Varying Credit Scores When Pulled by Lenders Vs. MyFICO scores

[Anonymous]

My husband and I have been plugging away at our debt for about the past six months. When we pull our credit on MyFICO, our scores are both in the mid-600s. We want to purchase a home three months from now, and when we contacted a mortgage broker, his scores for us were completely different than what we had. His reports had us in the high-500s. We need a minimum of a 620 in order to get approved. We got a second opinion from a broker in another state who had the same exact scores as the first. She mentioned that sometimes there will be a huge difference between what we have and what they have, as their scores can be 30 days or older, and therefore may not be as up to date as our own reports. I don't want to keep having them pull our credit waiting for it to update, as I know this can also hurt us. What do we do in this situation?

[AndySoCal]

First the scores being 30 days or older is wrong. The difference is in the score model being used. YOur Equifax score form My Fico should be close depending on how far apart the two reports were pulled.  The Trans Uniion score will be different MY FICO uses TU FICO  98 socre your lender is pulling most likely TU  FICO 2004 score there some diffeences in the two models. I would see if you can get copy of the credit report from the lender and compare the two . Keep in mind the trade lines will be a composite of what all three bureaus reported.  Sound like there is some differences in  the credit data on the lenders report than the one you have.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply. We did request and receive a copy of the credit reports, and the information is virtually identical. I guess their scoring models are different as you suggested. I'm not sure what more we can do at this point. We are both veterans and plan on using our VA loan, so it will just be a waiting game I suppose. Just getting a little anxious as September is fast approaching.

[AndySoCal]

Are the score reasons ( factors) different or in a different order ?

[Anonymous]

No, and even the balances were about the same. It has really had us scratching our heads for the past six weeks. I'm not sure how much we've spent on credit reports in the past six weeks, probably upward of 200 bucks, hahaha. Between freecreditreport.com, truecredit.com, and myfico. It can really lead to extreme frustration, like no matter what we do, this is where the scores are going to be. Just not sure there will be enough movement in the next three months. But on FC.com, TC.com, and myfico, our scores makes serious jumps up to three times in one month....

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the reply. We did request and receive a copy of the credit reports, and the information is virtually identical. I guess their scoring models are different as you suggested. I'm not sure what more we can do at this point. We are both veterans and plan on using our VA loan, so it will just be a waiting game I suppose. Just getting a little anxious as September is fast approaching.

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Ask the lenders/brokers what the exact names of the scoring models are. Without that information, this is all just shooting in the dark ...

[Anonymous]

Ok, that could be accomplished tomorrow by calling the broker back. I was going to call him tomorrow anyway to get his advice on what we should do concerning some revolving debt... The balance on a RoomStore furniture account is current $6,721 out of $8,500. We are ready to make a large payment of at least $5000 dollars on it. We wanted to get his expert opinion on whether he thinks that will bolster us enough, or if it is a waste of money and to keep paying $500 per month on it. You are welcome to chime in, we are all for hearing opinions. Obviously the less debt we have the better, but we are just trying to go about this as logically as possible without draining the checking account completely if it won't make that large of a difference. We have paid off approximately $4,000 dollars in total debt in the past few months and just want to have everything lined up to be the most beneficial.

[AndySoCal]

The score models used most liley are Experian FICO v2, Trans Union FICO 2004 and Equifax FACTA Beacon 5.0. Those models are widely used accross the industry.