An Incrediable Farce !! 662 Credit Score

[Anonymous]

I own a home with a $120,000 mortgage.  I've lived there 12 years.  I have a rental home with a $40,000 mortgage which shows on my credit report.  I have held several CC for over 20 years. Citibank, Chase and Bank of America.  The balances have ranged up to $35,000.  Currently the total on all cards is $4000.  There is $47,000 credit available.  I didn't apply for it, the companies just expanded the limits over the years. I've had many cars loans and a boat loan.  My last car loan was paid off six months ago.   I have a six figure income and never missed a payment.  I have one negative collection which was a $30 doctor visit.  It was work comp related and was paid by the insurance carrrier over two years ago. It shows as paid. 

My wife and I want to build a new home. I checked my score through Free Credit Report and all three companies were showing in the upper 800 range.   When we went to the bank for a loan they said my credit score is only 662 and I would need to be at 680 to qualify.  I can't beleive this credit record justifies a score of 662, or why there is such a difference between scores.  The reported information appears to be the same on all the websites I have looked at.

This is crazy.  Truthfully banks should beg for my business!  I feel I am being held hostage by a computer score.  Other than trying to get the Work Comp collection removed, how fo I get this score to move? 

[JayRizzo]

Since those are not FICO scores from FreeCreditReport or Score.com, you're looking at another scoring model which may not include much of the criteria used by FICO and vice-versa.  This explains the difference in the scores.

[chasmith]

Free Credit Report provides "FAKO" scores that are totally unrelated to FICO scores.

You could start with reading some of the stickies on these forums about credit score repair.  I believe the bank must provide the score reports to you (a rule for mortgage applications).  Did the loan officer offer any opinions about how you could improve your score?

You should also get your free annual credit reports from the three CRAs, print them out, and go over them carefully to see if there are items you didn't realize are hurting you. 

If the collection was a workers' comp claim improperly sent to collection you may be able to get it removed from your report.  A paid collection two years ago could be a significant hit to your score.

I realize this is frustrating but with the way you describe your credit, correcting things may be very possible to get you to the score you need.

[MarineVietVet]

Hi Louie and welcome to the forums.

To add some to what Jay wrote these two statements come right from the website of FCR:

* Products and credit resources on the Product Websites utilize the PLUS Score®. The PLUS Score®, developed by Experian, and the different risk levels presented by it, are for educational use only. The PLUS Score® is not currently sold to lenders, and is not an endorsement or guarantee of your credit worthiness as seen by lenders.

* The PLUS Score® is not a so-called FICO score, and may differ for a variety of reasons.

No one has been able to buy their own Experian FICO score since February of 2009. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU (PSECU) in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only. You can only buy true FICO scores at a few places. One place is here at myFICO. I suggest you do an internet search for "myfico discount codes" to save a little money.

At one time you could also purchase your Transunion score at transunioncs.com but that site seems to have stopped doing that. Equifax will still sell you a FICO score but you have to look very hard to find it.

Creditors have access to all three credit scores. The score you got from the bank should be a true indication of where you stand.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Other than trying to get the Work Comp collection removed, how fo I get this score to move? 

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Congrats on all your hard work!

In response to the above question, (and yes getting the Work Comp collection removed is a biggy) a first step is to pull one of your FICO scores here.  The information that comes with the FICO score is extremely helpful.  Among other things, you will learn what is helping and hurting your FICO scores.

One thing many folks are not accustomed to is watching their reported utilization.  Best FICO scores come, generally, with all revolving accounts but one reporting a zero balance; with the one remaining reporting less than 9% utilization.  That's another plus in pulling your reports - you'll see your reported utilization which may be different than you're thinking it might be - depending on when you pay your revolving account balances.

Without seeing your report, my kneejerk first guess is that getting the Work Comp collection removed (see Rebuilding Your Credit for some good input on this); and getting your reported utilization down, may be the primary culprits.

Others will chime in with some good feedback, I'm sure.

Best wishes!

[Anonymous]

I had no idea until a few months ago that different systems exist.   All those ads are a huge scam.  That is really false advertising and I am shocked that they get away with it. 

Second my point is, my credit score of 662 is in no way reflective of my ability to pay my mortgage, or any debt.  I'm anger because I have to move money and play a chess game in order to paint a perfect picture for a computer.  What probably started as a way to alert lenders to deadbeats has become a standard to live by. 

[GregB]

I find it hard to believe that the same exact data could give you a FICO of 662 and a FAKO in the upper 800s. There are large differences, but even including a FICO max of 850 and a typical FAKO max of 1000, a FICO of 662 is below average and just about any variety of FAKO score of upper 800s should be well above average. My EX Plus score is typically 50-90 points higher than either of my FICO scores that are still available to consumers. I don't recall anyone reporting FAKOs that are 200 points higher than a FICO. Are you sure the data is the same?

Any collection is a major hit and it doesn't matter much if it is $30 or a lot of money. That needs to be removed or age off for a good score. The reason it is there is not important to any CRA. Excuses or reasons just don't mean anything to a score. It might get explained away during a manual review but you do need to get to that point first.

Are the mortgage balances still fairly close to the original loan amounts?

As far as ads being a huge scam, what advertising is not?

How many lottery tickets do you think would sell if they said "somebody has to win, but the chances are infinitesimal that it will be you and you would have to be an idiot to buy a ticket. Come on, prove you flunked math and just don't understand large numbers, and think it could be you"

How much diamond jewelry would they sell if they said "DeBeers started a massive misinfomation and advertising campaign 90 years ago and have managed to convince the public that diamonds are valuable. If you believe that this house of cards won't fall apart, just buy some"

How many big houses do you think would sell if people really understood the cost of maintenance, insurance, repairs, property tax, etc?

How many boats do you think would sell if people knew how thrilled they will be when they sell it?

"You won't BE SOMEBODY unless you spend every cent you can possibly afford to buy the new XYZ. Don't even ask what the interest rate is, the payment can be as low as X"

[marty56]

One thing to check is that even if you PIF your CCs each month, it is the reported balance that efefcts your FICO score so if you are moving a lot of money through your CCs each month, that could make it seem you are maxed out. 

Infom does not and should not be a part of any credit score.  it is used to calculate your CLs and your DTI in mortgage and auto loan descions.