Underwriting and Experian Boost

[Anonymous]

Is anyone in here familiar with Experian Boost?

I got a 13 point increase with it but I’m wondering if underwriters don’t count those accounts. And if they do, are the payments included in DTI since they are utility accounts?

[Revelate]

I don't think they're used unless they can't use a traditional score.

Namely if you have a credit file with traditional information on it (they get a score back when they pull a standard tri-merge) they will use that and I don't think Boost really applies to mortgages anyway... that is a new thing which probably isn't useful with old FICO scores which the mortgage space still uses.

I don't think they will be used for DTI but I don't know for certain there either.

[radfam]

Does Experian Boost actually "boost" your mortgage scores too?  I thought it was only your Fico8 that got a bump up.

[Anonymous]

That’s part of what I’m trying to figure out!

[Anonymous]

I know when I tested it before, DTI was definitely increased and calculated due to the utility and cell phone bills.  I instantly removed it.  It did not cause a score increase nor decrease for me.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I know when I tested it before, DTI was definitely increased and calculated due to the utility and cell phone bills.  I instantly removed it.  It did not cause a score increase nor decrease for me.

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Can you define testing it please?  Vis a vis if it wasn't increased for a standard mortgage loan underwrite I'm not sure it is relevant unfortunately.

All that stuff is accounted for in the other 57% or whatever typically.

[Anonymous]

I just applied for preapproval for a home loan from two lenders, one did not count it toward DTI and the other tried to. $565 worth of water, gas, electric, cable and internet. I kindly told him that according to the FHA requirements Utilities don't count toward DTI (besides I can remove them at any point and it wont hurt my middle score, Experian is always my highest even without boost) and I was going to take my business elsewhere.

[homeloanexpert]

As a LO I am running into this more and more frequently. These accounts appear to be normal revolving accounts. We are trained to recognize these and disregard them from the borrower's DTI as we know that they are utility accounts. The average boost seems to be 20 to 25 points above the other 2 credit bureaus.