Why is my Transunion score ALWAYS lower? (not a FAKO)

[madredejames]

I'm looking to sell my current home and then apply for another mortgage this coming spring, so I am using the MyFICO service here to monitor my credit so there are no surprises at mortgage time. One trend I have consistently noticed is that my TransUnion score is ALWAYS lower.  I have tried looking at the credit reports to figure out why but it is not totally obvjous to me. Has anyone else noticed this pattern, or have one score that is always lower than the other 2?

[Anonymous]

My is as well.  Like 11 points lower for the FICO mortgage score.  My FICO 8 score is the other way around Transunion is higher.  Accounts are all reported the same except I have one mortage account that is reported on Equifax only.

[Anonymous]

For me, too. However, I noticed that an old account dropped off that lowered my AAofA.  The other two bureaus still have the account.

[Anonymous]

Interesting ... for me Transunion is consistently over time my highest score. Side by side review of all three credit bureau reports and NO difference. So ... what gives?

[Imperfectfuture]

How they report data (TU reports more payment history?). The data is not the same for all reports. Number of payments, last payment, cycle update, etc. Exp is my low score.

[Anonymous]

mperfectfuture - yeah I did not compare the level of detail you brought out. There is certainly the potential for a difference along with the reporting dates not being the same. Thanks!

[Revelate]

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@Spider15 wrote:
mperfectfuture - yeah I did not compare the level of detail you brought out. There is certainly the potential for a difference along with the reporting dates not being the same. Thanks!

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Even when they are the same there will be slight differences; EX reports one month ahead on the scoresheet effectively than EQ/TU do as another bit.

Also, sadly, the algorithms are slightly different too; in my case Equifax is lower across the board on all score models even when at one point it was a better file.  I've given up trying to figure it out and just accepted it for what it was, other than I suspect Equifax penalizes old negatives more harshly or some anyway out of my tax lien / collection / 30/60 late.

[Kidcat]

For me it's Experian that is consistently lower and of course being in California it's the one pulled for EVERYTHING lol. I'm wondering if EXP punishes BK more harshly. 

[CreditDunce]

One other thing to note, your mortgage EX scores uses the FICO 98 model (320-844).  Equifax and Transunion use FICO 04 models for mortgage scores (309-839 and 334-818).  Different FICO models can produce very different scores.  It can certainly explain why your EX score is very different than the others.  Also, back in the FICO 04 days, the algorithms were customized for each CRA.  The more modern FICO 09 and Vantage models are more consistent across the CRA's.  That doesn't mean that TU is harder to get a good score on.  It just means TU favors/disfavors different things than EQ/EX.

Also, please check to make sure you are monitoring your mortgage scores.  MF normally sells FICO 08 scores for monthly monitoring.  It is only on the full report provides mortgage scores.  FICO 08 is very useful for lenders who use it.  But mortgages almost never use FICO 08 scores.

Note: I am using the FICO model terminology I first learned.  I believe the terminology is different on the CR's MF sells.

[madredejames]

Thanks for the info. I currently have the  MF product where I get all three CB scores monitored and alerts provided. I have seen when looking at my scores that they refer to scores commonly used in mortgage lending - is that what you mean by monitoring mortgage scores? My scores are reasonably good across the board but better on the ones MF says are mortgage-specific.