Why's my credit scores going down?

There's been no change on my credit except my disputes. I disputed 4 items with TransUnion, got the results back, 3 of the 4 were deleted, and my score went down 17 points.

I disputed 12 items with experian, no results yet, and my score has gone down 20 points in the last month. I have not applied for anything, and I have kept current on all my accounts.

I disputed 7 items with Equifax, haven't gotten the results back yet, but my score has gone down 15 points in the last couple of weeks.

I'm a little distressed by this.. I thought my score's supposed to be going up. I compared the previous reports (only a month old) to the ones I optained today, and the only things that changed on Transunion were the 3 deletions, on equifax, I see they've added "consumer disputes this info..etc) on there, but nothing seems like it should have lowered my score! Is it bad to dispute scores these days now? :confused:

It's bad to dispute good accounts.

And if you have 3 year old lates on a 10 year old account, and you don't have much other undisputed good credit HISTORY or OPEN accounts, you can easily lose 50 or 80 points with that dispute.

I'd have to see your reports and Beacon score info to tell you exactly what's going on.

And I don't waste my time on TU and Experian scores - not even if you paid me for it :)

Originally posted by Christine
It's bad to dispute good accounts.

And if you have 3 year old lates on a 10 year old account, and you don't have much other undisputed good credit HISTORY or OPEN accounts, you can easily lose 50 or 80 points with that dispute.

I'd have to see your reports and Beacon score info to tell you exactly what's going on.

And I don't waste my time on TU and Experian scores - not even if you paid me for it :)


Here's the report I got off of equifax. This report (dated 6/19), is *exactly* the same as the one dated 6/03. The two differences is that is one has "consumer disputes" in there, and this one has a score of 603, as opposed to the other one having a score of 619.

My goal is to get all the negatives off of there, but it seems that sometimes I run the risk of total deletion instead of updates. I hope Americredit doesnt get deleted.


Americredit Financial Services XXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 02/1998 09/1999 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $11917 316 $0 10/1999
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 02 times; 60 days past due 00 times; 90 + days past due 00 times;
CONSUMER DISPUTES-REINVESTIGATION IN PROCESS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Capital One XXXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 12/2000 05/2002 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $926 25 $838 05/2002
Prior Paying History

CREDIT CARD


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chase Manhattan Mortgage Cor XXXXXXX
SHARED, BUT OTHERWISE UNDESIGN 04/2001 05/2002 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $139K 1170 $138K 05/2002
Prior Paying History

REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE
CONVENTIONAL MORTGAGE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chase Na XXXXXXXXX
AUTHORIZED USE 02/1995 02/2002 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $1000 $0 05/2002
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 02 times; 60 days past due 00 times; 90 + days past due 00 times;
PAID ACCOUNT/ZERO BALANCE
ACCOUNT CLOSED BY CREDIT GRANTOR

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chase Na XXXXXXXXXX
AUTHORIZED USE 02/1995 10/2000 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $1000 25 10/2000
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 06 times; 60 days past due 02 times; 90 + days past due 03 times;
ACCOUNT CLOSED BY CREDIT GRANTOR
CREDIT CARD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Citi Cards Cbsdna XXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 01/1996 04/1998 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $1000 $0 02/2002
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 00 times; 60 days past due 01 times; 90 + days past due 00 times;
CLOSED ACCOUNT
AMOUNT IN H/C COLUMN IS CREDIT LIMIT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Bank,N.A./GLHEC XXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 11/1995 09/1997 Installment
120+ DAYS PAST DUE $875 50 $0 08/1998
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 00 times; 60 days past due 00 times; 90 + days past due 05 times;
CONSUMER DISPUTES-REINVESTIGATION IN PROCESS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First Bank,N.A./GLHEC XXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 11/1995 04/1997 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $875 50 05/1997
Prior Paying History

