Is my FICO score different than the score lenders pull?

[Anonymous]

I have been closely monitoring my FICO score for a long time, it is finally up to and holding at 628 and I applied (at Quicken Loans) for an FHA mortgage loan.  They denied my application, saying my credit score is only 549.

I have no experience with this, why are the two different and how do I address the lower score?  Are there other lenders that will look at my FICO score?

[Tischer712]

What score did you pull from here? The Equifax score should be what most lenders see. The Transunion score here is the old TU98 score, most likely your lender pulled the TU04 score. Different scoring models. And from recent posts, it is not rare to see a drastic difference between the models.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have been closely monitoring my FICO score for a long time, it is finally up to and holding at 628 and I applied (at Quicken Loans) for an FHA mortgage loan.  They denied my application, saying my credit score is only 549.

I have no experience with this, why are the two different and how do I address the lower score?  Are there other lenders that will look at my FICO score?

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When they say your score is only 549 I'm assuming they are talking about your mid score. Mortgage company's pull all 3 credit reports and use the middle score or average score.

 You have 3 Fico scores, one from Transunion one from Experian and one from Equifax.

TBC

[Anonymous]

I use the Scorewatch alerts, I think that is Equifax. 

[Tischer712]

It is possible that 549 was your mid score, and 628 happened to be your high score. Likely this was the problem. They take your 3 scores and use the mid score. which likely means one score is under 549, 549 is your mid score, and 628 was your high score. I would see if since you were denied, if they could furnish you with copies of your reports with your scores. I think you have that right within 90 days of denial.