topic Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three in General Credit Topics

80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:20:01 GMT

Hello MyFico community

I just joined and found our my FICO is 730. However, when I checked my credit score with the 3 credit bureaus it's all around 630-650 range. That was shocking..Because last time I checked my score with them a year ago it was around 730.

My question is how can I restore my score with the big 3 back to where it was. I have 16 years of credit history. Flawless payment history with only one 30-day late payment with a credit card result from disruption from moving after I sold my house. No other delinquencies, bankruptcies, collection or anything else.

I have about 30% credit to debt ratio. I have 16 credits (combination of credit, loan and cards). Fico reports tells me I have 28 which wrong since that takes into account other cards I have closed long time ago.

My plan is the following:

write a good will letter to credit card about 30-day late payment and hope they delete negative report
pay off credit cards to bring debt to credit from 30% to 15% in the next 30 days

I just realized having multiple cards open is not good....but I also found that I can't really close them as it may hurt more. What else can you advise I do to improve credit score with the 3 credit bureaus. Thanks everyone for your time and advise. Cheers

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

laz98 — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 21:16:58 GMT

Welcome to the forums!

Go by the scores you get here on this site. You can only get 2 of the 3, but that's better than nothing, & they are accurate scores.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 21:23:44 GMT

Thanks a lot Laz98 for your prompt reply. I agree, but I am concerned, scores from the others bureau might be pulled if I apply for mortage or car loan and might impact me getting the best terms. Therefore, my request for advise on how to get those better as well. Thanks again

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

starry1 — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:02:28 GMT

Those scores are fake and little to no lenders use them. The scores you get here are your real scores that will be used by lenders.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:12:33 GMT

Those scores from the CRAs, as mentioned, are FAKO.

FICO has many models and you will find that when you apply for different things your scores will be different. They will all be accurate for the scoring model used.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:45:55 GMT

I totally see you point, But fake or not, the fact is the 630-650 scores are there for creditors to see and would potentially harm my credit worthiness. Right?

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

starry1 — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:48:09 GMT

How will creditors see them if they don't use those scores? I'm telling you those scores are manufactured for no other reason than to charm money out of consumer pockets.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

laz98 — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 22:50:08 GMT

In theory, the same things that will raise your FICO scores will raise your FAKO scores, so just focus on that, & then you won't have to worry what score model they pick. Sometimes the scores they come back with make no sense anyway.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:00:49 GMT

Thanks folks. I will just focus on getting my FICO up then.

Is there a way I can correct the fact that I don't have 28 accounts, since half of those have been closed?

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Gunnar419 — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:05:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

My plan is the following:
write a good will letter to credit card about 30-day late payment and hope they delete negative report
pay off credit cards to bring debt to credit from 30% to 15% in the next 30 days
I just realized having multiple cards open is not good....but I also found that I can't really close them as it may hurt more. What else can you advise I do to improve credit score with the 3 credit bureaus. Thanks everyone for your time and advise. Cheers

Hi, diamondmap. Your plan is good. Get that utilization under 10% if you can and it'll be even better.

Having multiple cards open is fine (well, to an extent; how many do you have). What you don't want is to have them all reporting a balance.

As others have said, the scores you buy from the bureaus are special models sold only to consumers. Lenders do not use them. That said, though, in your position I'd still be bothered by the huge difference. But are the underlying reports all okay other than the negatives you've mentioned?

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Countingpennies — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:12:28 GMT

If you go and look at your scores again, somewhere on the page you should see something like 'educational score,' usually in fine print. The CRAs themselves do not sell Fico scores, only 'educational' scores. If it is a true Fico score, you will see the registered mark next to it.

Diamondmap, you said you checked your scores . . . Did you also order and check your reports? Closed accounts in good standing can remain on your report for up to 10 years. Negative closed accounts 7-7 1/2 yrs. after date of first delinquency (DOFD.) Having closed accounts remain can actually be a good thing for your credit history. Please read as much as you can here, and if something doesn't look right to you, there are lots of folks here to help.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Gunnar419 — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 23:10:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks folks. I will just focus on getting my FICO up then.

Is there a way I can correct the fact that I don't have 28 accounts, since half of those have been closed?

Do your reports accurately reflect a) the accounts you have/had and b) which are open and which are closed? If so, you probably don't have anything to worry about.

The closed accounts contribute to your AAoA, which is good.

If you want to tell what open cards you have, how old they are and what kind of limits and balances they have, people here could advise you on strategies for closing, using, consolidating, etc. But no problem if you're not comfortable giving that information.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 01:18:08 GMT

Thanks Gunnar419. Not all cards have balances. Only 5 or 6. Plus personal loan. The info on the bureaus is ik correct I think but can't justify the big difference. Thanks for confirming lenders don't use scores from the bureaus.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 01:19:55 GMT

Good to know that, Starry1. I did not know that. Always thought lenders do look at scores from the bureaus as well.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:49:35 GMT

This community rocks. Thanks all for your feedback. So, I had a chance to review my 3 reports as advised and I am showing the following issues which I hope someone can advise whether I need to take any actions against:

1- One of my card shows 10K in credit which I can't use since card and has been closed by creditor during the financial crisis for no fault on my part. I have a balance of 3K on that and I have been making minimum payment since that's one of my oldest accounts. Card does not show on Transunion at all, only Equifax and Experian. It shows credit as open. I don't recall disputing anything there but it shows: ACCT INFO DISPUTED MEETS FCRA.

2- I have two cards with same bank that I have consolidated into one account. They are still showing as 2 separate account. Do I need to bother to ask creditor to report one as closed?

3- I have a store card that shows open. But because of the low credit line they gave me, I never used it so they closed it. Do I need to ask them to report it closed since that adds to multiple open accounts?

4- I am showing one account in 10K in credit, closed by creditor during financial crisis. The 3 bureaus show the following comment:

ACCOUNT PAID ACCOUNT CLOSED BY CREDIT GRANTOR

CANCELLED BY CREDIT GRANTOR

PAID CURRENT ACCOUNT ACCOUNT CLOSED BY CONSUMER LAST PAID: 06/2008

- The one I account I have that had the 30-day late payment, does not show anything from Equifax anymore. Transunion did not have anything before. Experian shows:

OPEN DISPUTE RESOLVED CURRENT ACCOUNT/WAS 30 DAYS PAST DUE DATE LAST REPORTED DELINQUENCIES: 12/2011=R LAST PAID: 02/2012

Thanks again everyone.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

BuffaloBoy — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:04:26 GMT

double post. sorry.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

BuffaloBoy — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:03:18 GMT

I've been trying for 2 months to figure out where people get the idea that creditors only use the FICO score. The only thing I have found is a FICO article stating that. I haven't seen any independent studies saying that and the FAKO score companies say creditors use THIER score. So who do you believe????

It seems like people on this forum seem to just restate the mantra over and over again without actually knowing if its true. Or maybe there has been an indepent study and I just haven't seen it? I dunno.

@starry1 wrote:
How will creditors see them if they don't use those scores? I'm telling you those scores are manufactured for no other reason than to charm money out of consumer pockets.

Re: 80 point difference btw FICO and credit score with the big three

starry1 — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:30:09 GMT

Its purely anecdotal evidence. People here apply for a lot of stuff, the creditors usually give you a pretty good idea of what scoring model they are using. But whatever, if you want to believe that fakos are real, then you're more than welcome to.