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Lenders see different scores than consumers do

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Ledeen
Member

Lenders see different scores than consumers do

I have been trying to work on raising my score (was lowered 2 years ago due to a cut in pay) I was able to secure a new Job in early 2010 for a higher salary and started monitoring my scores through Equifax, Experian and Transunion. I eventually got them all raised high enough to apply for a mortgage loan.

 

My scores were:

Equifax: 640

Experian: 664

Transunion: 752 (don't understand why this one is so much higher)

 

However when the lender pulled a merged credit report required in the mortgage business the scores were:

 

622

635

627

 

When I questioned the lender, he said that the scores we see when purchasing the products from the credit bureaus its completely different from the mortgage report cores, (they are much lower) and the car reports a dealer or leasing company would pull are lower yet.

 

So it seems a complete rip off to pay to see a score which has not much to do with what lenders get! I feel like Ive been completely ripped off. I pay 10.00 a month for a service that alerts me if someone tries to use my identity, and was subscribing to the 2 credit bureaus so I could make sure my score was high enough for a loan. (I have to go with an FHA)

 

I also noticed if I pay for the 3 in 1 scores, they are never correct either. For example I subscribed with Transunion 3 in 1, and it shows my Equifax as a 25 point difference and Experian at 15 points difference.

 

What a rip off all the way around. Im furious, feeling we are being fed a line of BS just so these companies can have a new market to sell to!

Message 1 of 71
70 REPLIES 70
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

I'd be upset too.

 

Unfortunately as you know now, the scores offered via TransUnion, Experian, and even Equifax are not even FICO scores. They are a non-FICO we call a FAKO. They'll tell you in the tiny fine print that they aren't FICO scores, and promote them as an "educational score" or as a marketing gimmick, but these services will go at great lengths to hide that fact. Not only do they hide that info from consumer view, but they go at great lengths to hide or prevent consumer-access to a FICO score. Experian for example no longer provides data for consumers to buy an Experian FICO score as evidenced on this website. If any service offers an Experian score, then run away knowing that their scores are not FICO scores. I recommend checking out the CMS Guide. It covers some of the services out there, including one you used, and tells you if the score is a FICO score or not. It also lists other places you can get your FICO score outside of your lender. Basically the only use these services have are to monitor your credit. I use them but I ignore the scores (if not a FICO).

 

If your goal is to get a mortgage and you want to improve your FICO scores, and you want to use that same lender, I recommend looking at their tri-merge report to look at those FICO scores. Specifically, you'd want to look at the version of FICO score used. Just about all lenders use the same EQ FICO as found on this site. If you were to pull your EQ FICO the same day as your lender, they'd likely match. TU FICO is a little different. There are two versions out there of TU FICO that lenders use. One is a 98 version and other is a 04 version. It's always possible that the TU FICO may not match, but would be close, and would be handy to know beforehand. Your tri-merge report from the lender should list the TU version used. And lastly, the only way you can get your EX FICO because Experian blocks access is either from your lender or from a CU in PA called PSECU if you happen to bank with them. That score would likely match your lender's too.

 

I recommend looking at what is holding your scores back. The fastest way to improve is paying off credit cards. There are some great folks on these forums who can help you reach your goals whatever they may be.

 

 

Message 2 of 71
Ledeen
Member

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

Ok, I changed my equifax from the 3 in 1 monitor service to scorewatch, but how do I get the Trimerged. This lender used Equifax Mortgage services, since thats what showed up as a hard inquiry when they pulled my scores. Actually they were higher the day he pulled it, since as soon as I paid down my american express blue cash card from 1500 to 111. My score dropped 25 points!

 

But how do I get the trimerged report they get?

Message 3 of 71
JagerBombs89
Established Contributor

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

There is no company that offers 3-in-1 FICO scores.  There are companies that offer maybe 1 of the 3.  PSECU, for example, offers free EX FICO scores to it's members that have signed up.  MyFico and Equifax offer ScoreWatch to monitor your EQ FICO.  MyFICO also offers a 13-year-out-dated FICO score (TU 98) but most lenders use TU 04 so the TU score you get on here is more of a "guideline"

Message 4 of 71
cw81
Frequent Contributor

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

 


@Ledeen wrote:

Ok, I changed my equifax from the 3 in 1 monitor service to scorewatch, but how do I get the Trimerged. This lender used Equifax Mortgage services, since thats what showed up as a hard inquiry when they pulled my scores. Actually they were higher the day he pulled it, since as soon as I paid down my american express blue cash card from 1500 to 111. My score dropped 25 points!

 

But how do I get the trimerged report they get?


Mortage lenders suscribe to  a  service that   pulls what they call a trimerge that gives you  a beacon 5.0  score for your equifax report , a fico score for Experian which I believe is called Fico Nextgen (someone correct me if am wrong on the nextgen name for  EX)   and  I believe TU04 Fico for Transunion report.  

 

 

 

As a consumer  you can get  2 out of  3 fico scores from here  and you will get the same  Beacon 5.0 from here for  EQ  You will get TU98 not  TU04 from here and  as has already been touched you are not able to  get  your EX score from here.   

 

FICO scores are what are used  industry wide   getting scores from other sources  other than those listed above and by other posters  will surely  cause you to see disecrepancies  and  you are definitely comparing proverbial apples to oranges

 

Message 5 of 71
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

Ditto, OP. There isn't such a product. Experian wanted to push their own fake scores via their website and they blocked consumer access to your EX FICO score. Now you can get it from your lender and at least a couple of other sources, but we can't pull it on our own (Experian Smiley Mad ). At one point we could pull the exact same scores that lenders use via this website, but that went away a couple of years ago.

 

The only way you can get a tri-merge report is via your lender. You can pull your EQ FICO from here (Beacon 5.0 as mentioned) and you can pull your TU FICO from here. There are a couple of TU FICO versions being used by lenders and one is on this website. The other cannot be pulled by consumers (TU04). Finally, and a slight correction, the EX FICO is called a Fair Isaac Risk Score v2 and that used to be sold on here and most all lenders use it. Nexgen (Nextgen?) is a non-Classic FICO that really isn't used in mortgage lending. Alliant CU used to offer it.

Message 6 of 71
typicalguy
New Visitor

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

same thing happened to me this week.  i pulled my three reports from a feature offered by one of my credit card companies and when i went into the bank it wasn't 753 it was actually 703.  i about died.  now i'm on this site trying to research what the difference is. 

Message 7 of 71
TheLegend
Member

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

llecs,  how much of a difference would u say there is between the TU04 and TU98?

 

Would u say my TU98 is a lot different from what the lenders see if they are using TU04?   Just curious because I don't want to pay $19.99 for a score from MyFico, only to go somewhere else and they tell me my Fico is 50 points less than what I'm seeing here.

 

 

Message 8 of 71
nrc2112
New Visitor

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

The difference between what you pAy for here and what lenders pull in points can be 100 point difference. If you pay for your fico score here you are throwing money away.
Message 9 of 71
sunshine7157
Regular Contributor

Re: Lenders see different scores than consumers do

Thats pretty disappointing. I was unaware of the FICO TU score here being the outdated TU98 model & therefore relatively useless in the big scheme of things. I've put out a good chunk of change monitoring that. Huh. Hard lesson learned. Trust is a terrible thing to waste...

Message 10 of 71
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