May 16th, 2008
How Often Does Your Credit Score Change?
We get asked this question quite often. Technically, it can change any point your credit report changes. Any of the following can trigger a credit score change:
- Missing a Payment
- Applying for a New Loan or Credit Card
- Changing Your Available Credit
- Defaulting on a Loan or Charging Off
- Bankruptcy
- The List Goes On……
But some people have asked why their score has not changed in months. Well, my score hasn’t changed since we launched the service in Feb, 2008 until just this week. As background:
* I have a mortgage
* I don’t carry any balance on my credit cards
* I’ve had a good payment history for over 15 years
* I don’t apply for credit often
A few days ago, I decided to apply for one of the Gas credit cards I wrote about. I then updated my credit score the next day. My score dropped 6 points from the inquiry. I’m sure it will change again when the credit card provider reports my credit line and utilization to the bureaus. I suspect it will jump back up since I won’t carry a balance and it will increase my total available credit.
I’m writing this to let users know that your score shouldn’t be constantly changing if you are stable with your finances and credit. I’ve had the same score for over 3 months so don’t be concerned if your score isn’t jumping around. Part of the service is built to instill a sense of comfort and familiarity with your score.
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What is so amazing to me is that none of this was taught in high school. What you are doing here is so very valuable.
Your credit rating is a major factor in determining the financial choices you have in life yet we don’t teach those about to enter the system anything about it.
If we did, you wouldn’t have had to write this blog entry. Thanks for being a teacher in an area where our government earns a resounding F!
I actually had my score raise a few points after applying for a new card. That goes to show how important it is to establish those positive accounts, if you have several negatives on there.
Recently a credit card decreased my credit limit nearly 12k because they reviewed my credit history. The only recent bad marks is since I am a new graduate and young credit history, it took a few attempts to get my car loan. I am debating whether I should put my extra cash toward my high interest car payment or toward lower interest, but high debt ratio cards in an effort to increase my credit score so that I may get a better refinance rate on my auto loan
@ Rob
Sounds like there are three options. What is the interest rate on the auto loan and credit card and what is your credit score.
If your score is low, I would think you will have better options if you raise it.
I have been a memeber with TransUnion 3 in 1 credit services since 2001. I have 3 open accounts (revolving credit)and 1 derogatory account (Paid)No new inquires since 2007 debt to credit ratio is less than 35%. No late payments and my credit score is going up and down. I just don’t understand why last week my credit score was 690 with Experian/ 690 with Transunion and 715 with Equifax and now my score is 675/675/715 with no recent activities besides paying my bill on time which is more than the minimum required. Is Transunion a rip off? When calling customer service my response is that there must be a technical issue. Does anyone have any advise on how to dispute my score only being that my report is accurate.
Sally,
Have you checked your credit limits? Many credit cards are lowering credit limits due to the economy. A lower credit line could bring up your utilization and lower your score
Well my score has not changed since I got my first score in March 2008. Since then I have paid off over $17,000 in debt and have add no new debt. I would have to say something is not working.
I just had 3 collection accounts deleted off my reports and my score is still the same? Why?
@ Ruby & Chris
The first part is to confirm the changes on your credit report. You credit score is the numerical interpretation of the report so you have to make sure the underlying data is correct first.
All the statistics in the world will not account for parents who take on the tasks of helping their kids and, when they do so, incur the risk that the kid will do something stupid and impact the parents score. My daughter ask if she could buy my car because she had a new job out of state. I had equity in the car and it was titled in my name. I gave the equity to my daughter and she did relatively well making the payments over a two year period. She missed two payments by 30 days in that time, but quickly made up the payments. However, the biggest impact she had, was getting a ticket in an out of state city and not paying the ticket. I had no idea the ticket was incurred because she had changed the license on the car to the state she was living in. As a consequence I went over a year before I ask to borrow money only to find my credit score had dropped from over 700 to 680.
Im currently looking for a new(ish) truck. Last I saw my score was 706, and while I know the loan will affect this dramaticly. What I want to know is How much does it cost me point wise when I go to a different dealer to talk numbers?
I want to make a Very informed purchase, but I will have to do less dealer talk if each visit is going to hit my score hard.
My score was 794 on Sept. 6 and stayed the same until March 30 when it dropped to 773. I have not done anything that would have affected it. I pay my credit card bills in full every month, have never had a late payment on anything, and have not applied for any new credit cards or anything recently. I did get a store credit card back in November (in order to get a discount on m purchase), but would that wait until March to affect it? It was still 794 on Feb. 23, so the drop took place between then and March 30. Should I be concerned that there is an error on my report? Or are the scores perhaps getting more strict due to the economic mess?
This is a common question. Hope this answer helps:
http://www.creditkarma.com/question/causes_for_score_drop
Thanks, Kenneth, but I haven’t made any of those changes listed in that article. I’m pretty sure my credit limits haven’t changed, and nothing else new is going on. That’s why I’m concerned about the drop and wondering if it’s time to pull my credit report.
