How to increase my MORTGAGE credit score?

[Anonymous]

I was going to apply for a mortgage loan. My credit scores showed as Transunion 674 and Equifax 665 on Creditkarma.com, so I thought I was FINE. The LO told me that based on everything (he hadnt ran my credit) I would be approved for 150000, which is right at my budget! I was estactic so I told him to run my credit to begiin the process! BUT then the LO shows me my mortgage credit scores are actually Transunion - 628 and Equifax 624 and experian was 549 (??). THIS would have been FINE but I have about 10 student loan accounts I am in the middle of disputing, so he advised that I contact equifax directly to remove them, which, he said would probably lower my score and because you need a 620 to get the 3% down payment, I would no longer qualify. I am so disappointed as I have been working pretty hard the past few months and(thought) I brought my cedit score up almost 60 points! Why are the scores so different and what can I do to RAISE my mortgage credit score as I guess my regular credit scores do not matter.

Oh and get this, after he did his credit inquiry, my equifax score went down 25 points- UPDATE - aftter checking my reports fromyesterday and today , I see that it went down 25 points because one of my disputes came off - a collections for 589 ! and transunion down 2 points! So now I am stuck in a hard place AS I was HOPING to get a case number on a house before sept 14th when the new student loan laws take place (it was a stretch yes but I was willing to work for it) Now that all seems shot to hell as I am sure my equifax mortgage score is now below 620, which means I cant get the down payment assistance. Sorry if this is more of a rant, I am just so frustrated! I wish someone had told me about this a long time ago so I couldve been working on a house long before sept 14th! Or at least about the credit score differences before I had my credit run by the LO!!

Oh and just  a sidenote - I had no DTI but now that the law is chaning on sept 14th ill have an 850 a month debt added based on my student loan amount! MY luck!

[youngcreditcarduser]

I'm curious as to where you got your credist scores from? What is it from myFICO or some other site?

[Anonymous]

I had a 70 point difference in my mortgage scores for a while. It turned out to be an old collection account. I was able to get it removed and my mortgage scores are identical to my fico scores now. It's hard to say where your difference is, but there is something there that the newer models don't weigh as much as the older mortgage score models.

[Anonymous]

Creditkarma.com and I have credit.com but they are even more far off (says I have a 680 and 675) Do you think its because they are free sites? Is it worth paying for myFICO to get accurate scores??

[Anonymous]

Maybe it weighs previous missed payments more? Because I do have missed payments from my student loans but I have been paying them on time for the past 9 months and am deferred now. (I am HOPING the "missed payments" will be removed soon since I have competed the 9 month rehab program but I heard they dont ever actually go away, it just closes the acct so idk)

I also have one collection account (that I do not believe I owe but the dispute was denied) for 589 but I was told to wait to pay it off and that if its under 1000 it shouldnt be a problem. And the LO didnt mention paying that off so Idk. My only guess is the student loans missed payments, the mortgage company probably weighs more though. Which I could see a few points maybe even 15 or 20 but 40 for me and 70 for you! Thats crazy! I wonder if itll increase my score if I pay the 589 (they wont pay for delete, Ive asked)

[youngcreditcarduser]

creditkarma.com and credit.com use was is sometimes called a 'FACO' score because they are using their own formulas which try to approximate what your real credit score is (FICO). I found it pretty useful and much more accurate to pull it from myFICO, yes its pricy, but you're getting your true scores which gives peace of mind (or at least for me it did). 

[Anonymous]

Yea, lesson learned now! They have one for 30 a month which isnt bad. Better then being jipped into thinking you have a decent credit score and not finding out until AFTER your credit is pulled smh

[Anonymous]

The fico8 scores myfico has will also be different than your real mortgage scores. Mine differ by 40 pts! The reason for this is mortgage companies pretty much all accross the board use previous scoring models from over 10 years ago or more. And all three bureaus use different models. But when you purchase your fico scores you will also get the mortgage scores which is good, however the mortgage scores don't automatically update like the fico scores do. So to see any differences as you clean up credit you'll have to do a whole new credit report purchase. BUT if your myfico scores are going up then the mortgage fico scores should be going up too. And student loans have a BIG impact on your score. I'm suffering because my student loan company will not remove late pays from March of this year when my loans fell out of forebearance and I didn't call to get them out back in in time. Because they report as so many lines of credit. Also you should know that credit karma inaccurately dings your report for inquiries. Your inquiry maybe cost you a couple of points and no more.

[Anonymous]

WOW! That makes sense but it sucks they using old models. I guess my only chance will be to try and keep increasng my credit scores until they are at least 60-70 points above the 620 I need for the mortgage credit score (the only catch is I believe the FHA 3 % down payment assistance grant I need ends this month!) And yea my student loans are like 36 lines! I hope they will agree to delete your late payments! And yea I was shocked when it said minus 25 for a inquiry

[Anonymous]

Minus 25 doesn't sound right at all. The most I've seen is 3 or 4.

Don't hold me to this because I'm not an expert on all of these different credit scoring models, but I believe paying the collection may help your consumer scores, but I don't think it will have any effect on your mortgage score. If it is a really old collection, it may actually drop a bit.