topic Re: Is this normal? in General Credit Topics

Is this normal?

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Feb 2016 23:02:28 GMT

My Experian Fico score (from MyFico) is a 640, my mortgage score is 540! Everyone in the forums and pretty much everywhere else say that the mortgage score shouldn't be far off from the fico score. Mine is 100pts off/lower ... How is this possible?

Re: Is this normal?

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 00:07:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My Experian Fico score (from MyFico) is a 640, my mortgage score is 540! Everyone in the forums and pretty much everywhere else say that the mortgage score shouldn't be far off from the fico score. Mine is 100pts off/lower ... How is this possible?

Its very possible. Two different models. Youre looking at Fico 08 vs Fico 04. hard to say what causes the score diffference but many people see significant difference between the two.

Re: Is this normal?

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 00:18:50 GMT

All of these different scoring versions and systems are stressful. I just signed up with creditrepair dot com hopefully they can help me raise these mortgage scores.

I've been searching everywhere online and the mortgage fico scoring system seems to be the one that has everyone confused as to what factors are most/least important.

Re: Is this normal?

Anonymous — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 00:27:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
All of these different scoring versions and systems are stressful. I just signed up with creditrepair dot com hopefully they can help me raise these mortgage scores.

I've been searching everywhere online and the mortgage fico scoring system seems to be the one that has everyone confused as to what factors are most/least important.

I wouldnt waste my money on a credit repair company.. Anything they can do for you, you can do yourself. I suggest you visit our Rebuiding Your Credit forum and ask for help to repair any 'baddies' on your credit report.

And yes, all of these scoring systems can be stressful. Good luck and hang in there.

Re: Is this normal?

EmmaGolden — Sun, 14 Feb 2016 02:01:16 GMT

$99 Monthly..save your money, you can do it here with all the info available & along the way learn. So, much more rewarding

Re: Is this normal?

takeshi74 — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:47:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My Experian Fico score (from MyFico) is a 640, my mortgage score is 540! Everyone in the forums and pretty much everywhere else say that the mortgage score shouldn't be far off from the fico score. Mine is 100pts off/lower ... How is this possible?

Depends on the data in your reports.

Don't just assume that different models should be the same or similar. There can be quite a bit of variance depending on the details. If you really want to dig into this then don't overlook the Understanding FICO Scoring subforum.

@Anonymous wrote:
All of these different scoring versions and systems are stressful.

Why? If you only look at the numbers and don't understand how report data is assessed then it can certainly be confusing. Don't just fixate on the numbers. Focus on the data in your reports. Any score is generated based on the data in a report. Good reports will lead to good scores.

It is what it is. Creditors/products don't all use the same scoring model so you'll have to educate yourself and consider how a given scoring model is relevant to a given creditor/product versus assuming that you can rely on just one scoring model.

@Anonymous wrote:
I just signed up with creditrepair dot com hopefully they can help me raise these mortgage scores.

I've been searching everywhere online and the mortgage fico scoring system seems to be the one that has everyone confused as to what factors are most/least important.

Don't waste your time and money with credit repair services. This site, these forums and even other credit sites can help. You can educate yourself and assess your own reports. You can also have others give you feedback if you're willing to disclose enough.

Re: Is this normal?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 09:41:26 GMT

You're absolutely correct with everything you've said. I guess my issues stands with the lenders telling me/us that our scores need to be a 640+ to qualify for a mortgage but not being specific as to which version of the score needs to be 640+. Like I said my mortgage score (540) is 100pts lower than my "Fico08" (640) at this rate I could improve to a 720 and my mortgage score would be 620, and in turn still not being eligible.

Re: Is this normal?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 10:31:34 GMT

mine is 19 points away from my Fico 8 for TU. Experian is same as Fico 8 and 30points for Eq. I assume this model relies heavily on installment loans. So if you maintained well installment loands. It should be good. I have 17 from student loans so maybe that is why mine is higher

Re: Is this normal?

Peteyglad — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 02:52:02 GMT

Mine was almost a 90 point difference. A 792 to 704.

Re: Is this normal?

