I need advice about credit reports

[Anniston]

If anyone knows anything about credit reports, I would love to ask you a couple of questions...my friend just applied for an apartment. He is 25 and when he purchased his first new car in October, his credit score was 670. With no inquiries into his history (known to him) since then, he just found out his score is 550.

What are reasons that could make it drop like this? He has no late payments on the entire report. So what is up with that drop in such a short period of time? The guy reading the report said he was surprised at the score since he did not see any late payments on the report.

There is a slight chance that his room mate could have been sending in credit card applications in his name. So, do you know how many points the score drops per one inquiry?

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

Did he cancel any long term lines of credit that he had?

Is his score of 550 from just one credit agency? You have Experian, Equifax and Tran something or another on there, each one will be a different score.

 

[Anniston]

Yeah, it was either Experian or Equifax because the apt. mgr. said that of the 3, it is the one that grades the lowest, which is why their cut off is 580. I am familiar with Trans Union and a 580 from them would be pretty bad. No, he has not canceled anything. I actually advised him against that months ago since at 25, he took his first loan out only a couple years ago, in order to begin to build credit.

The hard part to figure out is that it dropped drastically in a matter of months with no late payments.

 

[TheOriginalJames]

How big and how long term of a loan was it? The longer term the loan is, the more it will help his credit. Something like home loans will help the most, credit cards with a good payment history of 5+ years will help even more, lines of credit through stores like best buy, lens crafters, etc will help more than a simple personal loan that only takes 2-5 years to pay off.

My 1 year 1000 dollar loan wasn't even on any of my credit reports, my Capital one account, lens crafters and other credit cards, etc were on there. My capital one I've had since like 01 with an excellent payment history is what put my credit score into the 750s when I went to buy my house.

 

[videophotog]

I just did a quick google of "what can lower a credit score" and came up with loads, this link might help: Personal Credit Reports - Credit Scores & Records Guide

 

[OUZBnd]

something is screwed up there. I'd be calling the reporting agency and see what the deal is

Go here for a free credit score from FICO: http://slickdeals.net/?pno=9215&lno=1&afsrc=1

It should automatically enter the promo code for you. If you don't trust that link just go to https://www.myfico.com/Store/BureauSelection.asp and selct transunion, and enter VC9743 as the promo code. Follow the steps and your done. No CC number needed.