When bad old TLs dropping lowers your scores...

[Lisa0825]

One old TL dropped off this month, and 2 of my TrueCredit FAKOs went down by 30 points. Initially, I was planning to start the home refinancing process soon, but now, I think I should wait a year or so, because I know that 2 more old TLs will drop off in the next 4 months. I know this is really a GOOD thing, and will eventually result in my having a beautiful, blemish-free report, but after months of my scores increasing, due to new TLs and on-time payments, these drops are painful! (I still plan to buy my FICOs in May to see how they are doing rather than relying on FAKOs))

So anyway... what I was wondering is how long after old TLs cause a score drop, does it take for scores to begin to recover? There is about a 4 year gap between the accounts I screwed up and my ensuing credit hiatus, and the time I started the repair process. My oldest "new" TL will be 2 years in July (my home equity loan which put the house in my name).

Now that I have a second job, refinancing does not feel so urgent financially (I wanted a better payment), but I'd still like to know what to expect... whether 6 months of good behavior will make much difference, or if it will take much longer. Either way, I am in this for the long haul, but I like to know what to expect.

Thanks for any input!

[MadinKS]

The deletion of the TL may have put you in another "catagory". I don't think it's that drastic though. It's disheartening yes, but it will eventually begin it's climb back up. The amount of time, I don't believe, is an exact science. I'm not sure anyone here can say for certain that it will increase in 6 mo. or 6 days. It's the nature of the beast. The only thing you can know for certain, is that removing old baddies will only help you. As far as purchasing myFICO, are you aware you can do a free 30 day trial? If not, you can. You just have to cancel before 30 days and it will give you alerts to changes. Just a pitch if your dying to know. Good luck.

[direred]

Scorewatch is a really good deal, imho, and it makes it feel less stressful.

[zfire]

I don't know how this works everywhere...but I have a VA loan, and CitiMtg

owns it . (we are on Mtg lender # 3 now..they tend to sell these things)

I got an offer..no credit review bla bla..to refinance this loan at a lower rate

with Citi. Yeah, same company. Not thinking I will be taking it.

Point being, why not check with your lender to see if they offer a refi program

similar to this?

[Lisa0825]

I don't know how this works everywhere...but I have a VA loan, and CitiMtg

owns it . (we are on Mtg lender # 3 now..they tend to sell these things)

I got an offer..no credit review bla bla..to refinance this loan at a lower rate

with Citi. Yeah, same company. Not thinking I will be taking it.

Point being, why not check with your lender to see if they offer a refi program

similar to this?

I am afraid to try that, because my mortgage was sold to Chase 2 months after I got it, and Chase is the company that one of my baddies was with (due to disappear in September). so, while they were willing to buy my account, I don't know about asking them for anything new.

Re: ScoreWatch - I already subscribe to MyCreditKeeper and TrueCredit. Both supposedly send alerts, but I notice that my score changes many times when no alert has been sent, so I check it a lot on my own.

Re: MyFICO - I did a 30 day free trial in December.

I know this drop is just another step along the road to improved scores, and I am prepared to wait it out. I just like to know approximately how much waiting I'll have to do!LOL

Regardless of any frustration or impatience, I am very proud of myself for the progress I have made. Before the drop, my EQ FICO score had gone up almost 100 points since July of 2005. Once Chase and the other baddie are gone this year, all I will have left as far as negatives go are a paid collection (from before I found this place) and a paid defaulted student loan (which I understand MUST report the whole 7 years), and everything else will be positive and a good foundation to build on. I not only have cleaned up my past credit mistakes, but also know that my credit will continue to get better and better as I implement all the tools I now have (like handling utilization!).

CIC ROICKS!

[JuniorNY]

I just recently had the same problem, I was able to get off a baddie and my EQ and TU score dropped about 50 points. My EX went up about 70 though ...Go figure... Not an exact science is an understatement.