My husband just had a derogatory account taken off his credit report with Transunion and his score didn't change, not one point, but then a couple days later the update on our address change came through and it dropped 7 points?? Can anyone make any sense of that?
The credit scores and their formulas are complicated; and they are always just a "snapshot" at the moment they are pulled. There are many variables that go into the scoring. In your case, it may be that the negative tradeline was so old that it did not have any affect on your score, or that at the same time the "utilization" of your active accounts went up also (percentage of credit limit used on credit cards, accounts). It is also a strong possibility that the score "washed" with the removal of the negative tradeline, (increasing your score), but then was knocked back down by removal of history with the tradeline removed (decreasing your score to wash out the removal). To effectively evaluate scores you have to look at the "before and after" reports side by side, and examine every detail. It is common with removing older (negative) tradelines to see your score drop; the effect of the negative tradeline is minimal due to age, but the positive effect of account history is greater. So, even with an initial drop in your score, you are better off in the long run with the negative removed.
Most of my negative credit remarks are old CAs. Should I just concentrate on gaining new credit lines and keeping them current. Score is around 420.
