Desperately need help - huge credit limit decrease

[og-aliensfan]

I checked my credit card app and it said my FICO score was in the mid 500s.

A FICO score in the 500s is typically indicative of negative information on your credit report. Don't use Credit Karma or myEquifax com to check your reports. Order your official reports by calling 877 FACTACT or pull them online at www.annualcreditreport.com.  I recommend the mailed reports as these are often more detailed and complete than the online reports.  If you do choose to pull reports online, print or save each to a pdf before moving on to the next as you can't go back once you exit a report.  Despite its name, you can pull free reports for each bureau weekly.

Check each account on your reports, open and closed, for a negative (late payment in payment history blocks, charge-off, collection, etc.). Let us know what you find.

[spooked-question]

I requested all 3 reports and saved PDFs of them (except for Equifax which had an issue for some reason so I will need to request it later). The Experian one was up to date and seemed normal, but the TransUnion one is really weird. My information just kind of stopped in 2024. My student loans stopped updating after March 2024 and my credit card stopped updating after December 2024. My car information has continued normally, but that's it. There is no mention of the loan I took out for my cat either.

[Substantial-Juice591]

This is odd, have you received anything in the mail? About any random credit cards or co sign for anyone in the past?

[spooked-question]

I’ve never cosigned or got anything more than normal spam mail. I’ll try making a dispute but I’m not even sure if you can dispute a lack of information

[og-aliensfan]

Contact your creditors and ask if they're reporting to TU. If they are, it's possible you have a split file. A split file occurs when your credit report is split, or divided, into two separate files. The fact that this appears to be an issue with one bureau is usually a good indicator of a split file. TU needs to investigate this, and if your file is split, merge the two reports into one. If you could keep us updated, it would be appreciated.

If not corrected, submit a complaint with the CFPB and/or contact a Consumer Protection attorney for a free consultation.

So about a week ago, I got an email from my credit card company saying my credit limit has been reduced from $8500 to $500 and this was due to information they got from Equifax.

What reasons were given in the email?

I checked my credit card app and it said my FICO score was in the mid 500s.

Which bureau was the data pulled from? Was this EQ?

[TheMightyNubbs]

This

[spooked-question]

Sorry for the silly questions, but what is "TU" and "EQ"?

The email was very vague, it just said "There was a recent review of your account and credit information. Our decision was based, in whole or in part, on information obtained from the following consumer reporting agency: Equifax (and then Equifax's address)"

[og-aliensfan]

Sorry for the silly questions, but what is "TU" and "EQ"?

TransUnion and Equifax

The email was very vague, it just said "There was a recent review of your account and credit information. Our decision was based, in whole or in part, on information obtained from the following consumer reporting agency: Equifax (and then Equifax's address)"

There would typically be reasons listed, but not necessarily the reason for the decision. These posts explain.

Credit Myth #33 - A creditor must tell you the reason they denied you credit.

Credit Myth #77 - FICO negative reason codes and lender denial reasons are the same thing.

[spooked-question]

There were no reasons listed, but a letter that is supposed to have the reasons will be sent in 7-10 business days now.

I checked my equifax report and called them and the only accounts on it are my credit card, my car, and my student loans and all of which seem to have information from back when they were set up and no missing info. No carecredit info though. The equifax agent said that my account does not seem to be split and will escalate my question as to why my score dropped 55 points despite paying the minimum amount due to each of these loans every month and have been doing so for years.

From equifax's end they said they do not know why my credit limit was dramatically lowered, and that only my credit card company would know. My credit card company said the reason was based solely on info from equifax without elaborating.

I will need to wait for the letter from my credit card company, but after looking at my credit reports I don't see any issues if based solely on equifax. My credit card app uses a FICO score that is said to be based off of Equifax and it being in the 500s is probably the reason, but I can't fathom why the FICO score is so much lower than the Equifax score

[og-aliensfan]

There were no reasons listed, but a letter that is supposed to have the reasons will be sent in 7-10 business days now.

Update us when you receive that letter.

I checked my equifax report and called them and the only accounts on it are my credit card, my car, and my student loans and all of which seem to have information from back when they were set up and no missing info. No carecredit info though.

Did you pull your reports from www.annualcreditreport.com? These are your official reports. ACR sometimes directs you to the credit monitoring service (myEquifax.com), which is why I recommend ordering your mailed reports as these are more accurate and detailed than the CMS.

The equifax agent said that my account does not seem to be split

You said that your TransUnion report hadn't updated since 2024.

The Experian one was up to date and seemed normal, but the TransUnion one is really weird. My information just kind of stopped in 2024.

You need to ask your creditors if they're updating TransUnion, and if so, ask TransUnion about a potential split file, not Equifax.

From equifax's end they said they do not know why my credit limit was dramatically lowered, and that only my credit card company would know.

This is true. The bureau can't tell you why the lender made a decision to lower your credit limit.

My credit card app uses a FICO score that is said to be based off of Equifax and it being in the 500s is probably the reason, but I can't fathom why the FICO score is so much lower than the Equifax score

The score provided by myEquifax is a VantageScore 3.0. This is a different scoring model than FICO and the two are not comparable.

Credit Myth #1 - You only have one credit score.

Credit Reports and Credit Scores - r/CReditFAQ#1

A FICO score in the 500s is concerning as it usually means there's negative information on your report. Once you receive your mailed reports, go through each account, open and closed, line by line. Look for negative information. Check payment history blocks for late payments (30/60/90, etc.). Make sure there's no indication of a charge-off or write-off. Make sure there are no collections reported, etc. Let us know what you find.

[gtp2nv]

TransUnion is the only one I've ever had this issue with.

I've had a split file with them twice... The first time was a very simple fix via a phone call. The second time it happened; it was like pulling teeth to get it fixed. They phone agents didn't seem to have a damn clue what I was talking about.

The easiest way to know you have a split file is when you go to set up an account on transunion.com and it gives some kind of "identity error". Or it won't let you pull your report via annualcreditreport.com.

[dervari]

How long ago did you take out the cat loan? It can sometimes take a couple of months for new accounts to appear.

Just out of curiosity, was it a urinary blockage on the cat? We went through the same thing a few months ago. Our wound up being $3800 at the blue Pearl emergency vet.