Depending on what you score is and how much it dropped, it could be a by product of aging. That is, the benefit of old loans that were paid off in good standing will wane in time. But sometimes, it is safer to just check. AnnualCreditReport is the only free site for doing this.
My credit sucks, I have no bankruptcy, one unsecure loan, which is paid on time, no credit cards, I have had loans in the past some of which were 30 days late but quickly paid up and soon after paid off, why does it seem my credit score keeps droping, and how can I bring it back up
My credit score is over 770 on each of the three major reporting bureaus. I only use one credit card and I pay it off each month. However I have several other cards that I do not use, some have not been used for more than 2 years. Will it improve my score to periodically use the cards that I now don’t use?
I am a UK citizen and have been living in the US now for almost 5 years. At first I had no score which was tough. Anyway over the past 4 years my score built up and up and changed almost weekly. However for the past year it has been stuck on 744. I have 4 mortgages and many credit cards (I do not carry balances) There are regular changes on my file (no negatives) but my score never moves. Any ideas?
Last month I received a notice from Chase that my credit limit was being dropped from $8,000 to $2,000. I’ve had the account about three years, ALWAYS paid on time, much more than minimum, have never used over 20% of available credit, and paid it off completely three months ago. The explanation was something like “overuse of bankcard.” Then, two days later, I got a letter from Citibank, saying that because I was such a good customer, they were RAISING my limit from $8,000 to $10,000. The use and payment on this card was virtually the same as on Chase. I’m just curious why one would see me as a liability and the other as, essentially, an asset to keep. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.
Based on my experience, it is more of the risk profile of the different banks. Lenders have a different appetites and perceptions of risk. Chase is a company trying reduce their risk after absorbing a company that collapsed because it had too much risk (WaMu). Citi is just starting to get back on its feet and may be trying to build its balances with customers now that it has clean up its balance sheet. Hope that helps.
It is possible to ask Kenneth Lin a question on a credit report?
We have a Q&A section on the site but I would love to help if possible. What is on your mind?
Hi Kenneth – I have a question about stable credit scores. Mine has been stuck at 722/772/761 since March of 2009, at least. I make two payments per month on my credit cards and would really like to do something to raise the first score (722) but it seems like nothing I do has any effect. Shouldn’t it be going up little by little? Is there anything I can do?
Thanks for any help.
I assume the three numbers are your tri-bureau scores? There is a 33 point swing from my highest score to my lowest score. This is common since each bureau has specific information. There generally isn’t much you can to get a lender to report to a bureau provided whatever they are reporting is accurate.
Given your score is high, you probably have 100% on-time payments and a good amount trade lines. Aside from letting your history increase and paying down debt there may not be much you can do. I would suggesting trying the Credit Karma score simulator to see your options. Lastly, sometimes adding a bit more available credit via a new credit card can help. Good Luck!
was anyone able to get their credit score at first try? i have tried now several times, with no success…
email support@creditkarma.com for help.
blog.creditkarma.com; You saved my day again.
I just received a letter from Citi Advantage Card saying they were lowering my revolving credit line from $50,000 to $30,000 due to the fact that I am only using a small portion of the credit line.
While I am fine with that, I am wondering if the lowing the amount in itself will send a negative signal out and be reflected on my credit score? I usually carry no balance or pay many times the minimum to pay it off within 3 months.
credit scores go up and down quickly depending on credit card usage.All depends which day your creditor reports to bureaus.Even though you pay off card in full every month ,all depends on your available credit at time of reporting.Try to maintain card with an available credit of at least 70% at all times.
I recently paid off about 80% of the balance on my one and only credit card. When I update my Credit Karma score, the report card section reflects the decrease in debt (and increase in available credit) but my score has not changed. Does it take some time before the score gets updated to meet the report information?
I am trying to build back my credit after a bankruptcy, probably with a secured credit card. I have heard that paying off balances each month will not result in any increases in scores, that you should pay minimums or slightly more. Is this true?
All that matters is that you use the card and show activity. Using too much is bad but there is no different in the payment amounts since only balance at time of reporting is shown on your credit report.
What is a healthy credit score? IS 677 just fair…one spot on credit karma it says my score is satisfactory, and in another spot it says :Fair:
Three negative entries were scheduled to discontinue being reported on my credit report as of March 2010. They are all still on there. Is there an explanation? Is there anything that I can do?
Usually negatives don’t disappear. They simply stop affecting your credit score.
Scores are relative and the definitions depend on the creditor. 677 is about the average for the nation.
I’m curious why my credit score on CK is 602 but my official Transunion score is 651. Why such a big difference?
my score went down 12 points and i paid all my cards off there is something wrong
Not necessarily. Sometimes score may drop if the positive value of old accounts stop. There are dozens of reasons. But do keep an eye on it.
