I called Experian today to remind them that an inquiry was over two years old and needed to be deleted. The customer service rep said she saw that it should be aged of and said she could delete it now Rechecked my score and with NO other changes received a 6 point boost. So dont believe that inquires dont hurt, this is absolute proof. JohnM Experian 767 up from 687 Equifax 802 up from 721 TU 710 and still holding ---(they have two more days to respond to disputes
John, If you don't mind telling, what is your score with EQ? I ask because inquries hurt your score more when you have more derogs(lower score) and less when you have a higher score. So, I was wondering if it also worked that way in reverse. IE: Someone with a low score would get a higher boost when an INQ is deleted, while someone with a higher score would not get much of a score increase.
Mindcrime, Sorry, I corrected my original post - It was Experian not Equifax that deleted the inquiry today. My score was 761 with two inquirys and 767 with one removed leaving only an insurance inquiry from 9/02. So your theory may be correct. I have posted the negitive reasons given for my score below, after the one inquiry was removed: The outstanding balances on your revolving accounts are greater than the average in your credit category Advice » � Lack of a real estate loan (or lack of a real estate loan that has always been paid on time) Advice » � Application for credit made in the last two years Advice » As you can see the inquiry reason is the last, but what is most agravating is that it is an INSURANCE inquiry not a credit inquiry that is left!! Why should shopping for insurance hurt my credit??? The other annowing thing is ALL my credit balanves are paid in full every month. I use my Amex for business and may run 10k\month but pay it off, so th number one reason my score is low is because I make a S..T load of money for Amex, go figure? John M Experian 767 Equifax 802 TU 710
Do you have a student loan? I get that same reason about the balances being high when my ratio is pretty good but I do have a really large student loan on my report.
Mandy, I have no other outstanding loans (yeah!). I have paid off everything in the last five years and have zero debt. My monthly CC bills are 10/15k (mostly business stuff for membership points) and I pay them every month. So to see that as the number one reason my scores aren't higher shows how flawed the scoring system is. When I do a FICO score simulation on Equifax my score is lower if I shown all my CC's with zero balances and is higher if I leave about 1000 on my cards (now that makes great sense - don't run them up, but dont pay them off in full for a good score). I have taken this on as a game, My scores are high enough to get my mortage as prime A+, but I have enjoyed messing with the CRA's just enough to see how high I can get my score. Of course this has no relation to how I pay my bills, It is a flawed system. JohnM
I have started paying off my Amex balances before they cycle. It p****d me off that simply paying them off in full each month was hurting my score. "Open" charge accounts shouldn't hurt your score. I've heard some people say that they don't count the same, but that is not what I've witnessed. Another peeve-- companies reporting your balance on some arbitrary date (like the 1st?) US bank did that to me last month. I paid it off before the cycle closed, but they reported my mid-month balance. Back to the original topic, I think that Ex penalizes most heavily for inquiries. That is why we bow to Doc, the great and powerful. Doc-- you almost made me believe in the CC Fairy! (LOL) I will believe when the CCF brings me a brand new Centurian Black with a special promotional $100 annual fee. Til then . . . . .
Calypso, Those are my sentiments exactly. I believe that Fair Isaac and the entire credit industry fought against the release of FICO scores to the consumer NOT because we would â??play games to get better scoresâ?, but because we would expose the system as a sham. Credit scores that donâ??t reflect your actual use of credit, with arbitrary dates of reporting, incorrect information, nonsense scoring factors, etc. JohnM Ps. A Centurion at $100 annual fee is causing a strange stirring in my pants. OH GOD, Iâ??m a â??credit deviantâ?. I need to schedule an appointment with PsychoDoc for consuling<g>
No doubt about it. The scoring is arbitrary and it seems like you lose points for doing something good like paying off your auto loan early if that means you no longer have an "installment loan." And the scoring is a sham. On a side note, a Toyota finance person told me that your income IS calculated as part of the score that the companies receive. Don't know which bureau but it's part of the score that they provide. Not a factor calculated into the score by the business. Which brings me to the general unfairness and duplicity that allows the bureaus not to release the true score to the consumer and all of the true factors that influence it. I wouldn't be surprised if the location of your home address factors into your score too.
I read somewhere (I wish I could remember where-- I *think* on one of the CRA websites touting their service to corporations) that individual models could *estimate* customers' incomes by their credit limits and credit use. So, yeah, they don't post "Calypso makes 2 million/year" on my credit report, but they sell info that helps companies deduce it. (See-- I'm still angling for my Black It's funny. I believe that CRs have value. No doubt companies need to weed out the deadbeats (apologies to any lurking here, but I believe firmly in paying all your debts) What I think is insane is that a 20 year old with 2 years credit (3 cards) can have a higher score (Via AU) than a 50 year old who has paid off a mortgage and 3 autos with nary a late-pay. I've seen it with my own eyes!!! Paying off mortgages and auto loans early should garner bonus points. Open loans that are (must be!) paid in full monthly, shouldn't count against you. Retail accounts shouldn't be necessary to have a good *mix.* Do smart people really need cards that don't give airmiles or dividends and charge exorbitant interest rates? (Nordstroms is the only one I've found so far that will negotiate APRs) An inquiry at an insurance company or bank when you are opening an account should not delete points! How does opening a money-market account make someone a credit risk? These are just some of the flaws in the system. I am beginning to believe that with diligence, dogged persistence, strategy, luck and TIME, we can monitor our CRs so that they are reasonably accurate. But it shouldn't be that hard!
