Understanding FICO® Scoring

[Kissyfur30]

Okay, so I understand the whole "credit score" thing, but why does one report say 623 and the other 557?  That is a huge difference between reports and it's the SAME information reporting to both agencies.  Does anyone know why this would happen? 

[pizzadude]

You need to look at both reports closely - there will be some differerences which will account for the score variation.

For example, I have some lates on EQ that do not show on TU.  

Also not all lenders/creditors will pull or report to all three CRAs.  When you apply for a CC they might only pull EX for example, so the inquiry would only show on one report, and hence would impact only 1 score.

However having said all this, bear in mind that TU and EQ have their own scoring algorithims which are not identical, so even if all information was identical on both reports you will always see some variance.

[ByrdMan]

Good advice pizzadude. Definitely break out a magnifying glass, a fine-tooth comb and a highlighter and go over the reports to see what's different. There are usually subtle differences like balances reported, AAoA, etc.