WTH just happened to my FICO score??

[gary4872]

I was just on the phone with Penfed requesting a CLI (I'm still within 60 days of the initial pull, just refinanced my car with them and figured I may as well go for it all!) and I get a scorewatch notice that my FICO dropped 38 points. I log in to check and there are no notices. I checked on TC also and nothing.

 

The only thing I can think of is that I sent a dispute re Sallie Mae (9x 90-150 day lates from 04/05) but it hasn't been 30 days yet and SM verified them to EX.

 

So I just ordered my new Score Watch report and under "Understanding your FICO Score" it says:

- 1 serious delinquency 60 days past due

- Balances past due $3,013

- Recently missed a payment 2 months ago

 

None of that is correct!

 

"Credit at a glance" says no late payments and no accounts past due

 

"Accounts" shows Sallie Mae with a balance of $3,013 with a red flag, reporting no late payments current status "Pays as agreed" "Past Due Amount $0" and under description it says "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments" which is incorrect, I'm making full payments.

 

It looks like FICO thinks the account is now late and due in full. What is going on? Will this correct itself?

[Stryker]

Don't put too much stock into the "reasons" FICO gives.

[InfamousNY]

I was just on the phone with Penfed requesting a CLI (I'm still within 60 days of the initial pull, just refinanced my car with them and figured I may as well go for it all!) and I get a scorewatch notice that my FICO dropped 38 points. I log in to check and there are no notices. I checked on TC also and nothing.

 

The only thing I can think of is that I sent a dispute re Sallie Mae (9x 90-150 day lates from 04/05) but it hasn't been 30 days yet and SM verified them to EX.

 

So I just ordered my new Score Watch report and under "Understanding your FICO Score" it says:

- 1 serious delinquency 60 days past due

- Balances past due $3,013

- Recently missed a payment 2 months ago

 

None of that is correct!

 

"Credit at a glance" says no late payments and no accounts past due

 

"Accounts" shows Sallie Mae with a balance of $3,013 with a red flag, reporting no late payments current status "Pays as agreed" "Past Due Amount $0" and under description it says "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments" which is incorrect, I'm making full payments.

 

It looks like FICO thinks the account is now late and due in full. What is going on? Will this correct itself?

 

This is crazy I had the same thing happen to me on Equifax yesterday as well. I have a 739 on EX, 737 on TU and my EQ dropped to 630+ cause of that. I sent a dispute letter to Equifax yesterday. I forgot to mention that I have never been late on anything since 05.

Edited May 8, 2008 by InfamousNY

[TherapyPhD]

I was just on the phone with Penfed requesting a CLI (I'm still within 60 days of the initial pull, just refinanced my car with them and figured I may as well go for it all!) and I get a scorewatch notice that my FICO dropped 38 points. I log in to check and there are no notices. I checked on TC also and nothing.

 

The only thing I can think of is that I sent a dispute re Sallie Mae (9x 90-150 day lates from 04/05) but it hasn't been 30 days yet and SM verified them to EX.

 

So I just ordered my new Score Watch report and under "Understanding your FICO Score" it says:

- 1 serious delinquency 60 days past due

- Balances past due $3,013

- Recently missed a payment 2 months ago

 

None of that is correct!

 

"Credit at a glance" says no late payments and no accounts past due

 

"Accounts" shows Sallie Mae with a balance of $3,013 with a red flag, reporting no late payments current status "Pays as agreed" "Past Due Amount $0" and under description it says "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments" which is incorrect, I'm making full payments.

 

It looks like FICO thinks the account is now late and due in full. What is going on? Will this correct itself?

 

This is crazy I had the same thing happen to me on Equifax yesterday as well. I have a 739 on EX, 737 on TU and my EQ dropped to 630+ cause of that. I sent a dispute letter to Equifax yesterday.

 

 

I think something is wrong with the "my fico" software. I checked with TC and my new disputed balance with EQ was actually update yesterday. Now my util for the one card is about 7% +/- and yet I received no increase in my fico...yet this same update produced a 25 pt increase on the devil.

 

What gives??

