Which score should I give credebility?

Anonymous · ‎05-01-2009

Hi all,

I am very confused of late. I recently started to follow my credit closely and this is what I've found:

TU has me rated as 647 (as of 4/30/2009)

EQ has me rated as 583 (as fo 4/30/2009)

EX has me rated at 601 (on 4/15/2009) then suddenly droped to 572 (on 4/29/2009) This is tru FreeCreditReport.com

I know that by reading lot of post in this forum that the EX score is not a true FICO. This leads me to tmy questions:

1. Whit the contents on my report from MyFICO (both TU & EQ) virtually the same, and there is 64 points variance on both reports. which report should I give more credebility?

2. What causes the TU & EQ scores to be different if both CRAs are using the same FICO formula?

3. How can EX score be that much different in less that 15 days with virtually thae same CR history.

4. what is the optimal debl to income ratio?

BTW, my dredit utilization is just 13% (on my revolving account). I had some troubles in the past due to me losing my job and health issues.

Please help me understand this more....

Thank you in advance....

Credit Stressed.

Message Edited by Credit_Stressed on 05-01-2009 10:06 AM

Message Edited by Credit_Stressed on 05-01-2009 10:09 AM

Message Edited by Credit_Stressed on 05-01-2009 10:19 AM

llecs · ‎05-01-2009

If you got your EQ and TU scores via here, then they are genuine FICO scores.

1) Both have equal credibility. The FICO formula has been customized to suit the needs of each CRA. While a few points difference is normal, 64 is not. Look on each report line by line. Any differences in baddies, age of baddies, number of accounts, utilization, account statuses, dates opened, dates closed, and so on can really impact your score in either direction. A good indicator is to look at the Credit-At-A-Glance page and pages 2 & 3 which list the things helping and hurting.

2) As mentioned, the formula differs slightly.

3) Ignore that EX score. The formula via FCR (a PLUS score) is totally different. Lenders won't even touch it.

4) DTI isn't a part of your FICO score (FICO doesn't consider income), but per mortgage purposes, I've been reading a max of 43%. Don't rely on me though; you may want to poke your head over there in the Mortgage Loans Board.

Utilization plays a large part in your score (30% I believe). Your goal should be to get at least 1/2 of your CCs reporting $0 with the other half less than 9%. Overall, 13% isn't that bad...depends on the individual card utilization though.

Anonymous · ‎05-03-2009

Thanks for the answers....