topic Re: equifax in Understanding FICO® Scoring

equifax

Maya12 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:10:36 GMT

Just checked eq, I can't understand how it can be so low, in comparison to TU and EX.

Has same info on all 3, I didn't notice anything unsual. My negatives are some old hospital bills paid in full and still on the report, last reported as 2006.

Several lates...I know hurt my score but...I would think EQ would be alittle closer to the 600 as the others.

Any thoughts ?

Re: equifax

Jazzzy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:22:07 GMT

Hi Maya...

What kind of scores are these? We can't buy our EX FICOs any longer, so I'm wondering where you got them.

Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. There are a lot of different "credit scores" out there, and you can't compare them.

You can get your EQ FICO and your TU FICO, but most of us can't get our EX FICO.

Re: equifax

Maya12 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:51:00 GMT

Hi,

I was able to purchase my experian Fico score after obtaining my free credit report @ annualcreditreport.com. ( It directs you to the exp website and there was a 7.95 fee)

So I am not sure why I keep reading that exp doesn't allow this any longer. I see it's not avail on myfico website but I did get mine directly from the exp website.

Re: equifax

MarineVietVet — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 00:09:43 GMT

@Maya12 wrote:
Hi,

@I was able to purchase my experian Fico score after obtaining my free credit report @ annualcreditreport.com. ( It directs you to the exp website and there was a 7.95 fee)
So I am not sure why I keep reading that exp doesn't allow this any longer. I see it's not avail on myfico website but I did get mine directly from the exp website.

If you look carefully on the Experian website you will not see the words "FICO score" anywhere. You will see the words "Experian credit score". What you can buy there is called a PLUS score. It is not the same thing.

In fact if you scroll down to "Notices" at the bottom of Experian's site you can read this:

As you may be aware, Experian® has opted to discontinue its relationship with myFICO effective February 14, 2009. This change by no means eliminates your ability to obtain your credit score and assess your creditworthiness.

Once again you will notice they use the words "credit score" not "FICO score".

Message Edited by marinevietvet on 01-20-2010 06:09 PM

Re: equifax

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:37:54 GMT

Maya12 wrote:

Hi,

I was able to purchase my experian Fico score after obtaining my free credit report @ annualcreditreport.com. ( It directs you to the exp website and there was a 7.95 fee)
So I am not sure why I keep reading that exp doesn't allow this any longer. I see it's not avail on myfico website but I did get mine directly from the exp website.

Yes, sorry, you got burned. Welcome to the ranks of consumers who have gotten ripped off by Experian, who stopped allowing consumers to buy our EX FICO scores last February 13. You probably received a PLUS score, which is a FAKO, not a FICO.

You can buy your EQ and TU98 FICO scores here at myFICO.com, but to find out your EX FICO, you will have to apply for a mortgage, or belong to PSECU, a credit union in Pennsylvania with very tough qualification requirements.

Re: equifax

Maya12 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:42:17 GMT

Wow, thanks for the info. It doesn't make sense that you are not entitled to your own score report for monitoring purposes. Shame on Exp!!

That is so unfair. How about the credit report, can ya still get that annually?

Re: equifax

Jazzzy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:54:05 GMT

@Maya12 wrote:
Wow, thanks for the info. It doesn't make sense that you are not entitled to your own score report for monitoring purposes. Shame on Exp!!
That is so unfair. How about the credit report, can ya still get that annually?

Yes...you can still get your free Experian report 1x a year at annualcreditreport.com

The other place I've gotten mine for free if I want to check on something is through Quizzle. It's a site that tries to sell you credit products, which I ignore...but I still get my free Experian report 2x year.

Re: equifax

Maya12 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:14:54 GMT

Thanks...Now.....back to the original question Lol

Why do you think this eq score is so low vs my TU score?

Any thoughts?

Re: equifax

marty56 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:03:17 GMT

A large FICO score difference between TU and EQ could be caused by missing information on either CR. Example a collection on EQ but not on TU, or something that was reported incorrectly so I would print each report and verify line by line that all the accounts are yours and that the information is correct and there is nothing missing from one that is on the other. Other things known to cause large differences are ID theft and split files.

Re: equifax

Anonymous — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:24:59 GMT

@marty56 wrote:
A large FICO score difference between TU and EQ could be caused by missing information on either CR. Example a collection on EQ but not on TU, or something that was reported incorrectly so I would print each report and verify line by line that all the accounts are yours and that the information is correct and there is nothing missing from one that is on the other. Other things known to cause large differences are ID theft and split files.

I have an auto loan on my TU that isnt on EQ or EX. My wife has a collection on EQ that isnt on TU. Not all people report to all credit bureaus. This is most likely the difference. Look at them carefully and you will probably find a difference.

Re: equifax

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:56:20 GMT

Also, Equifax seems to penalize for negatives much more so than the other bureaus. It has always been my lowest score. (I have a nice sprinkling of 30 days from my pre-online days.)

Re: equifax

marty56 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:49:51 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
(I have a nice sprinkling of 30 days from my pre-online days.)

Wow, a great euphemism for a euphemism. In a twisted way I like the fact the EQ does that since its always better to know the worst case when applying for credit.

It would be interesting to know the history of hy the CRAs focus differently on the same content of our credit reports.

Re: equifax

Maya12 — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:09:45 GMT

What's a Vantage score and are CC / Loan companies using it?

Is it worth checking?

Re: equifax

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 01:11:11 GMT

The three CRA's worked together to come up with an attempted alternative to FICO scores, and called it the Vantage score.

Maya12 wrote:

...are CC / Loan companies using it?

Nope, except for Kohl's which pulls the EX Vantage score.

Is it worth checking?

Nope. Save your money.