Edited May 8, 2008 by TheDivasBag

[InfamousNY]

I was just on the phone with Penfed requesting a CLI (I'm still within 60 days of the initial pull, just refinanced my car with them and figured I may as well go for it all!) and I get a scorewatch notice that my FICO dropped 38 points. I log in to check and there are no notices. I checked on TC also and nothing.

 

The only thing I can think of is that I sent a dispute re Sallie Mae (9x 90-150 day lates from 04/05) but it hasn't been 30 days yet and SM verified them to EX.

 

So I just ordered my new Score Watch report and under "Understanding your FICO Score" it says:

- 1 serious delinquency 60 days past due

- Balances past due $3,013

- Recently missed a payment 2 months ago

 

None of that is correct!

 

"Credit at a glance" says no late payments and no accounts past due

 

"Accounts" shows Sallie Mae with a balance of $3,013 with a red flag, reporting no late payments current status "Pays as agreed" "Past Due Amount $0" and under description it says "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments" which is incorrect, I'm making full payments.

 

It looks like FICO thinks the account is now late and due in full. What is going on? Will this correct itself?

 

This is crazy I had the same thing happen to me on Equifax yesterday as well. I have a 739 on EX, 737 on TU and my EQ dropped to 630+ cause of that. I sent a dispute letter to Equifax yesterday.

 

 

I think something is wrong with the "my fico" software. I checked with TC and my new disputed balance with EQ was actually update yesterday. Now my util for the one card is about 7% +/- and yet I received no increase in my fico...yet this same update produced a 25 pt increase on the devil.

 

What gives??

 

I think you are right something is wrong here.

[Stryker]

Are you guys SW users?

[InfamousNY]

Are you guys SW users?

 

Yes sir.

[Stryker]

There have been reports of SW acting funny.

[gary4872]

Yeah I have SW. I mean, based on what I'm seeing it seems like in one part they are misinterpreting the Sallie Mae account and the other sections report it fine. I haven't had any late payments.

[gary4872]

So does anyone know how SW reflects the actual FICO score? If there have been reports of it acting wacky, what are the end results?

[Stryker]

I am far from sure, but I think one issue is that it is sending alerts late.

[gary4872]

I read about alert problems too - people not receiving them or getting them very late. This is really driving me nuts because everything has been going well then this happens

[JeffInNola]

gary4872 and InfamousNY,

 

I had the exact same thing happen this week around Wednesday or Thursday with Equifax. I pulled a score power report or whatever it's called because there was a small drop in my fico and the reasons I was given in my alert weren't that clear.

 

When I pulled the report, I see RED everywhere. My score dropped 110 pts! Plus the nine I had lost the day before that weren't explained too well. Here's the thing though...I never got an alert when my score dropped 110 points. I only found out when I pulled the score power report. I was a little agitated because obviously the service did not work like it should and there was an obvious error on my report.

 

Under the "Understanding Your Score" section, it stated that I had a serious delinquency on my Sallie Mae account. It also listed the whole balance as being overdue rather than the monthly amount which is what would be overdue if I was late. Obviously, looking at my report, I have never missed a payment with Sallie Mae and payed last month's very early actually. The credit report showed no big issues at first glance. BUT, I did notice in the comment section the same note that read , "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments". I've had the same payment plan for a few years and have made no new agreement so I knew that was off. There have never been any comments there until now.

 

I called equifax and spoke to two different people. One named Jonnie was very helpful and she was stumped. She thought it was some kind of computer glitch because nothing added up after she asked me about any possible disputes ongoing (which I don't have), etc. She gave me another score report to check. I checked it today since it has been a few days and the score is the same.

 

The other person I spoke with (Jonnie told me to call her department) wasn't bad or anything, but she kept trying to give reasons for the drop that obviously were not sensible. She noted the only late payment on my record that happened on a credit card for a wimpy amount back in 2002. I told her that has been on my record and would not cause that huge of loss even if it was just added. It's like she was not hearing me say that the score power report is stating that the whole amount of my Sallie Mae loan is 60 days late and that's why my score dropped! You think these places would have people who know a little about credit before having them handle credit dispute issues. I was like, "How do I, or who do I need to call to dispute the Score Power report and the actual score because the Sallie Mae credit report account (although off in parts) is not showing any late payments?? She just kept telling me we have a delimma. She referred me over to a Myfico phone # which I will call because I didn't want to dispute Sallie Mae's info. just yet. I'm hoping for a quicker resolution.

