perfect score dinged for $6

[Anonymous]

I usually expect this kind of stuff from EQ but it can happen with any of them.  I always leave a small ballance on at least one card. In this case even though the utilization is still at 0% I got hit for 2 points.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I usually expect this kind of stuff from EQ but it can happen with any of them.  I always leave a small ballance on at least one card. In this case even though the utilization is still at 0% I got hit for 2 points.

---

You don't know that the $6 balance increase and 2 point score decrease have anything to do with each other.

[Anonymous]

---

@SouthJamaica wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I usually expect this kind of stuff from EQ but it can happen with any of them.  I always leave a small ballance on at least one card. In this case even though the utilization is still at 0% I got hit for 2 points.

---

You don't know that the $6 balance increase and 2 point score decrease have anything to do with each other.

---

I always thought the alert was the reason for the change.  

[Anonymous]

The alert is describing a way your report has changed.  (In this case, one of your credit card balances went up by $6.)  When an "alertable" event occurs, the MF 3B monitoring product pulls your score again.

The message is explaining what the alertable event was.  But there are a lot of events that are not alertable.  What must have happened (with 100% certainty) is that something else changed on your report, either on the same day or in the previous several weeks.  That other thing is what is causing your score to go down.  It's just that this very-slightly bad thing apparently wasn't alertable, so your score wasn't pulled at the time. The change could be extremely subtle, so subtle that even an expert in reading reports might be unable to spot it.

Again, it's really important to understand what these alerts are and what they are not.  Most of us assume that when our score changes then MF sends us an alert telling us why.  This is not what the alerts are.  What the alerts do is tell you -- in a very limited set of circumstances, not all the time -- when the report has changed.  The alert message is telling you what alertable event happened.

You should congratulate yourself that you understand scoring well enough to realize that a credit card balance going up by $6 would be very unlikely to cause your score to change.  (The only exception would be if all your cards were $0, and then one card went from $0 to $6.)

Some people find an "alert" based system confusing and unhelpful, since it cannot be relied on (even most of the time) to explain why your score has changed.  Such people switch to a system like CCT, which enables you to control when your score is pulled or (like me) they just use free tools to get their monthly FICO score and credit reports.

On the other hand, some people love the myFICO CMS products.  It's just important to know what you are buying.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the discription of what's really going on.  I was annoyed that something so minor could have changed my score.

[NRB525]

Congrats on the 848 score

[Anonymous]

---

@NRB525 wrote:

Congrats on the 848 score

---

Thanks!  It was a long road and this forum helped a lot.  TU and EQ are still holding on to a state tax lien from 2011.  Close to 100 point difference. Cant wait to get rid of that.

[Thomas_Thumb]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@NRB525 wrote:

Congrats on the 848 score

---

Thanks!  It was a long road and this forum helped a lot.  TU and EQ are still holding on to a state tax lien from 2011.  Close to 100 point difference. Cant wait to get rid of that.

---

Thanks for the additional data point on tax liens.

An 85 to 95 point jump in score due to a single tax lean falling off (if the file is otherwise clean) is consistent with what Inverse saw when his score also jumped to 840/850. Recent (less than 1 year old) inquiries were limiting factors on two of his scores.

[Anonymous]

---

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

---

Thanks for the additional data point on tax liens.

An 85 to 95 point jump in score due to a single tax lean falling off (if the file is otherwise clean) is consistent with what Inverse saw when his score also jumped to 840/850. Recent (less than 1 year old) inquiries were limiting factors on two of his scores.

---

I have 2 inquiries in the past year, both mortgage.  1 inquiry from the previous year, another mortgage.