Trans Union score dropped; One new phantom enquiry?

Question

My Trans Union score dropped from 699 to 695 in one month. I paid all the bills in full and on time. The only change I see in enquiry totals. In August 2008 file, in summary section there were total of 8 enquiries in last two years. In September 2008 file, in summary section there are now total of 9 enquiries in last two years. I don't see any new enquiry on my report. Actually my last hard enquiry is in December 2007 in both reports.Where did this phantom enquiry came from ? I checked my file every month that is supposed to be soft enquiry. Any suggestions.

Answer 1

A combination of five factors is used to determine your FICO score. The proprietary scores may use other information as well, but all the formulas are closely-guarded trade secrets. With FICO, the number and type of inquiries is only 10% of the calculation.



A change of 699 to 695 is not significant, don't worry about it. Typically all the lending thresholds are in multiples of 10 or 20. Your next big hurdle is going to be getting it up to 720 or better, which will allow you to qualify for lower rates on just about everything.



I would also assume that you are subscribing to a credit monitoring service. Unless you suspect identity theft, I would assert that most of these services are a complete waste of money. Order your reports annually from www.annualcreditreport.com and pay for your score once a year, or before making any major changes.



Also use caution about closing accounts once they are paid off, as doing so may reduce the amount of your available credit, making you appear maxed out, when in fact you aren't.



Bottom line: Stop worrying about it, it fluctuates. Save your money and use it to pay off something. Do some searching on how to increase your score, inquiries really don't matter that much, until there are many of them in a row.

Answer 2

Four points is not significant. Scores fluctuate in a seemingly random fashion based on things like how much your credit card balance was on the day that they choose to check.



Even though two years of inquires are reported to you, only inquires in the last one year (twelve months) affect your score.



Be concerned only if you find a hard inquiry from somewhere with which you do not have an account. That could indicate that someone else apply for credit using your identity. Otherwise, do not worry about this.

Answer 3

If you or someone else ejaculated inside her without a condom she's pregnant. Otherwise, she may have had a very early miscarriage which is still causing higher than normal levels of HCG in her blood, she could have waited too long before checking the results of the pregnancy test, she could be taking a drug that is causing a false positive - like human growth hormone. However, I have to say that if she's taking the pregnancy tests then she has to have had sex, otherwise she has no reason to think she's pregnant. If she is getting false positives and is adamant that she is a virgin then she needs to get to the doctor ASAP to sort this out.