Credit score 805 last week, 570 today...

[jazz4cash]

A credit score is calculated from the credit report whenever someone (either the person or a lender) pulls the score. It isn't stored separately or permanently.

So when you check your credit score, your credit report is generated, including your most recent credit card balance, and the score is calculated from there.

I don’t think it always works that way.

When I Iog into any of several credit and deposit account sites, there is an option to check my credit score. That option takes me to a screen that shows a score calculated within the last 60 days and sometimes shows monthly history of my credit score that has been calculated and recorded without a request.

 

[dirtbiker]

Thanks for all the replies.

Re: available credit. I have several different credit cards that I use for different purchases, depending on points accumulated depending on purchase type. Some I use less than once a year, and then I have my main one that I use for all of my regular non-cash purchases. Again, all are paid off each month. Even though I pay my balances each month, sometimes they will show up as a balance on my credit report, depending on the time of the month they were ran, I would assume. Having the higher balance means my credit usage percent will be low regardless of when they check the balance. That's why having the high credit limit is important to me. In the end, that will really just be a drop in the bucket compared the beating I just took though...

 

[SecondCor521]

I don’t think it always works that way.

When I Iog into any of several credit and deposit account sites, there is an option to check my credit score. That option takes me to a screen that shows a score calculated within the last 60 days and sometimes shows monthly history of my credit score that has been calculated and recorded without a request.

Thanks. I should be more precise in my language:

The credit reporting agencies don't save the score with the credit report itself.

Many places that provide you with your credit score for monitoring purposes will cache your score in their records. I think they have to pay a small fee to pull your report and they cache your report and score to save money, but that's just conjecture on my part.

 

[SecondCor521]

Thanks for all the replies.

Re: available credit. I have several different credit cards that I use for different purchases, depending on points accumulated depending on purchase type. Some I use less than once a year, and then I have my main one that I use for all of my regular non-cash purchases. Again, all are paid off each month. Even though I pay my balances each month, sometimes they will show up as a balance on my credit report, depending on the time of the month they were ran, I would assume. Having the higher balance means my credit usage percent will be low regardless of when they check the balance. That's why having the high credit limit is important to me. In the end, that will really just be a drop in the bucket compared the beating I just took though...

Yeah, your outstanding balances aren't that big of a factor compared to the 120 day late thing.

Most CCs report your balance to the CRA right after statement close, and they'll report your statement balance. So even if you pay in full monthly by the due date (which is usually a bit less than a month after your statement close), you'll still show a balance at the CRA.

When I was watching my score more closely, I did discover that the credit score algorithm gave me a slightly better grade for showing small balances rather than completely zero balances. I don't know why, and I didn't care much because my score was still perfectly fine, but I did notice it. Point being, I guess, don't spend much if any effort getting your balances to zero on the credit report in order to raise your score; it's possibly counterproductive.

 

[dirtbiker]

Yeah, your outstanding balances aren't that big of a factor compared to the 120 day late thing.

Most CCs report your balance to the CRA right after statement close, and they'll report your statement balance. So even if you pay in full monthly by the due date (which is usually a bit less than a month after your statement close), you'll still show a balance at the CRA.

When I was watching my score more closely, I did discover that the credit score algorithm gave me a slightly better grade for showing small balances rather than completely zero balances. I don't know why, and I didn't care much because my score was still perfectly fine, but I did notice it. Point being, I guess, don't spend much if any effort getting your balances to zero on the credit report in order to raise your score; it's possibly counterproductive.

I don't really think about it too much. I pay all my bills on time (well, except this student loan fiasco, obviously), and all my CCs in full each month, and until this week, was doing great.

 

[bada bing]

Ouch. I had a similar incident maybe 10 years ago. BoA didn't pull my programmed autopayment and I didn't notice it until a late showed up on my credit report. I had to escalate through several levels of customer service, but I got them to pull it off my reports. They have that ability, though finding a CSR with the permissions to do it may be a challenge. My winning argument was that they had self admittedly stopped my autopayment instructions without notice and the non-payment was entirely their fault. YMMV making the argument.

Thanks. I should be more precise in my language:

The credit reporting agencies don't save the score with the credit report itself.

Many places that provide you with your credit score for monitoring purposes will cache your score in their records. I think they have to pay a small fee to pull your report and they cache your report and score to save money, but that's just conjecture on my part.

Just about all bank and credit card providers do routine scheduled "soft pulls" to keep track of the finances of their account holders. You can't freeze your reports against this as they have "permissible purpose" due to you being a current customer. It doesn't affect your public score or report in any way. They aren't paying extra to provide you with a score or to keep a database. They are doing that anyway, whether they give you access to the info or not..

 

[Koolau]

At some point, a law suit might be in order. Ruining your credit is costly and embarrassing. Finding a law firm that will take the case on contingency would be the issue.

 

[SecondCor521]

At some point, a law suit might be in order. Ruining your credit is costly and embarrassing. Finding a law firm that will take the case on contingency would be the issue.

