Welcome to the forums! My coments below in blue.
@Anonymous wrote:
I have some inquiries regarding the new wells fargo score as well....
....My wells fargo is 782. Experian 726. Trans/Equifrax 620.
You refer to your "Wells Fargo" vs. your "Experian." Actually, both scores are drawn on Experian data.
Is it 100% clear what the difference is between, on the one hand, credit bureaus like EX, TU, and EQ -- and scoring algorithms, like FICO 8, FICO 4, FICO 98, FICO 8 Bankcard Enhanced, etc? Credit Bureaus are places where data sit. Like a big silo or a warehouse. Then somebody comes along and uses a credit scoring program to turn all that data into a single number.
When you hear people talk about their scores on the forum, therefore, they will typically tell you two things: (1) the scoring model or algorithm that was used and (2) the credit bureau that supplied the data. For example, somebody might say, "My FICO 8 scores are TU 755, EQ 734, EX 759." When that person said "FICO 8" she was specifying the exact model that was used to create the score.
I notice that for Trans/Equifax, I have some old emergency medical bills from 4 years ago that I never took care of. If I were to open a line of credit like citibank or Chase, which score will they use?
By Line of credit" do you mean a credit card? Do you have any credit cards? If so, how many?
There are many different scores that a CC issuer might use in dtermining where to grant you a card. As I mentioned above, they might use any one of the three bureaus for your data, and they might use a number of different scoring models. Making a guess as to what they will use is possible. If you go to the CC forum and ask them, they may be able to help. You should be prepared to tell them what state you live in. Probably the real question you want to ask is, "Give that I live in state _____, is there a CC issuer that is very likely to pull Experian? My EX score is much better than EQ or TU, since I have unpaid medical bills on those two bureaus."
Is one score more important than the other?
Yes. The score that is most important at any moment is the score that a partoicular creditor will be using. See above.
Final thoughts. Something that would be very much in your interest is to get your bad medical debt resolved. I would go to the Rebuilding forum and explain exactly what you see on your EQ and TU reports and ask if there is anything that can be done about it.
The other thing you need to do is become very familiar with how credit reports and scores work.
Finally, on your list of things to do should be to make sure you have two credit cards. Eventually three.
