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CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

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Lel
Moderator Emeritus

CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

When I applied for a HELOC with US Bank, they naturally pulled my credit report. When I spoke to one of the mortgage officers, he told me that my credit score was 802 on 5/1 (and showed appropriate reverence towards me, of course Smiley Happy) This correlated with the EQ 802 that I got from this site on 4/30.

Yesterday, I received the official notice of my credit score from the bank, which confirmed the 802. It noted, however, that the CRA used was CSC, which was unfamiliar to me. After some sleuthing on these forums, I understand now that CSC is somehow contracted with EQ to provide scores in certain states.

But this is what puzzles me: underneath the score, this sentence appears: "Credit scores from the consumer reporting agency above range from 350-950."

Huh? Did CSC take information from EQ and morph it into a FAKO?
Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

Also, since CSC is supposedly EQ in disguise, shouldn't this inquiry generated a SW alert? i'm quite confused.
Message 2 of 11
MidnightVoice
Super Contributor

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

If I remeber correctly CSC does stuff for EQ in certain parts of the country.  The CR should be identical - it is an EQ CR.
 
The score I have no idea
The slide from grace is really more like gliding
And I've found the trick is not to stop the sliding
But to find a graceful way of staying slid
Message 3 of 11
Junejer
Moderator Emeritus

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?



@Lel wrote:
Also, since CSC is supposedly EQ in disguise, shouldn't this inquiry generated a SW alert? i'm quite confused.


Yup it should've.

@Anonymous wrote:

If I remeber correctly CSC does stuff for EQ in certain parts of the country. The CR should be identical - it is an EQ CR.

-----------

Yep, they are who we get up here in the Dairyland.






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Current Score: 849
Goal Score: 850

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Message 4 of 11
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

Maybe SW is having problems sending out alerts again....or does CSC generate scores from CRAs other than EQ? On their spartan website, they list contact information for all 3 CRAs.

The difference in scale is still baffling to me. On a 950 scale, a score of 800 isn't all that great.

Oh well, all I care about is whether I get the line that I want.
Message 5 of 11
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

It is NOT a FAKO if coming from the mtg lender.  Anything over 800 is OUTSTANDING.  You should get the best rates they have for whatever you are borrowing.
 
 
Message 6 of 11
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?


@Anonymous wrote:
It is NOT a FAKO if coming from the mtg lender. Anything over 800 is OUTSTANDING. You should get the best rates they have for whatever you are borrowing.






I'm trying to borrow a circular saw from my neighbor. Smiley Happy
Message 7 of 11
RobertEG
Legendary Contributor

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

Lel, it doesnt matter one gnats eye whether anyone considers it to be a "FAKO"  or a "FICO," or where they pulled the score they are relying upon, for each are only credit scores, and not mandatory lendor scoring considerations. If they choose to pull your score from Tony Soprano, then that is their right.
Whatever score your lendor is using, that is all that matters!!
All this denigrating "FAKO" crap that many on this site promulgate is sometimes meaningless.  It is what your lendor is using that matters.
Technically, and legally, under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, any score that takes into account any factors such as your current account balances, income, debt to income, marital stauts, etc., are NOT  credit scores. It does not matter if the source was FairIsaac or Guido. That is the law.
No lendor is prohibited from using actual credit scores, but they are not required to use only credit scores, so labeling what your lendor might be using as either a FICO or FAKO score can be meaningless, and misleading as to its value. Lendors choose their evaluation criteria, and not FICO.
While many lendors may choose to rely primarily upon FICO/credit scores as matter of business convenience in their lower-level credit granting decisions, when it comes to a $200,000 decison on granting a mortgage loan, FICO or any other credit score is not the end all.
If any lendor takes into consideration your income, current assets, or total debt, then they are relying upon factors that are strictly prohibited from ihclusion in your credit score under the FCRA, and thus they cannot, as a matter of law, deny based upon a FICO score.  Pure and simple.
Credit scores do not rule the world.  That is what Congress clearly set forth in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act.  Reliance upon CRA generated scores are not mandated by anyone, and are not used by all.


Message Edited by RobertEG on 05-10-2008 02:42 AM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 05-10-2008 02:48 AM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 05-10-2008 02:56 AM

Message Edited by RobertEG on 05-10-2008 02:59 AM
Message 8 of 11
Lel
Moderator Emeritus

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

Hi Robert,

I appreciate your opinions about this matter.

I agree with you in the sense that so long as a CRA has adequate information to assess a person's creditworthiness, then that agency can generate a credit score based on whatever formula it feels most accurately predicts that person's credit risk. And yes, Fair Isaac, like Ma Bell was in telecommunications, is by far the dominant player in this market.

I think one major beef that folks here have with non-Fair Isaac scores is that the purveyors of such alternatives are not always forthcoming about what they offer. Sure, if you read the fine print of every web page and understand a priori what the differences are, then you will figure out which product you are actually getting. But neophytes in this realm aren't going to understand the differences until they've spent some money on a score that might not have any practical applicability in the the real world.

Another issue is that despite efforts by CRAs to generate legitimate competitors to FICO, these scores sometimes can differ significantly from what would come from Fair Isaac. My wife, for example, had a VantageScore of 972, which if one adjusted the score to fit the FICO scale, would roughly translate into a FICO score of about 828. However, when we actually pulled her FICO score from Equifax, it came in at 759. Which score is "correct"? What defines "correct"? Frankly, I can see justification for her having both a higher and lower score. Fundamentally, of course, even the lower score is very good and would not cause any problems should she need to obtain additional credit in the future. But for those whose scores are 100 points lower, the distinction is very important indeed.

As an aside, this reminds of the adage: "A man with two watches never knows what time it is."

Anyways, the reason why I started this thread, though perhaps not explicitly stated, was my puzzlement about why a subcontractor of Equifax would generate a credit score that was numerically identical to the FICO score obtained through Fair Isaac, but then apply a different scale (350-950 vs 300-850). It's a curiosity, not much more than that.
Message 9 of 11
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: CSC Credit Services using a different scale?

I did a little checking on this, and apparently, it's not that rare for the people who generate the credit report to post the wrong score range. My guess is that since your score was identical to the EQ you pulled here, they really did pull a FICO EQ, and it's just CSC bobbling the reported range.

From all the acid posts I've read about CSC on other issues, this would not be surprising. Smiley Very Happy
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 10 of 11
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