Credit karma or experian for apartment

[Anonymous]

I am currently looking to get a place of my own. Ive been dropping off applications at different places. I was asked what was my credit score. Ive recently received my first credit card in december and my first bill is at $0.00 with a due dat of 1/20. I checked credit karma and it says my cc is 486.
I also check experian it says my cc is 576. Im not sure which one to by. Please help

[thornback]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I am currently looking to get a place of my own. Ive been dropping off applications at different places. I was asked what was my credit score. Ive recently received my first credit card in december and my first bill is at $0.00 with a due dat of 1/20. I checked credit karma and it says my cc is 486.
I also check experian it says my cc is 576. Im not sure which one to by. Please help

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The Experian score (576) is a FICO 8.    The Credit Karma scores are based on the Vantage 3 scoring model which differs from FICO in how it weighs various aspects of your credit and responds to changes in your credit.   Vantage and FICO can vary as much as +/- 100 points on some profiles (as evidenced by your own scores).  However, the overwhelming majority of lenders use FICO so those are the scores you want to monitor and reference.   

You should also check your FICO 8 scores for Equifax and Transunion because they may be a bit different from your Experian FICO 8 (and the apartment folks can pull from any of the 3 bureaus).    You can use the same Experian app and sign up for their 7-day trial to get all 3 FICO 8 scores.

That said, there are 28 different versions of your FICO score (including mortage, auto, bankcard, & FICO 9) so an apartment complex/landlord may look at one of those -- and they may also be different than the FICO 8 score you see on the Experian app.   However, FICO 8 is the most common. 

Congrats on your 1st credit card -- FYI - you should let your card report a small balace to the bureaus.   FICO penalizes for 'no revolving credit usage' so let a balance report - $5 or $10 would suffice. 

Good luck with your apartment seeking!

[Remedios]

While Vantage scores are not used for lending purposes (or at least not by majority of lenders), they are often used for this purpose, mainly because they cost less.
Unfortunately, most of the time leading office wont be able to tell you which scoring model is going to be used.

Seeing how you just got your first card, but already have fico score, you must have older accounts, as it takes six months to generate fico score. Student loans maybe?

Also, your score is bit on a low end, so maybe try addressing whatever is holding them there (lates, collection accounts etc)
Removing some of the negatives, if present, would probably help in terms of how much you'll have to put down as a deposit, so less money is tied up for the duration of your rental.

[Anonymous]

Also note - you should only submit an application for an apartment you actually want. If you are submitting them to multiple properties that are pulling your credit each time, this is dragging your score further down.

[Anonymous]

And to be clear, report a balance does not mean CARRY a balance.  Let a small amount report on your statement and then pay in full before the due date.

So often I see posts from people who think they need to carry a balance and pay interest in order to boost their score.

[Anonymous]

Thank you

[Anonymous]

Some rentals, especially large complexes in some cites have minimum score requirements See if you can find someone to add you as an authorized user.

[Anonymous]

I think that would help alot. With credit karma and experian showing me two different scores just wasnt sure which one to go by.