managing credit limits--specific question re: usage.

[tigerman]

Yes that is what dropped my score, I signed up for a identity theft program with my bank, monitors my credit report, credit cards, debit cards, etc...I just got an email the other day about derogatory information posted on my credit report, it was BofA, that was the only thing I had through them... unfortunately. I called my bank yesterday about it and they told me they can update it like that for 7 to 10 years. I will be disputing it, just frustrating.

[justbroke]

Did you file a dispute or was this just done without knowledge? What was the prior status? If it was already IIB and they didn't do anything else, nothing should have happened. Are you sure something else didn't bring you down 20 points, such as inquiries or your utilization?

There is no way to know if that caused your point decrease. They can report whatever is true. They can not reset the "last major delinquency" or "first delinquency" date since that could severely affect your credit profile. I have seen my old (discharged) creditors sometimes post updates to the credit lines, but nothing that dropped my score.

[tigerman]

I have a question for you all, my credit report just dropped 20 points because my mortgage company updated about the discharge, can they do that? It was already on my credit report as discharged through chapter 7 bk, how can they come back almost 3 years later and do that as an update?

[HHM]

There is no Magic number per se, but as has been alluded to earlier, 10% or less.

[catlfuzzy]

I wasn't real clear when I originated this question. Yeah, I used to be close to 800 fico. That was pre-BK. This is now--- Now I filed 7; and will begin the steady process of restoration. Was just asking about the magic number as far as revolving credit, and how much to charge in order to not be percieved as "too close to limit".

[Logan]

Finally, there are no bonus points for having a credit score over 800. Once you are 740 and above, you are tier one credit, there are no additional perks to being higher than 800. Having an 800+ score is more about credit longevity than any other factor. Everyone I have encountered and spoke with who is 800+ has had relatively unblemished credit for decades and a variety of credit (multiple credit cards, car loan, and mortgage). The irony is, those with 800+ scores are most at risk in an economic down turn, they have a mortage, they have car loans, they "use" credit cards, so when the music stops and they lose their job, these are the people filing bankruptcy.

My wife has an 800 FICO and has no car loan, never had a mortgage and has only lived in this country for 15 years. She does have a small student loan but that's it.

Logan

[justbroke]

And i am going to reach out to some of my old coworkers and see if they know about this lookback. I am seriously curious about it.

If you can, that would be cool. The scoring itself looks back generally when it comes to payment history and credit mix. I shredded a bunch of stuff but if I can find that scoring letter, I'll let you know. I was actually approved, for the car loan, but it was weird that it had a comment about utilization in the last 6 months. It may have been the Enhanced Auto Score model instead of Beacon, now that I think about it.

[TBA]

I also resemble that remark! LOL Unfortunately we were "given" way too much credit during the boom, and somehow convinced a bank to give us almost $2mil for a business loan. When the economy took a nose dive, so did our disposable income industry business, we did what we could, but in the end, we were exactly what HHM is describing.

As for your rescore product logan, i have mentioned that i worked for two of the big three, and that is what i did - i sold into banks and brokers and cus - i had a lot of experience with "fixing scores" (borrowers who had good payment history but just didnt have the utilization right to provide a good score for the product they wanted...) and we would even see jumps of up to 100 points, depending on other parts of the file. Maybe that is why we have the same mentality about scores

And i am going to reach out to some of my old coworkers and see if they know about this lookback. I am seriously curious about it.

[justbroke]

I resemble that remark HHM. Hence I just like to pay down my debts. I did buy a new vehicle, but intend to be debt free, once again, in February 2015. I have sufficient credit resources and aside from wanting to buy a home sometime in the future, I have no real need to chase a score. I will be happy just paying down my debts and paying on time.

[HHM]

Here the thing, credit score is a moving target. If you are attempting this level of micro management of your credit score, then you should probably step back and assess your life priorities.

If you let the utilization slip one month, it is easy to fix the next, as Logan points out. There really is very little an individual can do to "increase" their score on a day to day, week to week, and even month to month. Your score is not a static number, the score is only relative to the point in time in which it is run. However, you can certainly do things to wreck credit in that time frame. So, people buy into the fallacy that if you simply do the opposite of things that would harm your credit, you can pro-actively increase it...unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. If you live your life, your credit generally takes care of itself.

Finally, there are no bonus points for having a credit score over 800. Once you are 740 and above, you are tier one credit, there are no additional perks to being higher than 800. Having an 800+ score is more about credit longevity than any other factor. Everyone I have encountered and spoke with who is 800+ has had relatively unblemished credit for decades and a variety of credit (multiple credit cards, car loan, and mortgage). The irony is, those with 800+ scores are most at risk in an economic down turn, they have a mortage, they have car loans, they "use" credit cards, so when the music stops and they lose their job, these are the people filing bankruptcy.

[justbroke]

Justbroke, you mentioned that 6 month check back in another thread as well, but i have not seen any models that do this. Can you provide examples? I know fico does not - at least not in your standard fico model (beacon5.0 or the newest one, Empirica etc etc (those "typically" used by lenders)). There may be a model built for a specific cu or cc company by the bureau to output something like this, but i cannot find any examples. You have my curiosity peeked.

I think it was for a credit union. If I can find the paperwork, I'll try to see if the scoring system was noted. I have only seen this "reason" for my score listed once.

Like everyone else, I'm not advocating trying to chase a score at all. I think we are just all in agreement that paying on time and paying down balances, is the best thing to do regardless of any score goals.

[Logan]

Utilization hurts high FICO scorers more than the lower FICO scorers. The reason the poster's credit score is in the 800s, is probably because they do, in fact, keep the utilization low. There are some scoring models (and I'm not sure if FICO is one of them) that actually look back 6 months for utilization. I think it was a BEACON score that I received that had a comment that my 6 month utilization was "high" (and by high they meant over 30%).

Back when I was in the mortgage business if a client needed to get their score up and utilization was high I would get them to make a payment and we would send in proof to the company that pulled the report. I remember the scores improving immediately. It's very possible their scores were still harmed because of a 6 month look back but I remember 20 point improvements. Also, these clients had decent scores, we just wanted to get them a bit higher to save a bit on interest in the next tier.
Logan

[TBA]

I tried arguing that same point logan. That we cannot live by our credit score - that we must live our lives (i wont walk into a store a think, omg, can i charge this, will i be over 30% or will i be able to get my payment there by before the due date to make sure it reports on my credit report...). but it wasnt greeted the way i might think (it is why i stayed out of this conversation )

I think in the end we are all out for the same thing, people just have different ways of getting there.

Justbroke, you mentioned that 6 month check back in another thread as well, but i have not seen any models that do this. Can you provide examples? I know fico does not - at least not in your standard fico model (beacon5.0 or the newest one, Empirica etc etc (those "typically" used by lenders)). There may be a model built for a specific cu or cc company by the bureau to output something like this, but i cannot find any examples. You have my curiosity peeked.

[Logan]

Utilization hurts high FICO scorers more than the lower FICO scorers. The reason the poster's credit score is in the 800s, is probably because they do, in fact, keep the utilization low. There are some scoring models (and I'm not sure if FICO is one of them) that actually look back 6 months for utilization. I think it was a BEACON score that I received that had a comment that my 6 month utilization was "high" (and by high they meant over 30%).

But all you have to do is pay the cards off and your score rises rapidly. Who really cares if your FICO is 720 or 800? I know I don't.
Logan

[justbroke]

If you just filed, then the last thing you should be worried about is your credit score. To that extent, I agree with Logan. Just keep paying on time, keep your chin up, and don't rely heavily on credit over the next 2-4 years. If you do so, you will be rewarded with a good score.