Equifax Credit Score went down--don't know why????

[tj34994]

I checked my credit scores again, compared them to my Oct 03 scores:

Oct Equifax - 598

Mar Equifax -562

Oct Experian - 596

Mar Experian - 607

Oct TU - 590

Mar TU - 627

Ok, can anyone tell me why Equifax would drop like this. I haven't had any change in my credit, except to delete negative tradelines, and also that I refinanced my auto for a lower interest rate in Oct. But the old auto loan shows paid with a 0 balance now. All of my history shows paid on time for this last 6 years and I haven't had any inquiries, etc. Dropped 36 points and I don't know why? The rest of my scores went up while Equifax dropped. Help??????

[DocDon]

Believe it or not, deleting a tradeline (negative or not) will lower your score since the history of the account is interweaved into the scoring factors.

You also have to factor in balances to credit limit (keep them below 35% of the CL), and inquiries.

Nevertheless, while the drop is temporary, it's still better than having the negatives on your reports.

[herauntsis]

Also, when you get new credit (you refinanced your car), that can drop your score for a while. I was shocked when my score dropped the last time I bought a car -- one of the FICO explanations said that the balance on my installment debt was too close to the original balance. I thought, "Well, duh! I just bought the car five minutes ago, what the hell do you expect?" Your score will eventually come up again after you have made a few payments -- exactly how many I cannot say, because I do not know.

[tj34994]

I refinanced in Oct 03. How long does the drop last? Wow, so it's better to just leave the negatives on? I'm trying to buy a house, and because of Equifax it's caused me a BIG BUMP.

[DocDon]

You have to take into consideration the history of the tradeline and the severity of the lates. A few scattered 30 day lates over an 8-year reporting period? I'd say leave it alone or contact the OC directly with a goodwill letter to update the account and avoid getting the account deleted entirely.

Check your other balances. Having high balances is a huge hit to your score.

[tj34994]

I have 2 credit cards. Each have about 10% or less on them. The other accounts which are in collection are close to 6 or 7 years old. Three of those. The last one to come off will be Nov 05. The OC's are budging neither are the collectors, I've tried to dispute and they keep coming back verified. The mortage company that I'm working with said that the collections are so old that they really aren't even considering those because for the last 4 1/2 to 5 years I have not lates or collections. His concern is that drop by equifax. He sent my CR to the credit analyzers to look at and see if there is something they can do to fix it. Sometimes they will contact the CRA's themselves and ask why it dropped. Hopefully I'll hear something tomorrow.

Thanks for info. I guess I may just be out of luck. I was hoping to buy a home soon because the market is going sky high here in Florida. A friend of mine bought less than 3 years ago, and she just had her home appraised for possible sell or refinancing. Her house has passed the double mark. She bought for $98,000, just appraised for $230,000. The market analyst hear are saying that prices are going to increase $60,000 to $80,000 over the next year. Ouch!!!!

Wish me luck!!!

Thanks all

[DocDon]

Those three collections are probably dropping your score by 60 points or more. Get those off, and you'll be golden.

Good luck!!!

[tj34994]

I wish getting them off were that easy. I've been trying for over 3 years now. They are not budging. Everyone continues to verify, verify, verify. The same collections are on my TU report but it didn't fall. I just can't figure it out.

You know, I have one collection company that reported last year, but no longer has the account, but EQ keeps coming back saying it's verified as mine and giving me the Name, address, phone # of the person to contact. I don't know what to do about this one. Any ideas?

TJ

[DocDon]

You can write an ITS to EQ and see where that gets you (probably nowhere), or you can report the CA to your state Attorney General for repeatedly reporting information that is not theirs to report. The CA will contact EQ for deletion.

[tj34994]

I just got off the phone with the credit analyst. Here's what they said about my report. Because I continue to dispute, and the CRA updates and uses the "reported as of date" as the most current update (not the DOLA), it can cause the score to decrease. This is a temporary problem and should go up in a couple of months. So, I asked him, "so I should have just left things alone?" He told me no, I was right to get the information corrected and that I should contact EQ and ask why my scores are going down just because the OC was reporting inaccurate information and I proved them wrong by providing proof of the inaccuracies? Maybe they will fix my scores and maybe they wont, but he said should correct itself in a couple of months. Blah, blah, blah. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't!!!

TJ