Credit Rating Question (1 Viewer)

[coopersdad]

2 years ago, someone tried stealing my identity and applying for "payday and quick" loans. Luckily Discover and Chase cards notified me ASAP and nothing came of it. I've since froze my credit at all 3 agencies, but now I monitor my credit on a semi weekly basis.

I've got a Discover Card and a Chase card that I use for monthly purchases and bills depending on the % back that I get..........each usually has between 2-4K on it. Until last month I was joint on my son's car loan, which I paid off as a wedding present to him. No other debt.

Credit report was updated today, and my score went down by about 20 points. Still over 800, but I think it's stupid that it would go down, when you lessen your total debt.

I'm sure that there is a logical answer..............

And no, I'm not providing my SS number so that you can look into it.............................

 

[John123]

There are a lot of variables that go in to a credit rating. One of them is they want you to have debt, just not TOO MUCH debt. So yes, removing debt CAN affect the score. However, if you're over 800 you're in the top tier and losing 20 points would have no adverse effect on your ability to get credit if you needed it, so it's not worth worrying about. Remember, this is all arbitrary crap chosen by people in a black hole that you have no input on. Minor changes do not reflect a change in your ability to pay off your debts.

 

[Caveman33]

2 years ago, someone tried stealing my identity and applying for "payday and quick" loans. Luckily Discover and Chase cards notified me ASAP and nothing came of it. I've since froze my credit at all 3 agencies, but now I monitor my credit on a semi weekly basis.

I've got a Discover Card and a Chase card that I use for monthly purchases and bills depending on the % back that I get..........each usually has between 2-4K on it. Until last month I was joint on my son's car loan, which I paid off as a wedding present to him. No other debt.

Credit report was updated today, and my score went down by about 20 points. Still over 800, but I think it's stupid that it would go down, when you lessen your total debt.

I'm sure that there is a logical answer..............

And no, I'm not providing my SS number so that you can look into it.............................

Being over 800, these fluctuations have no impact on you. 20-30 point fluctuations when opening or closing a credit line are normal. Creditors value stability. Your score will gain back those 20 points in the next few months. I once noticed a 30-40 point drop and discovered that someone had opened a credit card in my name. Apparently the scammer tried to transfer a cash advance through China but it failed and the account had sat without activity for a couple months. I previously had a legitimate card with this lender. It's disappointingly easy for scammers to steal ID. Nothing bad happened to me and I think the bank would have eaten the charges if the scammer had been able to receive the card and use it.

 

[Dezbelief]

Also charging more than normal through the holidays can impact your score.

 

[Monty Burns]

My score has bounced around between 800 and 825 for several years now. It usually goes right back up to 825 within 2 months of hitting 800. My credit spending is almost always under 2K per month, I have zero debt and I also have my credit locked so I've wondered the same thing. I blame the matrix....

 

[Runkle]

2 years ago, someone tried stealing my identity and applying for "payday and quick" loans. Luckily Discover and Chase cards notified me ASAP and nothing came of it. I've since froze my credit at all 3 agencies, but now I monitor my credit on a semi weekly basis.

I've got a Discover Card and a Chase card that I use for monthly purchases and bills depending on the % back that I get..........each usually has between 2-4K on it. Until last month I was joint on my son's car loan, which I paid off as a wedding present to him. No other debt.

Credit report was updated today, and my score went down by about 20 points. Still over 800, but I think it's stupid that it would go down, when you lessen your total debt.

I'm sure that there is a logical answer..............

And no, I'm not providing my SS number so that you can look into it.............................

Score changes when your usage ratio changes. It'll re-normalize in a short while.

 

[culdeus]

Get some business cards and do your spend on those. They don't report so your utilization doesn't suffer.

 

[massraider]

2 years ago, someone tried stealing my identity and applying for "payday and quick" loans. Luckily Discover and Chase cards notified me ASAP and nothing came of it. I've since froze my credit at all 3 agencies, but now I monitor my credit on a semi weekly basis.

I've got a Discover Card and a Chase card that I use for monthly purchases and bills depending on the % back that I get..........each usually has between 2-4K on it. Until last month I was joint on my son's car loan, which I paid off as a wedding present to him. No other debt.

Credit report was updated today, and my score went down by about 20 points. Still over 800, but I think it's stupid that it would go down, when you lessen your total debt.

I'm sure that there is a logical answer..............

And no, I'm not providing my SS number so that you can look into it.............................

For real, here's why it went down:

Diversity of credit matters for score. They want to see a car loan or a mortgage, etc. as well as CC debt.

If you only have credit cards, your score won't be as high as someone else with a mortgage and credit cards, all things bring equal otherwise.

It is counter intuitive, but that's the reason.

 

[Juxtatarot]

2 years ago, someone tried stealing my identity and applying for "payday and quick" loans. Luckily Discover and Chase cards notified me ASAP and nothing came of it. I've since froze my credit at all 3 agencies, but now I monitor my credit on a semi weekly basis.

I've got a Discover Card and a Chase card that I use for monthly purchases and bills depending on the % back that I get..........each usually has between 2-4K on it. Until last month I was joint on my son's car loan, which I paid off as a wedding present to him. No other debt.

Credit report was updated today, and my score went down by about 20 points. Still over 800, but I think it's stupid that it would go down, when you lessen your total debt.

I'm sure that there is a logical answer..............

And no, I'm not providing my SS number so that you can look into it.............................

For real, here's why it went down:

Diversity of credit matters for score. They want to see a car loan or a mortgage, etc. as well as CC debt.

If you only have credit cards, your score won't be as high as someone else with a mortgage and credit cards, all things bring equal otherwise.

It is counter intuitive, but that's the reason.

The reason it seems counterintuitive is people have a hard time separating income and assets with credit.