Not a lawyer, but I really don't think OP would have a case.

Even if there is some negligence on the part of the loan servicer, it's ultimately OP's responsibility to be monitoring things to make sure things get paid on time. They didn't do so, for whatever reason, for 120+ days.

They can ask and plead with the creditor, but the creditor is reporting accurate information.

 

[Gumby]

Not a lawyer, but I really don't think OP would have a case.

Even if there is some negligence on the part of the loan servicer, it's ultimately OP's responsibility to be monitoring things to make sure things get paid on time. They didn't do so, for whatever reason, for 120+ days.

They can ask and plead with the creditor, but the creditor is reporting accurate information.

Proving damages could also be a problem.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

Painful.

I once went into default on a student loan on the last payment because their system screwed up and didn’t send the last bill (this was in the snail mail days).

That took a while to clean up.

 

[dirtbiker]

At some point, a law suit might be in order. Ruining your credit is costly and embarrassing. Finding a law firm that will take the case on contingency would be the issue.

My next step if my appeal is denied (as I assume it will be) will be to discuss this with my attorney, but I don't plan to file a suit. I'm hoping a letter from an attorney's office may prove helpful, though I doubt it. As others have pointed out, I indeed did not pay the loan for an extended period of time. Of course, this was unintentional, but the information provided to the credit agencies was accurate.

I have now also made a payment to cover 100% of the missed payments, plus interest, plus the next two months worth of payments. I'm hoping this may go toward some good will, but I doubt it. After all, I am asking the government for mercy...

(And I do know that NelNet is private, but they work on behalf of the government, and their website is a .gov address.)

 

[dirtbiker]

I truly abhor debt, and had been discussing with my wife of just paying the whole thing off, for both of our loans, as we have the funds to do so, for peace of mind (and then we'd just have our mortgage left). However, we decided not to for three reasons. 1. My employer and the military are helping to pay them, and if I pay them myself, this money will not be recouped. 2. Our investments are earning more than the interest on the student loans is costing us. 3. I will be eligible for public service loan forgiveness in a few years (though the balance will be quite small by then).

I'm now starting to reconsider, well, at least after my next lump sum payments from employer/military post...

 

[WhenIsItTime]

I had a similar situation with a bank and it was the day I paid off all my debt. Blessed to not need rate arbitrage on fixed debt.

 

[RetireBy90]

I worry about similar situation, so many bills now come email or Wells bill pay alerts but a couple still come postal mail. I used to rely on getting a bill in the mail but no more. I had been getting our gas bill through Wells but that stopped working. Now I get paper again.

 

[pacergal]

I truly abhor debt, and had been discussing with my wife of just paying the whole thing off, for both of our loans, as we have the funds to do so, for peace of mind (and then we'd just have our mortgage left). However, we decided not to for three reasons. 1. My employer and the military are helping to pay them, and if I pay them myself, this money will not be recouped. 2. Our investments are earning more than the interest on the student loans is costing us. 3. I will be eligible for public service loan forgiveness in a few years (though the balance will be quite small by then).

I'm now starting to reconsider, well, at least after my next lump sum payments from employer/military post...

If the debt truly bothers you, pay it off. However, if your investments are continually earning more, it may be better in the long run to continue as you have been.
You now know to check monthly that the payment has been made.
Mistake made, lesson learned. OK to move forward.

 

[anethum]

I've had my electric bill on autopay for a while with no problems. The money is taken out of my checking account. When I logged on to my checking account in late December, I noticed that the December electric bill hadn't been deducted. I called up the electric company and when I asked some questions, I learned that it happened to everyone whose autopay was set for the same day of the month as mine. They didn't know why it happened and said the December amount would just be added to my January bill. They claimed it wouldn't be reported to credit agencies. When I received my January bill, it included the December amount but they also added a 67 cent late fee. So I called them to get the late fee removed since this was entirely their fault. The agent said she'd remove the late fee "as a courtesy".

 

[dirtbiker]

If the debt truly bothers you, pay it off. However, if your investments are continually earning more, it may be better in the long run to continue as you have been.
You now know to check monthly that the payment has been made.
Mistake made, lesson learned. OK to move forward.

Paying it off would be an emotional, not financial, decision. Right now I'm unhappy about what transpired, so I'm considering. Truly though, I don't plan to do this. I've always tried to keep emotion out of my financial decisions, and focus on what makes sense financially.

Yes, definitely need to keep a closer eye on it. I've grown so accustomed to auto deductions, that I've gotten lazy, it seems.

I think I may look into one of the personal financial apps that automatically pulls data from your accounts and puts them into spreadsheets, so I don't miss something like this again.