CONSUMER DISPUTES-REINVESTIGATION IN PROCESS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First USA Bank XXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 09/1996 06/2002 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $1900 18 $746 06/2002
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 04 times; 60 days past due 01 times; 90 + days past due 00 times;
CREDIT CARD
AMOUNT IN H/C COLUMN IS CREDIT LIMIT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First USA Bank, Na XXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 09/1996 09/1998 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $1900 78 $0 11/1998
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 02 times; 60 days past due 00 times; 90 + days past due 00 times;
ACCOUNT TRANSFERRED OR SOLD
CREDIT CARD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fremont Investment & Loan XXXXXXXXXX
JOINT ACCOUNT 04/2001 07/2001 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $7735 122 $0 08/2001
Prior Paying History

REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fremont Investment & Loan XXXXXXXXXX
JOINT ACCOUNT 04/2001 08/2001 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $139K 1170 08/2001
Prior Paying History

REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GR LK HGH Ed Corp XXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 10/1997 Installment
CHARGE-OFF $495 $0 05/1999
Prior Paying History

CONSUMER DISPUTES-REINVESTIGATION IN PROCESS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Household Automotive XXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 09/2000 05/2002 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $24947 534 $21327 05/2002
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 01 times; 60 days past due 00 times; 90 + days past due 00 times;
AUTO


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Household Automotive XXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 10/1999 08/2000 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $10117 292 $0 05/2002
Prior Paying History

AUTO


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Montgomery Ward XXXXXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 11/1995 04/1999 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $540 $0 12/1999
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 03 times; 60 days past due 00 times; 90 + days past due 00 times;
CONSUMER DISPUTES-REINVESTIGATION IN PROCESS


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Providian Financial XXXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 01/2001 06/2002 Revolving
PAYS AS AGREED $900 19 $646 06/2002
Prior Paying History

CREDIT CARD
AMOUNT IN H/C COLUMN IS CREDIT LIMIT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RNB-Mervyns XXXXXXXXXX
JOINT ACCOUNT 07/1995 12/1997 Revolving
CHARGE-OFF $350 $0 05/2002
Prior Paying History

PAID CHARGE OFF
CHARGE

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wells FARGO EFS XXXXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 03/2000 05/2002 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $4000 48 $4167 05/2002
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 01 times; 60 days past due 01 times; 90 + days past due 01 times;
STUDENT LOAN


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wells FARGO EFS XXXXXXXXXXXX
INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT 03/2000 05/2002 Installment
PAYS AS AGREED $2625 30 $2547 05/2002
Prior Paying History
30 days past due 01 times; 60 days past due 01 times; 90 + days past due 01 times;
STUDENT LOAN

You are disputing quite a few of your older accounts, so that's probably it. You also still have a bunch of lates, so losing those accounts isn't exactly improving the overall picture.

Can you post what your Beacon explanations were before and after the dispute?

Thanks a lot for your reply Christine.

At 619, the reasons were:

-Serious delinquency or derogatory indicators/remarks, and public record or collection information is being reported on your credit file
-The time since your most recent past due payment is too recent or unknown
-The length of time your accounts have been established is relatively short

At 603, the reasons given are:

-Serious delinquency or derogatory indicators/remarks, and public record or collection information is being reported on your credit file More information
-The time since your most recent past due payment is too recent or unknown More information
-The proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving/charge accounts is too high


Regarding the disputes:

Americredit: I disputed as never late
GLHEC: I disputed as not mine because they were defaulted loans that were in collections
GR LK: Same as before, it was a bad loan in collections.. they're all paid though
MWARD: disputed as never late

I remember disputing the Chase NA accounts (authorized use) over the phone, but I dont see it entered here. I want to dispute those because there were also a bunch of lates on those... im beginning to wonder now if that's bad? :confused:

You need to go to your Beacon score, and then follow the LINKS for those reasons.

Apparenly NONE of the accounts you disputed impacted negatively on your report. Even if they get changed or deleted as you requested, your scores will barely go higher than before the dispute, if at all.

If all the other derogs were deleted, THEN the accounts you disputed would make a difference, but not with your current accounts.

Read

Fantastic info in the new Beacon score format (http://www.bayhouse.com/credit-forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=741)

for some examples of what you're looking for. This takes a lot of time, but it's the best way to find out what you need to dispute.

I often spend over an hour just looking at the score details, WHAT impacts on the scores, how EACH account impacts on the score, and how to utilitize that info in the Equifax dispute.