topic Re: Can you pull your score too often? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Can you pull your score too often?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:51:52 GMT

I know it is a soft pull but i think it was "Haulingthescoreup" who said something about a file splitting from too many soft pulls. Can anything else happen?

Also is myfico/12 still available? i tried searching the boards but did not find much.

Thanks!

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

laz98 — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:46:35 GMT

i believe myfico 12 is a different website altogether, i ended up there once by mistake. i think it's www.myfico.com/12/home/aspx (or google says...)

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

marty56 — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:52:19 GMT

What are you trying to acomplish? If you are waiting for a change to an account or your score to reach a certian value, using ScoreWatch would be a more cost effective way to acomplish what you want. Remember it is the content of your credit report is what drives your scores so looking at changes to your report is what you really want to do. Services like True Credit monitor changes to all your reports so I would check them out as well.

I wish Score Watch would monitor both EQ and TU scores, if ot did I would go back to it in a heartbeat.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

chasmith — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:19:49 GMT

A writer on "Life After Bankruptcy" recommends MyFico.com/12 to get a complete listing of reason codes applied to your score.

I get a "not found using www.myfico.com/12 but http://www.myfico.com/12/Home.aspx works. I may try it next time I buy a MyFICO report just for grins.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:59:55 GMT

@marty56 wrote:
What are you trying to acomplish? If you are waiting for a change to an account or your score to reach a certian value, using ScoreWatch would be a more cost effective way to acomplish what you want. Remember it is the content of your credit report is what drives your scores so looking at changes to your report is what you really want to do. Services like True Credit monitor changes to all your reports so I would check them out as well.

I wish Score Watch would monitor both EQ and TU scores, if ot did I would go back to it in a heartbeat.

i was just saying it in regards to myfico. I was curious b/c i have pulled my scores 5 times in the last month since I was wanting to see if i could notice anything strange anytime my score changed.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

vanillabean — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:18:57 GMT

I think it was llecs or fused who pointed out recently that if you go to the 12 site, browser cookies are stored, so you had to clear your cache to use the standard site again. In my case I plan using another browser for the 12 site.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:59:37 GMT

There's no problem with frequent pulling, other than the possiblity (remote --it usually takes months and months of frequent pulling) of a file split. And that occurs because of soft inquiries, as opposed specifically to buying scores.

Lots of forum members pull frequently when they're in the early rocking and rolling stages of paying down util and seeing the changes. Back when we could pull all three scores, a lot of us were going nuts with it.

I'd say that the only damage of frequent score purchases would be to your credit card statement at the end of the month.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

vanillabean — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:35:20 GMT

I don't know the basics of file splits, but while reading Credit Scores & Credit Reports by Evan Hendricks a few weks ago, I noted that a file split could increase the chance of id theft. (The book also mentions that credit card offers could do likewise due to all the credit checking, so I opted out.)

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

Anonymous — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:52:41 GMT

cool thanks for clarifying!

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:22:06 GMT

If you are trying to get the /12 scores, you don't need to use the unique URL last I checked. Just use the direct links:

Standard scores (both):

https://www.myfico.com/Store/Recommends.aspx?Product=10001+1&Check=False

Myfico/12 scores (both):

https://www.myfico.com/Store/Recommends.aspx?Product=13001+3001&Check=False

Note, you are just changing the product codes for each. This has worked for me previously and I don't have any reason to believe it has changed.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

vanillabean — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 05:53:45 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If you are trying to get the /12 scores, you don't need to use the unique URL last I checked. Just use the direct links:

Standard scores (both):
https://www.myfico.com/Store/Recommends.aspx?Product=10001+1&Check=False

Myfico/12 scores (both):
https://www.myfico.com/Store/Recommends.aspx?Product=13001+3001&Check=False

Note, you are just changing the product codes for each. This has worked for me previously and I don't have any reason to believe it has changed.

