topic Re: Increase in scores? in Rebuilding Your Credit

Increase in scores?

renamariee — Tue, 18 May 2021 23:51:51 GMT

So I just applied for the Apple Card since it was a SP and apparently my TU FICO score is 562. I didn't realize there was such a discrepancy between FICO and Vantage (CK says my TU score is 652)

My question is, will fixing things on my report raise my score by the same amount with both reports? Do certain things hold more weight? How are the scores calculated? I knew the scores were different but it's almost by 100 points and I was not expecting that much of a gap.

Re: Increase in scores?

mycreditscoreisfair — Wed, 19 May 2021 00:24:24 GMT

@renamariee wrote:
So I just applied for the Apple Card since it was a SP and apparently my TU FICO score is 562. I didn't realize there was such a discrepancy between FICO and Vantage (CK says my TU score is 652)

My question is, will fixing things on my report raise my score by the same amount with both reports? Do certain things hold more weight? How are the scores calculated? I knew the scores were different but it's almost by 100 points and I was not expecting that much of a gap.

Credit Karma scores are essentially useless as almost no lenders use them. And yes, it's not unusual for those scores to vary by large amounts from your FICO scores.

No, fixing things on your credit report won't raise your scores equally. But, it doesn't really matter since your focus should be on raising your FICO scores.

I don't know if anyone outside of the makers truly knows how the scores are formulated (although there are several good threads on here about bucketing and scoring factors that are probably the closest you can get).

The short answer is that showing a history of using your credit responsibly will raise your scores. Things that indicate you don't pay bills responsibly will hurt your scores (collections, charge offs, late payments, etc). How to improve your specific profile really depends on your credit profile, but we can't help with specifics without knowing what accounts you have (good and bad).

Re: Increase in scores?

Slabenstein — Wed, 19 May 2021 00:25:00 GMT

FICO and VantageScore are independent score models created by two different organizations. The only things they really have in common are 1) they score the same profile data, provided by the bureaus, and 2) Vantage was originally created as an attempt to emulate FICO but without knowledge of FICO's proprietary algorithms. Otherwise they are unrelated and how a change in profile data affects a version of one model doesn't really imply anything about how it would affect a version of the other model, as you see in the difference between your scores. A positive change to your profile therefore won't have the same effect on each score, and items on your report will be scored and weighted differently by the two models. The scores are calculated by complex algorithms that neither FICO nor Vantage shares, but both have given broad, general information about what helps and hurts on their models. If you want to read about what we think we have been able to discover about how FICO scoring works, you can read @Anonymous's excellent scoring primer.

Re: Increase in scores?

renamariee — Fri, 21 May 2021 19:15:50 GMT

Right now I have 6 collections, 1 charge off, 3 accts with late payments 2 closed auto loans (paid off), a current auto loan, and two credit cards. All baddies are from 2018 or prior.

Re: Increase in scores?

OmarGB9 — Sat, 22 May 2021 00:52:09 GMT

@renamariee wrote:
Right now I have 6 collections, 1 charge off, 3 accts with late payments 2 closed auto loans (paid off), a current auto loan, and two credit cards. All baddies are from 2018 or prior.

That's quite a few baddies. And they seem fairly recent. If you can pay/remove the collections and COs, yes you should see some score gains, though undoubtedly they'll be very different between Vantagescore and FICO.

Re: Increase in scores?

W261w261 — Wed, 26 May 2021 14:08:21 GMT

It seems to me that the Vantage scores are more of "what have you done for me lately" kind of system. That is, it doesn't hold your baddies against you to the degree that Fico does as the baddies recede into the past. It's also more volatile. As a newbie, it makes you feel better because it's higher, and you can get it for free all over.

But the bad news is, no one cares about it except you, and as you gain traction in your journey to get on top of your credit situation, neither will you. I look at it every day using Wallethub and CK, but only to the extent if it changes, I know something has happened somewhere. The $20+ per month for an Experian subscription is worth it because you get a daily credit report using FICO scores, plus monthly TU and EQ reports.

Keep reading here for multiple tips on how to deal with collections, CO's and other things you can do. It will take some money, particularly for the CO, but if you have some $ to invest, some time to read the posts here, and drink the Kool-Aid, in a couple of years you could be looking at high 600's FICO, approaching 700. It's a hike to go from 580 to 680, but well worth it. If I could ask, who is the CO with, and for how much. Settling that will give you a nice bump, typically. It did me.

It's a mind-set, like.

Re: Increase in scores?

renamariee — Tue, 25 May 2021 20:56:39 GMT

It's an $808 CO from a Barclays card that's been reporting since 2017

Re: Increase in scores?

renamariee — Tue, 25 May 2021 20:59:25 GMT

It's an $808 CO from a Barclays card that's been reporting since 2017

Re: Increase in scores?

mycreditscoreisfair — Tue, 25 May 2021 22:36:25 GMT

@renamariee wrote:
Right now I have 6 collections, 1 charge off, 3 accts with late payments 2 closed auto loans (paid off), a current auto loan, and two credit cards. All baddies are from 2018 or prior.

Who are the collections with? Some collection agencies will delete the collection from your report in exchange for payment (commonly referred to around here as a PFD).

Is the charge off reporting each month?

Your best bet is to take care of these accounts by either paying or settling, while trying to negotiate deletion of the collections.

Re: Increase in scores?

renamariee — Wed, 26 May 2021 03:48:23 GMT

It hasn't reported since 2020. Collections are with Procollect, Receivable Mgmt Group (PFD unknown), Portfolio Recovery and IC Systems (Will PFD), and Convergent and Enhanced Recovery (OC may recall)

Re: Increase in scores?

gdale6 — Wed, 26 May 2021 14:27:33 GMT

Vantage info is here: https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-in-the-News/Here-s-everything-you-need-to-know-about-your-VantageScore/td-p/6333198

Re: Increase in scores?

W261w261 — Wed, 26 May 2021 14:32:00 GMT

When you say Barclay's has stopped reporting, what does that mean. No data shown for the past 15 mos? In any case, you should take care of it. Call them up (assuming it's not with an external collection agency) and see if they'll take less,or offer them 300 to "settle for less" and see what they say. Have money ready though, if you poke the bear be ready to shoot.

Re: Increase in scores?

renamariee — Wed, 26 May 2021 22:48:08 GMT

Hasn't been sent to any CO, hasn't reported since December 2020. I'll call them and see what they say.