Difference in credit scores lender pulls vs. what I pull from each bureau?

[Anonymous]

I am new to this forum and this is my first post.  I want to thank you all in advance - there is such a wealth of great information flowing back and forth here! 

My question is about the difference between the credit scores my lender will use vs. the scores I can get myself from the bureaus.  I am in the process of buying a home, and I am working with my broker to increase my score a bit prior to going to the lenders.  The broker uses a company (CCI - Credit Communications Inc.) to pull the report, and they run a credit analyzer to show me where I can get the biggest bang for my buck.  By simply paying down balances on some cards and paying a few off completely, we have been successful and raised my mid score in 30 days by 49 points.  I have the report from CCI that shows the improved scores as of 5/9/07.  The scores I pulled myself just today (I signed up with a credit report/score monitoring service through Costo) do not match those on the one my broker is using from CCI.  The explanation provided is that CCI has a model which is tailored to lenders which makes it a bit different than what the general public can see.  Is this true?  Is there a difference between a TRI-Merge score and seeing all 3 individually from each bureau? 

Thoughts?

Thanks for any insight on the matter.

[Tuscani]

Welcome! Please see:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=ficoscoring&thread.id=2654

The scores Costco is offering are FAKOs which are not your true scores.

Message Edited by Tuscani on 05-31-2007 08:30 PM

[Anonymous]

Thank you.  I actually read that post prior to posting my question (I have been snooping around here all day).  But that still does not answer my question.  I understand the 3 will differ from each other, but why do the 3 that I pull differ from the 3 that CCI is pulling?

[Tuscani]

It sounds like you are comparing your scores from Costco to CCI right? You need to compare your actual scores (from myfico.com) with what CCI has. Even the scores you get from the bureaus are FAKOs (except for EQ).

And yes.. there are different scores for certain industries. CCI is using a score that relates to the mortgage industry. These focuses more on your mortgage history (they are still FICOs).. Auto and bank card (credit card) enhanced scores are others that are industry related.

Message Edited by Tuscani on 05-31-2007 08:41 PM

[Anonymous]

I am comparing both the set of scores that I pulled myself from each bureau and the set of scores I just got from the Costco credit monitor/score service to the scores on the CCI report.  Did not realize that the credit bureau scores are considered FAKOs so I suppose I will get my FICO as recommended then compare again. Much like everyone else on this board, I have become obsessed with my score and improving it..  Thank you so much for the explanation.

[Tuscani]

---

focused07 wrote:

I am comparing both the set of scores that I pulled myself from each bureau and the set of scores I just got from the Costco credit monitor/score service to the scores on the CCI report.  Did not realize that the credit bureau scores are considered FAKOs so I suppose I will get my FICO as recommended then compare again. Much like everyone else on this board, I have become obsessed with my score and improving it..  Thank you so much for the explanation.

---

No problem! The scores your pull from MyFICO should be almost identical to what CCI has.

[Cory]

Do any one of you know which banks, credit unions etc pulls Transunion report when you are applying for credit?

I am trying to open up a card and close a couple of bad ones.

Any response is much appreciated.

Cory

[MM1234]

Cory - I would keep ALL your cards open for now. Dont close them even if you get a NEW card.....unless they have an Annual Fee. Even then you can ask to have that waived or tell them you will close it. Most times they will waive it.

From my personal notes I noticed that B Of A pulled my EX only. And Wachovia Pulled my TU only for some biz related accounts. I think it varies by lender and even by state.

[Cory]

Okay. The problem with a lot of the credit card companies I call, say that there is no way that they can reduce or take away the annual fee.

I'm going to try one more time and if they say that they can not waive the fee then I'm going to close the account and just use my other cards with no annual fee to help raise my scores.

Thank you for your response.

Cory

---

MM1234 wrote:
Cory - I would keep ALL your cards open for now. Dont close them even if you get a NEW card.....unless they have an Annual Fee. Even then you can ask to have that waived or tell them you will close it. Most times they will waive it.

From my personal notes I noticed that B Of A pulled my EX only. And Wachovia Pulled my TU only for some biz related accounts. I think it varies by lender and even by state.

---

[Tuscani]

State Farm Bank

Wells Fargo Financial (not the bank)

Hooters Card

Target

Juniper Cards (May also pull EX)

As always... YMMV