Credit Bureau Scoring Differences

[Anonymous]

Hello ~

I'm a newbie to the myfico forums. I've been working hard the last couple of years to rebuild my credit. After going through a divorce and a layoff I'm on the road to recovery. I have credit card debt that I've managed to paydown from 40k to 19k in two years. I'm currently enrolled in a debt management program. It was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made.

I just pulled my credit with both Trans Union and Equifax this month. Compared both reports and they are identical. However, Equifax was 593 and Trans Union was 551. My question is how can they both have such a big difference in scores. If all 3 bureaus score the same and report the same then why are the scores different. It doesn't make sense. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

They dont always match for everyone. They all three receive creditor information and report consumers credit history to potential creditors. Double check and make sure everything is the same from date opened to date last reported, credit limit, balance etc. Even if all of these are the same (which few have all three the same) the scores will vary as each of the three bureaus has their own scoring model. For example TU and Equifax seem to vary on credit utilization. Posters have noticed that when they pay down a balance completely one of the two (dont remember which) takes away more points than the other and when you let just a little report the opposite happens. They all three have their own formula and preferences of how you act. The only thing you can do is just make sure you keep your reports as accurate as possible and they should stay fairly close to each other. If you know one is consistently higher than the other when you shop for a loan or credit try to look for lenders that pull that bureau. Thats all you can do.