Is it possible to have 798 FICO w/Equifax and 645 FICO w/TransUnion??

[Anonymous]

Since my husband lost his job in March, we started the process to apply for a Making Homes Affordable (HAM) modification.  We remained current on our mortgage until we were told by the servicer to make partial payments.  We have made each of those partial payments on time and continue to pay 'everything' else on time as well. 

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that our FICO score had plummeted from an 801 to a 635 according to the Equifax scoring model.  My business credit limit was cut and my HELOC was suspended as a result of the score.

I did research and found that there were CDIA guidelines which outlined the way in which this situation is supposed to be reported when the homeowner goes into this particular modification current, and my servicer had not reported it correctly.  Before it was over they had reported us 60 days deliquent.  If you go into the government's HAM mod current, they are supposed to report your status as 'current', though they can include a note stating that you are paying partial per an agreement. 

I wrote my servicer about this and they apparently agreed that we had been initially reported incorrectly.  I've checked my Equifax and TransUnion reports and they do now state that the account is current.  However, Equifax increased my score by a whopping 160+ points due to the change in reporting.  Trans Unions score did not budge-- at all!  On the TransUnion report they still seem to be saying that I'm current now but was 60 days delinquent in the recent past, so it is still affecting my score.  This was really not the case.

So, I know that these two credit bureaus use different scoring models and can report different scores.  But this seems like a large discrepancy.  And it does seem to me that the TransUnion score should go up some with the status reported as current.

Any thoughts on this?  Is TransUnion putting a greater weight on the notation?

[Anonymous]

Yep.  Each CRA maintains its own database.  Not all creditors report to all 3.  Sometimes an account gets reported differently on one CRA affecting scores differently.

I had an 806 EQ while my TU was 706.  All due to a single CA account being reported differently on my CR's, which once I fixed and removed jumped my TU up to actually be higher than my EQ (final scores before new apps/accounts was 814 TU / 810 EQ).

[Lel]

Like you've already surmised, I suspect that the large score discrepancy is being caused, to a large part, but the incorrect past 60 day late on TU.

I'm curious - how do your mortgage account entries on EQ and TU currently read?  Is there any indication that the AC code is being reported?

[Anonymous]

If TransUnion is incorrectly still applying a delinquency to their FICO scoring model, how do I try to change that?  I don't think it is Citimortgage that is reporting incorrectly anymore; I think it has more to do with the way TransUnion is handling the reporting or the way it is translating into their FICO scoring model.  I really don't know how that works.

I did go to Transunion.com and pulled a 3 in 1 report after writing the post above.  It actually gave me better scores for Transunion (718 instead of 645) but then I read more and found out that Transunion.com's Truecredit reports are not real FICO scores....talk about  confusing!  At Transunsioncs.com I ran another Transunion only report and score and they are still reporting the 645.

On the Truecredit generated 3 in 1 report it looked like Experian and Transunion were both adding the AC code and Equifax was not.    I know you have speculated that the AC code would have a negative impact, but don't you think the TU score should have gone back up some after the status was changed to current?  How do I make sure they are not still interpreting it as though I was once delinquent---that is not how it is supposed to have been reported.  the fact that it was ever reported delinquent was an error.

thanks

[Anonymous]

txjohn,

I've actually never had another negative, such as a CA, on my account.  and the 'delinqency' reports were actually errors and should really be 'erased' rather than counted as recently past delinquencies, which is what the FICO report from this website seems to indicate. 

So, unless the AC code' paying partial on agreement' is that bad, it seems that a 645 is a bit harsh.  I was also surprised that the score did not move upward by even one point when they changed the status to current.

[Lel]

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Kate1258 wrote:

If TransUnion is incorrectly still applying a delinquency to their FICO scoring model, how do I try to change that?  I don't think it is Citimortgage that is reporting incorrectly anymore; I think it has more to do with the way TransUnion is handling the reporting or the way it is translating into their FICO scoring model.  I really don't know how that works.

You can contact TU with the evidence from CitiMortgage that indicates that you were never late, and ask them to delete that incorrect entry. 

I did go to Transunion.com and pulled a 3 in 1 report after writing the post above.  It actually gave me better scores for Transunion (718 instead of 645) but then I read more and found out that Transunion.com's Truecredit reports are not real FICO scores....talk about  confusing!  At Transunsioncs.com I ran another Transunion only report and score and they are still reporting the 645.

You have figured out the confusion regarding credit scores (the age-old FICO vs FAKO distinction). 

On the Truecredit generated 3 in 1 report it looked like Experian and Transunion were both adding the AC code and Equifax was not.    I know you have speculated that the AC code would have a negative impact, but don't you think the TU score should have gone back up some after the status was changed to current?  How do I make sure they are not still interpreting it as though I was once delinquent---that is not how it is supposed to have been reported.  the fact that it was ever reported delinquent was an error.

Unfortunately, from what little information is trickling out about others in your situation, it is still possible that the AC code itself is causing a substantial chunk of your score drop.  Until you get that 60 day late off, however, it's not possible to determine its specific impact.  It's interesting that EQ is not reporting the AC code, despite the fact that it should have been sent from CitiMortgage to all the credit bureaus.

thanks

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