conversation: User (Baby-Girl17): "Looking for some advice. \nI got divorced 2 years ago &amp; my credit score took a dive. \nI’ve been trying to get pre-approved for a home loan, and working with a financial officer, who deals with people in my situation. I have two kids in their early teens, &amp; a good job.  \nIn looking over my credit reports with the financial officer, they gave me several things to do that would IMPROVE my score. \nFirst, pay down my 2 credit card balances..been plugging away at those. \n2nd, I did have some older medical bills that went to collections, and I paid them off early this month. \nI was told to call the credit agencies, and ask that those accounts be removed. I sent in all the paperwork that Equifax &amp; TransUnion requested. After about 2 weeks, the accounts were removed from my credit report. Yay!  I thought. \nI just checked my score on Credit Karma, and my TransUnion score went DOWN by 22pts!!!  \nWhat the F???  \nThis is soo frustrating to me!!  I don’t get it!  \nAny positive suggestions or advice welcome!  Thanks!"
  Self: "Credit Karma scores aren't what lenders use.  You'd want to see what your FICO score is, through a source like discover.com."
  