Which Scores Are Real?

[Christie0909Participant]

Hey guys,

How do we know what scores lenders really go by? I am asking because I just joined Equifax Advantage. It shows you your scores from all three agencies. Two of my scores were in the mid 500′s and one in the early 600′s. Seeing this information I decided to apply for an HSBC card. I decided to go with HSBC because I have received 3 “pre-selected” offers from the within the past 2 months. After applying for the card I was denied. I immediately went online and opted out of prescreen offers. I also canceled my account with Equifax. I really just want to know how bad my score really is and how I can fix it. So how can I go about getting my “real” creditor scores. Like the ones lenders see.

[fontanamanModerator]

Hi Christie,

This is a good question. I joined Experian Direct, which provides my Experian score and report as well as updates on my other two reports (no scores or reports though just updates). Every now and then, I purchase the 3 reports and scores from Experian. I like to think that they are the actual scores that lenders see, but I’m not really sure. I have purchased scores and reports separately from the other two agencies and they have coincided with the ones I get from Experian (not sure if it was a coincidence or not).

My Experian score right now is 673, my Equifax I believe is 655. A few months ago I was denied for a retail store card offered by HSBC. I later found out they pulled Equifax, which is the lowest score of the three I have. I thought I had a chance ’cause my score I believe is not that bad, I guess I was wrong. I also didn’t know they pulled Equifax. I later read that HSBC can be picky, so who knows, maybe you were just denied because of your score. I don’t remember what they told me, but they’ll send you a letter explaining why they denied you.

In the mean time, I’ll try to find more information about who provides real scores.

[Christie0909Participant]

Thank you. Any information is appreciated. It just sucks because I had no idea my score was that low.

[Get AheadParticipant]

MyFICO.com is the only place to go to get your actual score.

Any other site that offers to show you your scores, and from all three bureau’s is what are called FAKO scores. Lenders will never use these scores to offer you credit.

While I believe that credit monitoring is more for people with extremely high scores and want to protect them from the damage that can happen if someone steals their identity. I would suggest that you apply for some sort of credit monitoring, at least for a year, so you can see how credit works, and what happens when items in your file change. It has helped me far beyond what I ever thought I wanted to know about credit, and what it effects in my daily life.

[fontanamanModerator]

Well according to what I’ve been reading, different lenders use different scores depending on what you are trying to purchase. This is new to me but apparently auto loans, mortgage loans, and credit cards use different scoring systems. That’s why sometimes people check their scores the day they are going to buy a car and when they get to the dealer, their score differs from the one they got earlier. Even when purchased from the same credit agency!

Apparently MyFico provides TransUnion “Classic scores”, used by some mortgage lenders. But,here’s the funny part, there are two different Classic Scores, which often vary by 1-30 points. This means that you might be pulling your Fico score at MyFIco before applying for a mortgage, and still get a different score at the bank!

Here’s an interesting thread about this topic: http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Real-FICO-score/td-p/481964

[Christie0909Participant]

That is a very interesting forum. So considering all of the different scores, I guess my next question is should i sign up for the myfico credit monitoring so that I can see where I stand or would it be a waste of money?

[fontanamanModerator]

TransUnion and Equifax sell both FICO and consumer scores. Experian sells only consumer scores (they stopped selling FICO scores to the public a few years ago). Consumer scores I guess are not worth your trouble as no lenders use them. They are also usually higher than FICO scores. Most mortgage lenders use the classic FICO score, which is what you get at MyFico.com. But then again as I mentioned before, different lenders use different scores depending on what you are trying to purchase.

I’m a little confused about all this myself. I’m currently signed up for Experian’s monitoring service, but I’m going to cancel it this month after I apply for a car loan. I guess if you are going to sign up somewhere, it should be at myfico.com.

If you find out more about all this let us know.

Another useful link: http://www.goodfinancialcents.com/how-to-find-your-real-fico-credit-score-free/

[madisonParticipant]

I recently spoke with a mortgage lender who told me that ‘all mortgage lenders use the ‘triple report scores’ to determine your credit worthiness and that they pull from the beginning of time when you began establishing credit’ To say my mouth dropped when he said this is an understatement, I was literally speechless for minutes over the phone! They go back to when I was 18 yrs old? I don’t wanna tell you how many years that is!! hehe He said that ‘triple report scores’ was not meaning getting a report from all three reporting agencies(Experian, Equifax, Transunion) that it is a horse of a different colour! I have never heard such a thing! I do know if you go to Credit Karma, you get your trans union score free as that is what it says in tiny print, but I am assuming even that is a FAKO score not the FICO.

[fontanamanModerator]

Negative items remain on your report for seven years (bankruptcy remains 10 years). This negative information is deleted seven years from the original delinquency date. Positive items remain for about 10 years. So, unless you are 28, I will not take what the mortgage lender said too seriously

[Christie0909Participant]

Today I decided to enroll in the MyFICO quarterly monitoring service. For 4.95 a month I get and updated score and report once every three months. The only bad thing is you only get one report and score and it is from Transunion. I wish I was getting both. As of now it says my TU FICO is 623. I have decided to use this service until I clear up my TU report and then buy my Equifax report and score. Just thought i would let everyone now. It seems like a pretty decent deal to me.

[fontanamanModerator]

That’s great Christie. I think it’s a good deal. I tried their free trial not long ago and I liked their website and layout. A lot nicer and easier to read than Experian.

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