Can anyone explain this? Score goes does for no reason!

I have been meticulously keeping track of my Equifax and Experian scores using their respective monitoring services in preparation for a mortgage if I ever find a house I like. Well today after thinking I may have found one I decided to check my latest reports and found I had an unpleasant surprise with my Equifax credit score. It had been staying at a nice level of 745 since at least May of this year, but suddenly went down to 732, still not bad though.

What had changed was my first thought... Only one account out of 2 active accounts reported to Equifax had changed, my Providian credit card. In July it had a reported balance of $2138, which was correct, and on the report today, it showed an August report date with a balance of $1930, which is also correct.

The only other thing that had changed was my credit limit was (unknown to me) RAISED from $6975 in July to $7975 in August. I first called Providian who kindly explained to me that raising the limit alone usually increases scores because it lowers the percentage of credit used. He could not figure out why my score went down.

Neither could the guy at Equifax whom I spoke with. He told me that as far as he knows it should have stayed the same or even gone up a little. He also said there wasn't much he could do for me. I'm not going to lose sleep over 13 points, but I'm quite concerned as to why it went down. Can anyone shed any light or perhaps offer some advice?

Thanks,
Steve

The short answer is here: FICO is FRAUD (http://www.bayhouse.com/FICOisFRAUD.shtml)

Aside from the "fraud" factor, any one of the many hundreds of pieces of data could have changed and caused this minor drop, the possibilities are unlimited.

Obviously, you don't have to worry about it, your score is still great.

And I don't even look at my or my clients' Experian scores - why should I waste MY time when no lender bothers?

That's pretty much what I was thinking too.. That's not a significant enough change for me to blink at, but since I'm paying for thier monitoring service I think I'll call up and give them a bit of grief, if for nothing else, fun!

I agree, the whole credit reporting/scoring system is a big joke that I believe is designed to keep the middle class and lower down. These CRA's find every little way, every loophole imaginable to get around the FCRA.

Here's a perfect example: Earlier this year I had an old derog from American express re-appear on all three of my reports. I immediately called Amex who apologised and said that during their transition to a new system a bunch of old outdated information accidentally got reposted, and with new dates. I was told that the records would prompty be removed and was also sent a letter confirming that those records should not be on my reports.

TransUnion removed it without problem, so did Equifax. Experian didn't remove it. So I disputed it, which they claim to have verified their data as correct with Amex. I called and spoke with a rep who told me the same thing, and also told me that they had verified it directly with Amex. I said no, that I had a letter from Amex stating that it wasn't supposed to be there, and guess what? She would not let me fax it to her and told me they can only report what Amex tells them, not consumers. I told them they lied as far as I was concerned, and never bothered to contact Amex. I was pissed to say the least, and after some screaming and a couple supervisors I managed to get them to re-investigate the account and actually contact Amex directly. After 2 months it was finally removed, thats 2 months in which I had to halt my search for a house or be forced to accept a high interest rate.

Changes are sorely needed when it comes to credit reports and scores. Since this information can be really damaging, the burden of proof should be on the CRA and company supplying the data, not the consumer.

You have an EXCELLENT case against Experian, but I also know what a hassle it is to sue.

They don't bother to change their reporting practices because they are a for profit business and this is how they make the most $$$.

I think that often they don't conduct an investigation at all. Never once got the description of their investigation procedure, as they are by law required to provide within 15 days.

It's amazing how an account is reported different to each bureau, and then you get 3 different results after the dispute. Not occasionally, but regularly.

So only way to find out WHY that's happening is to find out how they investigate and who verifies.

And, if you really want to know why your score went down, fax your Equifax reports to Mr. Quinn at Fair, Isaac. He's got all the answers :)

http://creditcourt.com/law/cra.shtml#Fair Isaac

I have one possible explanation. As your credit balance to limit decreased you probably recieved points for that. However, the increased credit limit is seen as a "potential liability" and has a negative impact that offset the points you gained. How is this fair? Well, notice that I said "potential liability". Your negative "potential liability" has less of an impact over the years as you "prove" that you were responsible and did not run up your credit balance to this limit. Your increase in your credit score is a potential that will increase only over time and not "instantly".

"However, the increased credit limit is seen as a "potential liability" and has a negative impact that offset the points you gained."

This is not true, documented MANY times. I'm sure there was some other change on the report.