Credit score going down instead of going up??

[mattandallismom]

How is it possible that disputing inaccurate reporting on your credit can cause your score to go down? I've received updates from EX that disputed accounts have updated, in my favor, and my score has gone down 17 points since I started last month. Does it take a while for the changes to be reflected?

Thanks for any insight!

[willingtocope]

Yes, it does take awhile for things to catch up...but, you also have to realize that FICO scoring is all about categories. If what you did removed TLs, you might have moved from the "has lots of TLs, some bad" to the "doesn't have many TLs" category. Don't sweat movements of less than 75-100 points. You'll drive yourself nuts, because it isn't logical.

[mattandallismom]

Don't sweat movements of less than 75-100 points. You'll drive yourself nuts, because it isn't logical.

:lol: My obsessive behavior is driving my poor hubby nuts. Thanks for the insight!

[lyle7289]

also, I would like to add that your overall credit history might have been affected. What i mean is that credit history regardless of good or bad is just that, HISTORY.

Let me give you an example. Let's say that on your reports you have 4 accounts listed. 2 bad accounts from 2000 and 2 good accounts from 06. If you remove the two bad accounts from 2000, 7 years of HISTORY has been removed from your reports thus showing only 1 year of credit history. Does that make sense?

Length of history is one of the many, many factors in the FICO scoring model. THis could be why your scores took a hit initially. Over time, your reports and scores will rebound and you will have a stronger credit file because of it.

Older negatives have less effect on score than do newer ones. Sometimes it makes sense score wise to leave the old negative accounts as they are helping your overall credit history. This senario is not for everyone as everyones situation is different.

Just my 2 cents....