Bankrupt2019 — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 02:58:29 GMT

My mortgage scores are 25-45 points different than my FICO 8's

Re: Is this normal?

Thomas_Thumb — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 04:04:01 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My Experian Fico score (from MyFico) is a 640, my mortgage score is 540! Everyone in the forums and pretty much everywhere else say that the mortgage score shouldn't be far off from the fico score. Mine is 100pts off/lower ... How is this possible?

1) Last December my EQ Fico 08 was 850 and my EQ Fico 04 (mortgage) was 809.

2) This February my EQ Fico 08 remained at 850 but my EQ Fico 04 (mortgage) dropped to 764 - awesome drop, now 86 point difference between the models but easily addressed.

What gives? - I think it was increasing the # cards reporting a balance from 3 to 6 and having one NPSL card report over 50% utilization (based on HB since no listed CL).

Generally speaking, Fico mortgage models ding your score more than Fico 08 for # cards reporting a balance, "high" individual card utilization levels and recent new credit/inquiries.So... if you need to optimize mortgage scores - No new credit, only one card reporting and keep the card that reports under 10% utilization.

Do you have a fair amount of new credit and multiple cards showing balances with some cards in the 80% or above utilization range? Any 30 day lates? I think isolated, older, 30 day lates hurt mortgage scores more than Fico 08. Conversely, consecutive, recent lates might result in a bigger hit on Fico 08.

Re: Is this normal?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 04:44:05 GMT

Balances are less than 10% on all cards reporting. I do have a very new retail card (under 10% as well).

From what you said about "older lates" I have a bunch (24) late payments from 2.5 years ago on student loans when I didn't understand how credit worked and how much late payments would effect me later on. I really think these late student loans may be the biggest contributing factor on the mortgage scoring side. I tried calling to see if they would help me out with removing these lates but they told me "they legally have to report these to the credit bereaus."

Do I just let these affect me lesser as time goes on or should I look into a company like credit repair to try at all cost to remove these?

Re: Is this normal?

Thomas_Thumb — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 12:44:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Balances are less than 10% on all cards reporting. I do have a very new retail card (under 10% as well).

From what you said about "older lates" I have a bunch (24) late payments from 2.5 years ago on student loans when I didn't understand how credit worked and how much late payments would effect me later on. I really think these late student loans may be the biggest contributing factor on the mortgage scoring side. I tried calling to see if they would help me out with removing these lates but they told me "they legally have to report these to the credit bereaus."

Do I just let these affect me lesser as time goes on or should I look into a company like credit repair to try at all cost to remove these?

Ok, it looks like # cards reporting a NON ZERO balance and the boatload of older lates are pulling down your mortgage scores relative to Fico 08 and in general.

First, the number of open revolving CC accounts reporting a non zero balance is a factor in scoring regardless of the card's utilization. For example let's say you have 5 cards with a $1000 credit limit on each card.

1) Case #1 - all 5 cards are used and you allow $10 to report on each of the 5 cards. Utilization on each card is 1% and overall utilization is 0.5%.

2) Case #2 - One card reports a balance of $50 and all other cards report a balance of ZERO. Utilization on the one card is 5% and overall utilization is 0.5%.

The Fico models see 5 of 5 cards reporting in case #1, a flag gets triggered and your score gets dinged (rather significantly with Fico mortgage scores - particularly EQ). In case #2 the Fico models see 1 of 5 cards report and all is well, no point loss. Based on personal experience, case #1 may drop your Fico mortgage score up to 40 points relative to case #2. By contrast, impact on Fico 08 might be only 10 or 15 points.

Note: It is ok to use multiple cards every month but, if you need points, minimize # cards reporting a balance as well as holding down utilization.

With respect to lates, DO NOT use a 3rd party in an effort to remove lates. YOU have more negotiating power than does a 3rd party. Really there are a couple things to consider: removing them completely and getting 60/90/120 day lates dropped to 30 day lates if removal is out of the question. Others on the forum (consider seeking advice in the rebuilders section) can help you develop a strategy on working with creditors to remove lates.