 

TAKE NOTE: Upon closer inspection, I noticed that my account number has changed on the report for no reason. My actual account number has not changed (I've checked). You guys might want to check your account #s as well. You might have the same issue. Equifax alerted me as well to the change, but there was obviously a delay. The service is still not working because I've not been alerted of the huge drop in the score. I went from just about great to not good overnight, I would think that would warrant an alert since it would cause a huge increase in interest rates if I had applied for a loan after the drop.

 

I'll call equifax on Monday and tell the reps what I'm seeing, dispute it and hope for a quick resolution. I can't wait until I find a house or whatever I decide and apply for my loan so I can drop all these BS services that don't really work as they should and only cause more confusion. Good luck to y'all. What actions (if any yet) did y'all take? I know I'll probably have to dispute Sallie Mae's info now.

[daggersof]

Just want to put in my two cents. I too almost had a heart attack when I got a score alert today from SW for a huge score drop, due to changes from Sallie Mae, for which I've never been late.

 

I too noted that the Sallie Mae alert said, "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments

Student loan", ..... I'm thinking it's some weird interpretation on SW's part of whatever Sallie Mae's up to. Tried to check my Sallie Mae acct but site is "temporarily unavailable", of course.

 

Hopefully they fix this soon...

[InfamousNY]

gary4872 and InfamousNY,

 

I had the exact same thing happen this week around Wednesday or Thursday with Equifax. I pulled a score power report or whatever it's called because there was a small drop in my fico and the reasons I was given in my alert weren't that clear.

 

When I pulled the report, I see RED everywhere. My score dropped 110 pts! Plus the nine I had lost the day before that weren't explained too well. Here's the thing though...I never got an alert when my score dropped 110 points. I only found out when I pulled the score power report. I was a little agitated because obviously the service did not work like it should and there was an obvious error on my report.

 

Under the "Understanding Your Score" section, it stated that I had a serious delinquency on my Sallie Mae account. It also listed the whole balance as being overdue rather than the monthly amount which is what would be overdue if I was late. Obviously, looking at my report, I have never missed a payment with Sallie Mae and payed last month's very early actually. The credit report showed no big issues at first glance. BUT, I did notice in the comment section the same note that read , "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments". I've had the same payment plan for a few years and have made no new agreement so I knew that was off. There have never been any comments there until now.

 

I called equifax and spoke to two different people. One named Jonnie was very helpful and she was stumped. She thought it was some kind of computer glitch because nothing added up after she asked me about any possible disputes ongoing (which I don't have), etc. She gave me another score report to check. I checked it today since it has been a few days and the score is the same.

 

The other person I spoke with (Jonnie told me to call her department) wasn't bad or anything, but she kept trying to give reasons for the drop that obviously were not sensible. She noted the only late payment on my record that happened on a credit card for a wimpy amount back in 2002. I told her that has been on my record and would not cause that huge of loss even if it was just added. It's like she was not hearing me say that the score power report is stating that the whole amount of my Sallie Mae loan is 60 days late and that's why my score dropped! You think these places would have people who know a little about credit before having them handle credit dispute issues. I was like, "How do I, or who do I need to call to dispute the Score Power report and the actual score because the Sallie Mae credit report account (although off in parts) is not showing any late payments?? She just kept telling me we have a delimma. She referred me over to a Myfico phone # which I will call because I didn't want to dispute Sallie Mae's info. just yet. I'm hoping for a quicker resolution.

 

TAKE NOTE: Upon closer inspection, I noticed that my account number has changed on the report for no reason. My actual account number has not changed (I've checked). You guys might want to check your account #s as well. You might have the same issue. Equifax alerted me as well to the change, but there was obviously a delay. The service is still not working because I've not been alerted of the huge drop in the score. I went from just about great to not good overnight, I would think that would warrant an alert since it would cause a huge increase in interest rates if I had applied for a loan after the drop.

