<prompt> Human: Hi rpersonalfinance, I know credit score algorithms can be really confusing but this has thrown me for a loop. My primary concern is that Im in the process of buying a home and my score has dropped 10-20 points for seemingly no reason. Here is kind of a timeline of what has happened: Late July around the 29th: Credit pulled for a mortgage and offer accepted on home being built, estimated close date of November or December 2016Early August: Car totaled in accident, loan was paid off by insurance 435month payment gone. Since then Ive continued to pay down my credit cards since applying for a home loan so I just kind of naturally assumed my score would increase. I subscribe to myfico.com so Im getting alerts when my score changes and Ive been surprised to see my score drop by 10-20 points in the last month. Here is an overview:Equifax: 741 91016 725 101016Experian: 752 92116 734 101016Trans Union: 747 92416 734101016Ive had no negative marks on my credit and all that has happened recently is paying down debt. A couple of the alerts Ive seen on myFico: Balance on one of your accounts has decreased by 10 234 - Score dropped 21 points Equifax Balance on one of your accounts has decreased by 173 - Sore dropped 18 points ExperianThe installment loan on the car was paid off prior to 910 and had registered with the credit bureaus in late August. Ill be honest Im not terribly worried about a 15 point drop but given that Im in the middle of a mortgage process estimated close is sometime in the next 1-2.5 months Im concerned that if they need to re-run my credit due to the credit report they pulled expiring that this could affect my close. Any idea what is going on and how I can improve the score in the next month or so? Also if it matters my total credit utilization ratio is about 22 with a length of credit of 9 years AAoA of 6.5 years. My 2 types of debt are credit and student loans, the vast majority of my debt is student loans. Thanks!  <response>: Its 15 points? Who cares? Are you planning on going heavily into debt soon? If not, the payoff of the debt will fall off your record soon enough. 