I paid off all my credit in Feb. 2010. I had 1 jdgmt for 6,063, from 2005, I had like 6 collection accounts but I got all the companies to agree to delete them. 1 collection account for 183 slipped through the cracks but I am going to pay them this month and try and get deleted. Once everything is updated nothing will be on my credit but the satisfied jdmt. My equifax report is showing my credit score as 600 and the other 2 said they cant give me a score at this time. I want to know how much my credit will up after everything is deleted? Please help.
My credit karma score has been the same since I started using your service in July 2009 (774).
If I use the credit simulator, adding two years of on time payments doesn’t change it at all.
Getting a new credit card with a $2-$1,000,000+ limit raises it to 781.
Getting a new mortgage from $2-$100 raises it to 780, but a mortgage for $101 – $1,000,000+ drops it to 766.
Nothing else I could find would raise it (paying off all debts, raising limits, or any combination thereof).
According to my report card, I have As on everything but total accounts (11 = C) and average age of accounts (7 yrs, 1 mo = B).
Should I believe what this is telling me — either the score or the simulator? I’m skeptical.
This is fairly accurate. Mostly people don’t realize that is becomes increasingly more difficult to raise a credit score after a certain point. There are over 200 attributes to a credit score, you are only adjusting the 14 most common in our simulator. You need to get into the marginal variables to perfect it. We don’t simulate those as it would make the simulator too complicate for general questions.
With that said, you have a great score. You will get the best pricing for just about every financial services product.
I have credit problems. My major complaint is my score goes down pretty quick if I miss a payment, but it takes forever to go up when I make payments on time. I hate that everything in life is based on a number and a record that isn’t even accurate or explains what may have been the cause or why one fell off with the bills and even if it did, potential creditors, landlords and employers don’t care. Another complaint is certain things are based on credit and it isn’t even something that is reported to the credit bureau, like rent. I have excellent rental history for the past ten years, yet I can’t rent a house or anything nice in a nice area, even if I can pay the rent.
I keep trying to get these collection items removed from my credit, but they get sold to someone else and one representative even had the nerve to tell me that every time a debt is sold or there is any kind of activity on the account, the clock starts over. Basically she was telling me it didn’t matter how old the debts were; they can be reported until they are paid and that seven-year rule was a lie. I faxed her a copy of the FCRA and now I can’t even get them to take my phone calls. I don’t want to have to hire an attorney–I can’t really afford one–to resolve this, but it looks like I may have to. I wonder when did collections become such a cutthroat business?
In my kids high school in Utah they are required to take a class called “Financial Literacy” before they can graduate. They just started doing this in the last 5 years. I am in full agreement with this class and hope the kids listen and absorb the information taught in it.
I would like to know why my Credit Karma “score” shows as one thing and then I go to a car dealership and they show me a credit score through their system that is COMPLETELY different? They were using Experian. How can the scores be THAT different? I’m talking roughly 175 points lower on the dealers end! I was embarrassed! I wondered if the service here was accurate or who was telling me the truth?
Your confusion is absolutely normal; most consumers don’t know that credit scores differ between credit bureaus until they are confronted by it in a situation like your own!
In a nutshell, both credit scores are accurate and truthful– the reason they are different is that the scores come from two different companies (Experian for the car dealership and TransUnion for Credit Karma) that use different scoring models that weigh various factors of your credit report differently. There is no “best” score because all scores follow similar guidelines and principles of determining credit worthiness (the whole purpose of your credit score) and all scoring models use your credit report information to determine your unique credit score.
Overall, both scores can both be relied on as snapshots to help you understand your credit health. Different lenders will use different scoring models, but the usefulness of Credit Karma is that it will help you daily monitor and keep track of your credit health over time.
Read more about this at http://www.creditkarma.com/article/differentscores. Hope this helped!
I’ve been very intrested in my credit score. In may it was one for example 711 in June it went up to 754 I checked it again today June 22nd and its 711 again. No late payments nothing looks as if it has changed. Why the fluctuation?
I checked my score, it was 711. I was thinking about getting another major credit card, but thought I would wait until my score went up a few more points. I’ve made mortgage payments, car payments and credit card payments. I’ve made ALL payments on time and paid a credit card down by $4000.00 that had a balance of about $5200.00. So, I’m thinking that should help my score by at least a few points. I came back to Credit Karma to check my score again and shop for a credit card. After updating my score, it came back 665. WHAT! you’ve got to be kidding me!
I understand that of the 3 credit bureaus the scores will vary. With the car dealership using Experian and Credit Karma using Trans Union. I called the dealership and explained this to them. They then pulled my report on their Trans Union system and it was still different! Why? Also, I agree with there being a difference, but not almost 300 points different! That to me is unheard of! Now who is being unreliable and what can I do about this?
I dint get any update in the credit score for the past months. In the meantime my credit score has been drastically decreased.But i was thinking that my credit score is in good shape.I dont know why credit karma is not updating the score when it changes.
Hope i get a right answer….