I just pulled DW's /12 TU 800+ score using

https://www.myfico.com/Store/Recommends.aspx?Product=13001&Check=False

I noticed three things:

1) There is a Hurting you section

2) There is no Helping you section

3) There is no score simulator

2) and 3) surprised me by the mere absence. 1) listed two things (are these the reason codes?):

a) You've recently been looking for credit

b) You have too many credit accounts with balances

a) makes sense due to a recent inquiry. b) however does not; apart from the mortgage account balance, there is only one credit card with a balance, and she has many credit cards.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:26:21 GMT

@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:

I just pulled DW's /12 TU 800+ score using

https://www.myfico.com/Store/Recommends.aspx?Product=13001&Check=False

I noticed three things:

1) There is a Hurting you section
2) There is no Helping you section
3) There is no score simulator

2) and 3) surprised me by the mere absence. 1) listed two things (are these the reason codes?):

a) You've recently been looking for credit
b) You have too many credit accounts with balances

a) makes sense due to a recent inquiry. b) however does not; apart from the mortgage account balance, there is only one credit card with a balance, and she has many credit cards.

The slant-12 is essentially the report that lenders pull, which is why it lists all the negatives (down to 2 in your DW's case!) but none of the amusement/ instructive features of a myFICO score report.

I suppose b) might be because TU doesn't ding for all CC's with $0 balances, so in that sense, she could (maybe) eke out a few more points for only the mortgage having a balance. Not worth it, though, probably.

Let us know if the next time you try to log on you get automatically taken to slant-12. Most people have to remove the cookie in order to stop going there.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

vanillabean — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 16:05:34 GMT

The 13001 URL for DW did not stick, back to standard. In another browser, I used the /12 URL for myself, and that's sticking due to the cookie.

Thanks for confirming she's down to two listed reason codes. I'll try bringing her down to a revolving baseline again next month and see if the reason code is still there.

As for the inquiry, that'll go away at some point of course. But it raises the question of whether it's possible to have no reason codes at all? She's getting completely out of hand, lol.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:36:49 GMT

Reason code #41: you have no reason codes.

I guess it's possible. I mean, someone, somewhere, has to eventually hit FICO nirvana, whether it's actually 850 or 8-something-something. Sounds like she's nearly there.

If the slant-12 only showed two, my understanding is that she only has two negative factors, and they're obviously both pretty weenie.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

vanillabean — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:55:55 GMT

I noticed a difference by the way. The /12 URL lists reason code numbers, when the other URL does not.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

haulingthescoreup — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 03:24:00 GMT

For anyone else who's curious, there's a link stickied at the top of this page for the reason codes and their numbers, which differ by CRA report.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

vanillabean — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 04:31:37 GMT

I almost forgot because Discover forgot about her first statement, but now that DW's card is past the second cycle, it got reported, just popped up on EX, so a reason code 30, "You opened a new credit card account relatively recently.", will soon show up on her TU. But TU is more lenient than EQ, I think. Six months vs a year.

Reason code 8, "You have recently been looking for credit." DW was simply lucky that her Discover chose EQ and that her Costco half a year earlier chose EX. Her one inquiry is from last November.

Reason 5, "You have too many credit cards with balances." We always talk about cards, but maybe TU includes mortgages and that sort.

The only other code, a fourth, that I have, due to two new cards, is a 14, "You have a short credit history." TU is more critical than EQ in that respect, it would appear. Something like 5 years vs 3 years. I have a few months before shaking off that code.

Everything will be so much easier then.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:25:20 GMT

@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:
Reason 5, "You have too many credit cards with balances." We always talk about cards, but maybe TU includes mortgages and that sort.

Yep. Reason 5 for EQ, EXP, and TU refers to mortgages, home equity loans, education loans, auto loans, credit card, personal lines of credit and even outstanding collections.

The higher number of accounts with balances, the greater negative impact on our credit score. This issue raises our risk much more than the number of accounts open because we have active debt.

Re: Can you pull your score too often?

vanillabean — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:39:10 GMT

The funny thing about TU is this.

If I have a mortgage with a balance and only one credit card balance, the reason code is 5, "You have too many credit cards with balances."

But when that credit card balance is $0 (and all cards are thereby at $0), the reason code is 24(?), "There are no recent balances on your revolving credit accounts."

Is there any way to please those people?