 

[jazz4cash]

I've had my electric bill on autopay for a while with no problems. The money is taken out of my checking account. When I logged on to my checking account in late December, I noticed that the December electric bill hadn't been deducted. I called up the electric company and when I asked some questions, I learned that it happened to everyone whose autopay was set for the same day of the month as mine. They didn't know why it happened and said the December amount would just be added to my January bill. They claimed it wouldn't be reported to credit agencies. When I received my January bill, it included the December amount but they also added a 67 cent late fee. So I called them to get the late fee removed since this was entirely their fault. The agent said she'd remove the late fee "as a courtesy".

My utility sent me a bill for $3000. It was so crazy it didn’t even panic me. I could see the error in the meter readings but when I called they insisted it was correct. Took a bit to sort out but that was one time I was glad to not have autopay.

 

[dirtbiker]

I've had my electric bill on autopay for a while with no problems. The money is taken out of my checking account. When I logged on to my checking account in late December, I noticed that the December electric bill hadn't been deducted. I called up the electric company and when I asked some questions, I learned that it happened to everyone whose autopay was set for the same day of the month as mine. They didn't know why it happened and said the December amount would just be added to my January bill. They claimed it wouldn't be reported to credit agencies. When I received my January bill, it included the December amount but they also added a 67 cent late fee. So I called them to get the late fee removed since this was entirely their fault. The agent said she'd remove the late fee "as a courtesy".

How nice of them.

 

[Mark1]

This is why we have nothing on autopay. I figure if I need track ever transaction, then I might as well just push the payment myself.

I also tabulate my bills on a spreadsheet with the order consistent with their normal arrive during the month. Any hole in the column means the bill hasn't been paid, or at least reviewed, etc.

Of course, I'm slightly paranoid and always just pay me bills when I receive them. I know folks here commonly schedule their payment on the day it is due, but I never due this. I'm willing to give up the interest by paying early just to keep my life simply. If the financial system has a hiccup for a couple of days, no worries from me as my bills have already been paid.

 

[Gumby]

This is why we have nothing on autopay. I figure if I need track ever transaction, then I might as well just push the payment myself.

I also tabulate my bills on a spreadsheet with the order consistent with their normal arrive during the month. Any hole in the column means the bill hasn't been paid, or at least reviewed, etc.

Of course, I'm slightly paranoid and always just pay me bills when I receive them. I know folks here commonly schedule their payment on the day it is due, but I never due this. I'm willing to give up the interest by paying early just to keep my life simply. If the financial system has a hiccup for a couple of days, no worries from me as my bills have already been paid.

Back in the days when my checking account paid interest and I had much less money, I got all my bills via snail mail and wrote a check the day I received the bill. I'd put a date on which to mail it back on outside of the envelope. I kept the envelopes by the front door and put them out accordingly.

Now, I have much more money and my checking account pays zero interest, so all my bills are on autopay and I have them all scheduled to pay about two to three weeks before they are due. I still keep track on my spreadsheet as they are paid. That gives me a chance to discover and correct mistakes.

 

[anethum]

This is why we have nothing on autopay. I figure if I need track ever transaction, then I might as well just push the payment myself.

<snip>

I was just out of the country for 4 entire weeks, and I was away for one slightly longer period last year. That's why I put my recurring bills on autopay. The error I just found is one of the reasons why I balance by checkbook regularly.

 

[mystang52]

Back in the days when my checking account paid interest and I had much less money, I got all my bills via snail mail and wrote a check the day I received the bill. I'd put a date on which to mail it back on outside of the envelope. I kept the envelopes by the front door and put them out accordingly.

Now, I have much more money and my checking account pays zero interest, so all my bills are on autopay and I have them all scheduled to pay about two to three weeks before they are due. I still keep track on my spreadsheet as they are paid. That gives me a chance to discover and correct mistakes.

A while back I changed closing dates of my active credit cards, and my utility bills, to end of the month. Our pensions are direct deposited on first of the month. We then pay all of our bills, electronically at that time and don't think about it again until the next month. If we have an unusually large credit card bill, usually when we've paid for a new vacation, I will leave the payment in my MM fund and schedule the card payment 3 weeks hence. Interest gained is not huge, but it's worth doing so. Last time I did this, my Score went from 830 to 805, and 3 months later it's inched up to 817. Goes down quickly, goes back up slowly!

 

[CaptTom]

On a lighter note, remember that cable company which is threatening to send me to collection for the bill they told me I didn't owe?

According to the ad they sent to MY name and address today, they've now identified me as a "preferred customer."

 

[Gumby]

...... If we have an unusually large credit card bill, usually when we've paid for a new vacation, I will leave the payment in my MM fund and schedule the card payment 3 weeks hence. Interest gained is not huge, but it's worth doing so. Last time I did this, my Score went from 830 to 805, and 3 months later it's inched up to 817. Goes down quickly, goes back up slowly!

I noticed the same effect, so now when I buy two first class tickets to wherever (last time was Japan) and it adds $14k to my credit card balance, I'll force pay that $14k on my credit card the day it appears online (i.e. not "pending") which is typically a day or two later. Then, I don't take even a temporary FICO hit by having an unusually large balance that month.