General Credit Topics

[SteveL]

Wow - 3 months ago my FICO score was 809. Since then I applied for a home loan and purchased a condo. My score today is 779. What a disappointment -- getting punished for realizing the American Dream?

[llecs]

It's the new account ding (though it seems a tad high). Provided you keep balances the same on your revolving accounts when your score was at 809, you'll bounce back and regain those points within 6-12 months and most will return within 6 months.

Is the 779 from a myFICO purchase? If so, EQ or TU?

[SteveL]

Yes, the 779 is TU. It's frustrating that I take a 30 point hit and it's gonna take 6-12 months to rebuild. It's also puzzling that there was a 40 point discrepancy between the 3 bureaus.

[To-Be-Continued]

You do realize that 740 and > is basically the same thing. In other words you would get the same rate at 779 when applying for credit as you did at 809.

TBC

[languedoctor]

Exactly.

No credit scoring formula will ever be perfect -- and I don't think anyone really expects otherwise. Focusing on exact numbers implies a level of precision that the scores just don't have (no lender uses 550 tiers, pegged directly to FICO points).

So there's no real, immediate consequence to the OP.

On the other hand, if you're at 800, and you take out 3 mortgages in as many months, that probably would lead to "tier" drop. And it might be justified, as it suggests a significant - maybe not earth-shattering, but significant - change to the way that one is using credit.

[HoldingOntoHope]

The other question would be if you are comparing TU scores both purchased on this site. If the 809 score was what the lender provided with the mortgage application it could be a more recent version of TU. Many posters on this forum have noticed a point difference between the TU 98 version purchased on this site and the TU 08 version provided by WalMart, although both are legitimate FICO scores.

[llecs]

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HoldingOntoHope wrote:

The other question would be if you are comparing TU scores both purchased on this site. If the 809 score was what the lender provided with the mortgage application it could be a more recent version of TU. Many posters on this forum have noticed a point difference between the TU 98 version purchased on this site and the TU 08 version provided by WalMart, although both are legitimate FICO scores.

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+1. I was hoping OP would say TU. Most lenders use a newer FICO version for TU and that could be the cause for the point difference. It doesn't mean your TU FICO dropped, it just means you are comparing to different FICO versions. (ETA...the version lenders use is older than Wal-Mart's version...we call it TU04).

[LS2982]

779 is nothing to complain about! You'll get the best rates on anything, 6 months to a year and you'll have those points back!