 

I'll call equifax on Monday and tell the reps what I'm seeing, dispute it and hope for a quick resolution. I can't wait until I find a house or whatever I decide and apply for my loan so I can drop all these BS services that don't really work as they should and only cause more confusion. Good luck to y'all. What actions (if any yet) did y'all take? I know I'll probably have to dispute Sallie Mae's info now.

 

Jeff I sent in a dispute last week right when I saw this nonsense. You definitely should do the same.

[Kevin3344]

I too noted that the Sallie Mae alert said, "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments

Student loan", ..... I'm thinking it's some weird interpretation on SW's part of whatever Sallie Mae's up to.

 

Just so you guys know lots of people had their score tank this week....mine was mainly due to the fact that I chose the Grad Choice 4 option when repaying my loan last year...the payments are lower at first then go up slightly later on. If you chose any repayment option other than the same principle and interest payment for the life of the loan, you've more than likely gotten hit.

[gary4872]

JeffInNola thanks for posting your experience - it sounds like we are in exactly the same boat. I posted on myFico forums and emailed them but no response. I faxed another more comprehensive dispute of the account to EX on Friday, so we'll see what happens.

 

Kevin, why would your repayment option matter to FICO:

 

- How would they know what the payment options are in the first place?

- As long as you are repaying why would it be a problem?

[gary4872]

Whoa haven't been online over the weekend and my thread on myFico blew up:

 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/me...thread.id=20744

[Kevin3344]

Kevin, why would your repayment option matter to FICO:

 

- How would they know what the payment options are in the first place?

- As long as you are repaying why would it be a problem?

 

Actually it wasn't the repayment option so much as it was the notation by SM. For some reason they equated the Grad Choice options as "less than full payment" and added the "partial payment" text to the account which in turn tanked the scores for all of us.

 

Your second question is exactly what is causing an uproar...they offered the repayment options! It's not like we woke up one day and decided to send in 90% of the agreed upon payment...all of us have been sending in 100% of the agreed upon amount. It's like an adjustable rate mortgage...you're still paying back all of the principle but the payment might change. So how they can say it's a partial payment is beyond me.

[NJAccntnt]

Well, some good news I think... The CSR at Sallie Mae told me to dispute the tradeline with Equifax, which I did online on Friday. I received an alert today that my score went back to 675 (originally dropped to 609). The comment section now reads "Consumer disputes-reinvestigation in process". So, it could be just because it's in dispute that the score went back to normal. The other comment "Arrangements made with credit grantor to make partial payments" is gone. (Don't know if it will reappear when the dispute is over but at least in the meantime I don't have to worry about getting rate jacked or any other adverse action due to this..)

 

If you haven't disputed yet with EQ do it ASAP!

[PammyBeesly]

This isn't the first time Sallie Mae has screwed with people's credit. Here is a quote from an article from 2003: "Sallie Mae argued that its purpose was to protect its borrowers' privacy and shield them from offers from competing student lenders. But the side effects of its policy could be harshly negative on customers' credit scores -- harsh enough, in fact, to deny them home mortgages or raise their rate quotes substantially." Here is the link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...REG4J32GDN1.DTL It is interesting to note that they are doing the same thing again--not reporting to TU and EX except this time around they have really messed with people's credit on EQ. I don't think this was just an error on their part. This was intentional. Maybe because they are posting losses? I guess they figure if they destroy your credit you won't be able to take your student loan anywhere else.

[BalooDaisy]

In regards to the infamous Sallie Mae...I just got off the phone with MyFICO and they said they've been having issues with SM. Hundreds of people have called about the same thing. My scored dropped 117 points! Equifax doesn't show anything negative so it was difficult to talk to them about something that's not there-to them. When I look at reasons for why my score dropped, it says I've either been late, missed a payment or there's a delinquent account. And the way SM reports, I have 6 "delinquent" accounts. I'm so aggravated. Apparently, SM is supposed to be resolving this issue by the end of the week. It has to do with them changing our account status.

Edited May 13, 2008 by BalooDaisy