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Hi, I am very new to this! Can someone tell me why my MyFico.com scores are so much higher than my scores obtained from the individual credit bureaus (EQ, EX, TU)? I am working on raising my scores to at least 650 in order to qualify for my first home loan and cannot determine which scores are most relevant. My scores are pasted below in the siganture block. Thanks!!
@Anonymous wrote:Hi, I am very new to this! Can someone tell me why my MyFico.com scores are so much higher than my scores obtained from the individual credit bureaus (EQ, EX, TU)? I am working on raising my scores to at least 650 in order to qualify for my first home loan and cannot determine which scores are most relevant. My scores are pasted below in the siganture block. Thanks!!
Well...You're really not going to like this.
The scores found here and virtually everywhere on the internet are FICO 08 models. The FICO 08 model is used by most credit card lenders.
Mortgage lenders use the FICO 04 model and they are not available for purchase anywhere that I know of. Auto loan lenders use a FICO auto enhanced version that is also not available for purchase anywhere that I know of.
@jamie123 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Hi, I am very new to this! Can someone tell me why my MyFico.com scores are so much higher than my scores obtained from the individual credit bureaus (EQ, EX, TU)? I am working on raising my scores to at least 650 in order to qualify for my first home loan and cannot determine which scores are most relevant. My scores are pasted below in the siganture block. Thanks!!
Well...You're really not going to like this.
The scores found here and virtually everywhere on the internet are FICO 08 models. The FICO 08 model is used by most credit card lenders.
Mortgage lenders use the FICO 04 model and they are not available for purchase anywhere that I know of. Auto loan lenders use a FICO auto enhanced version that is also not available for purchase anywhere that I know of.
EQ04 can be bought from equifax directly or if you are DCU member , i don't think TU04 is available anywhere. Not sure about EX04 .
EQ, EX and TU all sell FAKOs. Meaning the score they sell is worthless. EQ does sell your EQ-04 score, but you have to hunt for it. If your EQ score says it is a FICO score, then it is one of the scores a mortgage lender will use.
Here is a list of places that provide Free monthly/periodic FICO scores. It is a little dated, MyFico has upgraded to FICO 08 scores.
Note: PSECU and DCU are the two FCU's that provide scores you will be interested in for "Free". PSECU has restricted membership eligibility. DCU is open to anyone, but it will require a HP to join.
Thank you!
I just found out my lender does use FICO 04 and was wondering how much of a difference there is between the 2 versions.
My lender told me to do some stuff to raise my score and I wanted to check and see if what I have been doing the past month or so has made a difference but do not want to pay for the scores here if there is a great difference between versions 04 and 08 - I am afraid if I get the 08 version and my scores look better it will not be accurate enough to estimate if my 04 scores have improved. My lender does not want to run another report until around 10/15 or so
Thanks
@Anonymous wrote:I just found out my lender does use FICO 04 and was wondering how much of a difference there is between the 2 versions.
My lender told me to do some stuff to raise my score and I wanted to check and see if what I have been doing the past month or so has made a difference but do not want to pay for the scores here if there is a great difference between versions 04 and 08 - I am afraid if I get the 08 version and my scores look better it will not be accurate enough to estimate if my 04 scores have improved. My lender does not want to run another report until around 10/15 or so
Thanks
You can get eq04 score from the equifax website just make sure you are getting the one with the fico score, not their fako. That will give you an idea at score differences.
@Anonymous wrote:I just found out my lender does use FICO 04 and was wondering how much of a difference there is between the 2 versions.
My lender told me to do some stuff to raise my score and I wanted to check and see if what I have been doing the past month or so has made a difference but do not want to pay for the scores here if there is a great difference between versions 04 and 08 - I am afraid if I get the 08 version and my scores look better it will not be accurate enough to estimate if my 04 scores have improved. My lender does not want to run another report until around 10/15 or so
Thanks
The models are different. What works for FICO 04/98 may or may not work for FICO 08. I wouldn't buy the score here if you are looking to buy a house (almost all are FICO 04/98). As a previous poster said, you can buy your EQ-04 score from Equifax, but I believe they don't make it easy to find. They try to push FAKO scores because they don't have to pay FICO a royalty.
I would follow the advice of your lender. I have heard many lenders have a very accurate similutor. They can accurately predict how each change will effect your credit score.
@CreditDunce wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I just found out my lender does use FICO 04 and was wondering how much of a difference there is between the 2 versions.
My lender told me to do some stuff to raise my score and I wanted to check and see if what I have been doing the past month or so has made a difference but do not want to pay for the scores here if there is a great difference between versions 04 and 08 - I am afraid if I get the 08 version and my scores look better it will not be accurate enough to estimate if my 04 scores have improved. My lender does not want to run another report until around 10/15 or so
Thanks
The models are different. What works for FICO 04/98 may or may not work for FICO 08. I wouldn't buy the score here if you are looking to buy a house (almost all are FICO 04/98). As a previous poster said, you can buy your EQ-04 score from Equifax, but I believe they don't make it easy to find. They try to push FAKO scores because they don't have to pay FICO a royalty.
I would follow the advice of your lender. I have heard many lenders have a very accurate similutor. They can accurately predict how each change will effect your credit score.
Broadly speaking things which are a positive under 98/04 are still a positive in 8; however, 8 does weigh some things differently.
The base recommendations for a pretty report really haven't changed:
Minimum 3 open revolving tradelines, all of which report $0 except one which should be reported with some trivial non-zero balance
Minimum 2 open installment tradelines
Clean up any derogatory you can, and don't allow new ones to get on your report.
That's pretty much all there is to it under either model for instant in time maximization of the scorecard. I wouldn't follow lender recommendations at all personally, there are slews of reports of terribly bad information being given by people peddling mortgages.
ETA: Regarding Equifax look for "ScorePower" or one of the alternate methods of getting there simply lists it as "FICO Score"