 auto loans reporting.  is that not counted as activity?

 

is there anything i can do to bring my score back to normal again, soon?   is it gonna take months to rebuild back to 700's again? 

 

THIS SUCKS!  any advice is appreciated....


Do you have any negatives in your file? Any old 30-day lates? Given the drop below 700 while you still have the auto loans open makes me think there is some other negative there.

What was the amount of CC balances you had a month ago, vs going to zero on CC balances?

 

As to trying to just let one card report, you can certainly do that, I doubt it is going to make a noticeable difference from just paying the cards in full after you use them normally.

 

And yes, the credit bureaus like to see some action on the cards, even PIF, so they have some payments to measure.

 

Good luck!

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765
Message 8 of 23
JcT21
Frequent Contributor

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....

negatives, i have 1.  bk13.  6yrs old.  falls of in 9 months.  no other lates or baddies are on either bureau. been A+ perfect.

 

last month i had cap1wmc reporting a $445 balance which was a balance transfer.   i paid that BT off and utilization went from 1% to 0% and took 26 points with it.   never thought it would drop that much.

 

i use my cards like a debit card.  i use them and pay in full.  the balance transfer always reported each month until i paid it off.  and BAM... dropped like a rock.   it hasnt hit my EQ & TU yet but im sure its about to any day now.

 

im gonna let 1 maybe 2 cards report small balances each month to show fico im using my cards.   i was thinking since i had 2 auto loans my scores would go up having paid off my cards.  i guess auto loans dont count as activity.

 

 

 

fico scores - March 2024:
TU - 727 | EX - 732 | EQ - 736 |
TCL - 168K - UTIL - less than 1%
Message 9 of 23
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: advice please! score drop 26pts for paying off....

Yes, they can't tell you're using your cards.  It happened to me.  Doesn't matter what you charge & PIF every month.  To them, it's nothing if that is what's reporting.  I go for a while with one reporting and then I'll let a few report balances so they know I'm using them.  Getting ready to do that next month.

Message 10 of 23
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