@outtaBK13 wrote:Can anyone tell me why my experian score dropped 17 points within minutes of openeing a dispute online? I called their CS number and they were not able to tell me anything. Just a canned reply saying how many factors go into your score blah blah blah.. Nothing else on my file changed other than opening a dispute. The score drop notification came at the exact same time as the notice that I opened the dispute. I thought disputing something was my right and I should not be penalized for it.. Is this right?
If you'd asked here first, most folks would have guided you to not dispute anything unless what was being disputed was significant. What was it you disputed?
@outtaBK13 wrote:There was an old, closed account that had innaccurate balance info. It was listed as negative only because it was included in a (now) discharged CH13 BK. No negative nfo other than it says Included in Bankruptcy. Regardless of why or what I was disputing, there is no reason they should INSTANTLY drop my score when filing a dispute online or by mail.. It just infuriates me that they would do that for no reason.
Then this will make you even more unhappy, that account wasn't hurting you at all and nobody here would have recommended a dispute, and now you know why.
@outtaBK13 wrote:Thanks for the info and taking the time to reply. If I need advice on the specifcs of a dispute I will post a seperate thread for that. I'd rather focus on my original question though. Why would a dispute (regardless of what it was) cause an instant drop.. And more importantly, how can that be challenged with Experian? Is there a dept to ask for that might look at it besides just giving me a scripted answer?
If the dispute resulted in either a) reported data that was making a positive contribution to your score being discounted by the algorithm or b) negative information that was not being reported now being reported due to tradeline update, then the dispute would result in a score drop. You cannot dispute a disupte, and there is no department at Experian to ask for to do that.
Since the IIB notation was not hurting the OP's score, I would think the AAoA was being positively impacted by the old account, which is no longer being shown. Said another way, losing the account proved to be a negative, hence the 17-point drop.
@outtaBK13 wrote:I didnt lose the account, it's still showing. Just the balance info has changed.
The result of the dispute took a couple of days, the score drop notification was instant when I created the dispute so the only change to my report was openeing a dispute. The score drop could not have been the result of what was changed due to the dispute.
Disputing an account can temporarily remove it from scoring, even though it still shows on your report, so one possibility is that you lost the aging from this account by disputing it. Another is that the timing was coincidental and your score changed for reasons unrelated to the dispute. How did you confirm the simultaneity of the dispute and score drop? Did you pull an EX report immediately before the dispute, and a second one immediately after?
I don't believe most understand the power of a dispute and what it means. Depending where you read it's often encouraged to dispute in hopes to "get lucky", in general looking for a favorable update that helps a score. The reality is that disputes often have a negative impact.
The CRAs are regulated under the FCRA and take this seriously because they can be subject to fines. So, if you're disputing data as incorrect they will takes steps like temporarily exclude the data or even "lock" your file so that they can't be held liable for reporting incorrect credit data while they investigate. What is that investigation entail? In most cases they will simply check with the creditor to confirm the data is correct, which more often than not will be confirmed. Once they get confirmation from the creditor that the data is right, they will update that it is confirmed and update the account on file. The whole process is fraught with potential small changes that could negatively impact you.
In the future if you believe that data is being reported incorrectly, go to your creditor and ask them to send an update with the correct data. You can avoid the whole dispute process and go to the "horses mouth".
