MYFico's TU score and what you're doing about it.

[MamboItaliano]

Hello MYFico world:

So I'm reading all over the forums that the TU score found on this site is outdated. Let's get some facts.

1. Is that true?

2. Does it make it useless? 

3. If not useless, why?

4. What are you doing to combat the lack of an accurate TU score from this site? 

[llecs]

1) true and false. There are lenders that still use TU98 (from 1998), but most mortgage lenders use TU04 (from 2004). In your mind (not singling out you but genericly speaking), it would be outdated if your lender pulls a newer version. It would not be outdated if your lender pulls TU98. In all likelihood, your lender will not pull it.

To confuse things, there is also TU08 out there (same as on Wal-Mart's free FICO service). TU08 was created in 2008-2009. TU08 is newer than TU04. Would this make TU04 outdated? Chronologically speaking, yes, but nobody uses TU08. Is TU08 outdated instead?

2) + 3) Useless? Nope, IMO. What's the alternative....compare it to a FAKO? Would anyone recommend buying or obtaining their PLUS score, their Vantage score, their TransRisk score, or any other FAKO and use that for comparison? Heck no! If TU98 is all we have, then that's all we have and it's the closest thing to comparing to TU04 than anything else out there (maybe TU08 from Wallyworld too).

4) I think we should ask that FICO provide us that score. I'm not saying to eliminate TU98 because lenders still use it (one of my last lenders used it), but to offer TU04 for sale too. People would buy it!

[MamboItaliano]

An even more important question may be this: 

Is there anyone out there who has a Wal-Mart TU04 or recent lender pull that used TU04 that could compare the two? I'd love to see how much of a difference it makes. 

For that matter, I'd love to see how TU recalibrated their scores between 98, 04, and 08.

[atarvuzdar]

The TU FICO on this site isn't useless, as has been mentioned already. Some lenders use different versions. I know, for instance, that Barclay's uses TU98 that is found here--I pulled my score here the other day and applied for the Apple financing card from Barclay's and the scores were exactly the same on the same day.

Good luck!

[rena347]

I had an issue where there was an incorrect negative on my transunion report so my transunion score was quite a bit lower than my other scores. Got that deleted from my report and updated on transunion. My lender pulled my scores on 4/4 and reported my transunion as 632, my equifax as 727 and my Experian as 703. I did a score and report from myfico on the same day and was given a transunion of 707 and a equifax of 727. I know from reading this forum that myfico has TU98 and the lenders pull TU04 but a 75 point spread seems a bit excessive. I called my lender to verify that the negative account information had updated on the report he received and he confirmed that it had. He didn't understand it either. So now I have two scores over 700 and transunion at 632. It totally doesn't make any sense at all.

[Anonymous]

Like the last poster stated I don't think you can use tu98 as a guage for 04.  Many posters have expressed dissappointment with that strategy

[android01]

I'm of the opinion that MyFico should use whatever scoring model that is most used should be provided here.  That appears to be TU04 in most cases, especially from what I've gleaned from the mortgage industry.  The biggest drawback to TU98 is the fact that it doesn't handle NPSL cards well.  It uses the high balance as the credit limit giving the false impression that a particular card is close to, or maxed out.  AMEX and some of the NPSL Visa and M/C's fall into this category.  For an experiment, I let my AMEX charge card report a $300 balance.  When I pulled my TU98 report here, my score went down 13 points because this FICO scoring model thinks that this card is maxed at $300 as this is what was reported in the high balance field.  The negative listed is "High Credit Usage".    

The EQ version here at MyFico is Beacon 5, I believe, and doesn't count NPSL cards into utilization.  Neither does the EX model that PSECU uses.  Neither does TU04 or TU08.   I'd love for MyFico to be able to provide TU04 as it seems to be the most used version these days.

[marty56]

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@MamboItaliano wrote:

4. What are you doing to combat the lack of an accurate TU score from this site? 

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Taking hostages.

Seriously because the scores here are true FICO scores, anything you do to raise them should also raise, or at least not lower any flavor of a FICO score.

All credit scores are accurate, it is just whether the score you buy is the same one the lender pulls.  For an autoloan, they might use a auto enhanced FICO score which you can't buy here or anywhere else.

IMHO if someone needs to depend on  a particular version of a FICO score, then they are better off trying to fix what is on their credit report which makes them dependent and chances are a lender will notice it anyway.

[clocktick]

I've also been wondering for a while about myFico providing TU04 scores.  Is this something we will likely see in the future?  In the near future?  Any estimated time? 

Honestly, I would gladly even pay more to view TU04.   Where can we get TU04 scores?

[MamboItaliano]

INTERESTING UPDATE:

So here I am asking for something that I ended getting on my own.

I have a TU98 and a TU04 from this last month. I discovered they are only 4 points apart (TU98-635/TU04-631: I had a small RJM that popped up that I had PFD'd instantly, so that will take me back up to the high 600's within a week or so). 

But that just goes to say it doesn't seem to me that the TU98 and the TU04 are that far off. I will get info if I have it.