Why Did My Credit Score Drop on Creditkarma.com?

One of the best ways to take control of your financial situation is to routinely monitor your credit score and credit usage. Credit Karma offers consumers free credit monitoring service, as well as advice on how to manage credit and credit offers that can help boost your scores. Sometimes, however, you will notice a drop in your Credit Karma score. Why did your credit score drop? You can get more information on how you score is calculated and why there was a change here, and you can read on for more information on credit scores below.

There are several reasons your overall credit score could be impacted negatively. Below are seven reasons your score on Credit Karma score dropped.

Making Late Payments

If you are late with payments or miss a payment, it will reflect on your credit history. Late and missed payments that are 30 days or more overdue causes your score to drop. Payment history comprises approximately 35% of your total credit score, making them a huge factor in your total score.

Collections or Derogatory Marks

Derogatory marks on your credit score indicate you didn't follow the contract of the credit agreement in some way. Having a lot of accounts in collections, liens, judgments, charge-offs, foreclosures and bankruptcy can all impact your overall credit score. If you have any of these show up on your credit report, your Credit Karma score will go down.

Increased Use of Credit

If you are maxing out your credit cards or personal loans, your score will go up. Credit Karma recommends not going over 30% utilization of credit cards to keep your score and your overall credit in healthy standing.

Decreased credit limit

If your overall credit limit decreases, this will impact your utilization which can cause your credit score to drop. For example, you have a revolving credit line of $5,000 and you only used $1,000, your credit utilization would be 20%. If the company drops your credit limit to $3,000 and you are still using $1,000, your utilization will increase to 33%, which will cause your score to drop even though you have not changed your spending habits.

You Close an Account

Sometimes closing an account or credit card will negatively impact your score. Closing an account decreases credit history length, and it decreases your overall credit limit across all accounts. This changes your credit limit to utilization ratio impacting your Credit Karma score.

Paying off a Loan Early

Paying off a loan early sounds like good fiscal responsibility; however, it can negatively impact your credit score. Before paying off a loan, check with the lender to see if they will report it adversely on your credit report.

Mistakes on your Credit Report

Credit reporting is subject to the same mistakes that all man-made entities are subject to. Credit Karma allows you to review what is on your credit report to help you identify if there are mistakes on your credit report. These mistakes could be a failure to credit payments, mistakenly adding accounts to your report, or indications you are a victim of identity theft.

Credit Karma provides consumers with an easy, efficient tool to keep track of credit usage and scores. For more information, contact Creditkarma customer service here.