I only came to this site to check MY Fico and got caught up in the forum. After reading a lot of posts, it made me nervous about doing so. I don't want to contribute to lowering my score with an inquiry. (I can't believe how much information is on here!)
We're not upside down, have a decent income, reserves, and pay our bills on or ahead of time. I'm only in the game for a lower interest rate. I have learned on here that I should carry a small balance on credit cards instead of paying them in full every month to increase my score.
I realize mine is a weird question, but here's some history:
For the past fifty-some years I've used several variations of my name. I hated the boys name that I had been tagged with! At about the age of 10, I dropped my first name, opting for middle name only. For anything "legal" I used first initial, middle name, last, or middle name, first initial. When I applied for a passport and sent for a birth certificate, (1984, and kept current) I learned that my first name was actually spelled differently then I had been taught to spell it. (I adopted the "girl" version.) My drivers license got me through and I was able to use my spelling on the passport. On the UP side, I also learned that I was a year younger than I thought I was. 
(Even if it did mess up my original retirement plans.)
If that weren't enough, I married into an Italian family. You know, the ones who have their names prefaced with De, Di, La, etc.. I've been in the process of shopping a refi, and had given 1 broker permission to check my credit. (3/11/09: 763, 764, 790, with no clue as to which came from what reporting agency)
I then had hubby get his CR from local CB. Altho it was in the good range, I thought it should have been much higher. (TU +755) I'm not sure what that "+" is all about? Can you tell me?
Looking at the report, it had several variations of our last name. In some cases the preface was dropped altogether, or no space between them. It also noted "FICO CLASSIC 95 ALERT" with the numbers 001, 013, 002, 008. In addition to the factors listed above, the number of inquiries on the consumer' credit file has adversely affected the credit score." (There have been 3 including 2 from the broker and his.) Any clues as to what those numbers mean?
I'm at the top (borrower) on this loan as I was still working at the time and had the higher income. I bought it with a first initial, middle, last name. CC's are the same or middle name only. Should any of this going to come back to haunt me with credit scores, and do you think it's a risk for me to check my FICO?
I'm hoping this makes enough sense to get an answer.
Thanks for your time,
DesertRat
