VeeGee Posted May 20, 2003 Report Share Posted May 20, 2003 About 2 hrs ago I looked at my score for "Equifax"...it was 708. I then called Equifax to dispute a few accounts that still showed up on CR as open...when in fact, they have been closed and paid in full, thinking this would show only a few CC's with balances and raise my score a little. I have never had any late pays nor any collections or derogatory info put on my report. Always says "pays as agreed" I then went to check my score again, and it went down to 698...that is 10 points!!! WTF..I thought by closing accts and not having so many CC's open, my score would rise? I did the same with "Experian" and my score went from 690 to 711 in a matter of minutes...and I disputed the same accts as closed. How is this? So I called equifax back and asked what happened. The lady told me that by showing those accts as closed, it left higher balances on my other accts??? WTH is she talking about...the balances are the same as they were before? She also told me that the formula they used had a negative affect on my score? Does anyone know what the h**l that means? I am so pissed right now. Thanks to anyone who responds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted May 20, 2003 Report Share Posted May 20, 2003 I got the FICO info right from Equifax. It doesn't give calculating formulas which are proprietary to Fair Isaac, but it does a good job explaining the basics of FICO. http://www.debt-consolidation-credit-repair-service.com/cgi-local/cutecast/cutecast.pl?forum=1&thread=7065 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeGee Posted May 20, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2003 Docdon...thanx for responding and giving me that info. It did help me to understand some things...but not how my score dropped 10 points because I wanted 4 accts to show closed? Isn't it true that if one has accts "open" with 0 balances, that there's a risk of that person running up the cards? Isn't it best to have them "closed" to show that your NOT at risk to run up those cards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted May 20, 2003 Report Share Posted May 20, 2003 I agree with you in that it should. But, if you're debt to income ratio allows you to have that available credit without risk of maxing yourself out, leading to potential default, it's not going to hurt you.Your points dropped because you now have 4 tradelines closed, which reduces the credit usage information available to creditors. Given it's only 10 points, continued positive payment history and smart credit usage will get your scores higher than what they are now.FICO is the dumbest most puzzling guideline (I stress guideline) that was ever marketed, which is why more and more creditors are using their own standardized criteria when issuing credit.I went from a 727 TU to 540 with three new CC's and 2 auto loans. In 6 months, I'm back up to 610 by doing nothing more than paying my bills. It boggles the mind.If you have removed the derogs from your report, I wouldn't worry about dramatically increasing your score overnight, because it's not going to happen. You have to be willing to accept a certain comfort level (getting that unsecured card, 2nd mortgage, auto loan, etc.), and let nature take its course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anonymous Posted May 21, 2003 Report Share Posted May 21, 2003 well put doc.also, for betty boop or whomever that was the first posted... think of it like this: before you had credit, your score was low... now you have credit but are getting rid of tradelines that show "good" credit, so now you have "less" credit and therefore lower points... does that help? i love analogies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeGee Posted May 22, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2003 WOW...I thought it would raise my score lol silly me for thinking that. So now maybe I should ask them to leave the 4 accts that were paid in full with no derog in all their credit history to "open" lol. I found that Experian was the only CRA that raised my score because of the 4 accts. showing "closed". I'm waiting on TU, but I still think I did the right thing by having them show "closed". I just bought a house...what will that do to my score? I'm afraid to ask lol. I'm working on getting my outstanding balances down...that should help too. Thanx guys for all the info...it really did help me understand things now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeeGee Posted May 22, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2003 UPDATE!!!!!!! Just checked my equifax score and it went back up...this time even higher...711!!!!!!!!! What's funny is Experian gave me the same exact score lol. It happens to be my lucky number...my kid was born on that day. I checked with Equifax removing old addresses...and they are all off. The old name is still on...they want my marriage certificate to show my new name. is there anyway they will remove the name if I call them again about it? I really don't want to send my MC to them. Anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted May 22, 2003 Report Share Posted May 22, 2003 See? No need to panic. I don't know anyway around your issue other than sending them what they request. It's like changing the name on your driver's license, or bank accounts, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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