Accurate FICO’s

[LXRM36]

Where is the best place to get ACCURATE FICO’s??? Anyone???

[NRB525]

Well, since Fair Isaac [ sp ] creates the algorithms for each FICO branded score model, MyFICO should be the most consistently available, widest range of scores. It does come at a price. For simpler FICO 8, there are several credit cards and banks which make monthly scores available. 

The advantage of paying for the scores is regular updates as things change in your file. The disadvantage is, well you no longer have the ~$30 per month you may have to pay for scores on the subscription. 

[Anonymous]

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@LXRM36 wrote:
Where is the best place to get ACCURATE FICO’s??? Anyone???

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Can you tell us whether you plan to buy a house or a car in the next 18 months?  If so, timeline?

My personal recommendation is to start with the $1 trial membership at Credit Check Total.  (But before you do that, search for some threads that discuss the easiest way to cancel it.)  The CCT pull will give you three FICO 8 scores and a nice 3B report.  It's really important for you to get familar with everything on your three reports and hwo to read and understand them.

[Anonymous]

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@LXRM36Where is the best place to get ACCURATE FICO’s??? Anyone???

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creditscorecard.com will provide you with your Experian FICO 08 score in a matter of minutes for free if you head there and sign up.  From there on out it will be updated every 30 days at no cost to you. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@LXRM36 wrote:
Where is the best place to get ACCURATE FICO’s??? Anyone???

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The only place to get complete FICO information is here. Unfortunately it's very expensive.

[Anonymous]

When SouthJ refers to complete FICOs, he means as many different kinds of FICO scores as possible (in one shop).  There are dozens of these scores out there.

As far as accurate FICOs go, any place that gives you a FICO score will give you an accurate FICO.  When Amex, for example, claims to give you a free FICO 8 Classic drawn on Experian. it really will be a FICO 8 Classic drawn on Experian.  myFICO's FICO 8 Experian won't be any different.  Likewise when Credit Check Total gives you your FICO 8 Classic scores drawn on all three bureaus, it will be an accurate measure of your true FICO 8 classic score as of that moment in time.

[909]

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@LXRM36 wrote:
Where is the best place to get ACCURATE FICO’s??? Anyone???

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This is one of the most important questions that anyone who is credit-curious should be able to answer. It probably took me a year or two of slowly learning to finally become comfortable with the answer. Unfortunately, there’s so much noise on the inter webs it’s hard to learn, e.g. Credit Karma and many others will never clearly explain this yet they’re held out as supposedly helpful sources.

The first thing to know is that at any given time a person has over 20 ACCURATE FICO scores (I counted 29 reported scores at myFico today). These 29 scores can all be based on precisely the same data yet they can each be different and ACCURATE (my scores today range from 782 to 868, each one is ACCURATE).

As to where to get them, others have mentioned good sources. I subscribe to myFico but also get Fico scores from credit cards.

I’ll point out the obvious that the many FAKO scores (Credit Karma, many credit cards, etc.) are not accurate Fico scores because they’re not Fico scores.

I hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Good post by 909 above.  I think many people think that all credit scores are created equal.  Unfortunately Credit Karma through heavy advertising on TV, radio and online seems to be the first go-to source for many people, especially those that aren't in the know about FICO scores.  Their ads simply state, "Get your FREE credit score at Credit Karma today!" and people wrongly assume that the score they're getting is incredibly meaningful.  Many of these people don't understand the difference between a FICO score and a non-FICO score.

Perfect example, I was talking FICO scores with one of my employees the other day, as he was asking for some advice.  Another employee of mine joined in on the conversation and stated "My FICO score is X" - I said, where did you get your score from?  She said, "Credit Karma."  Since FICO is the most common brand out there, people just think it's synonymous with "credit score."  It's like if someone asks if you have a Kleenex when they really mean tissue, or they tell you they picked up a bottle of Clorox at the store when they really meant bleach.

[909]

^^^ Giving some one a FAKO score (Credit Karma, Vantage, etc.) score when they asked for a FICO is like giving someone steel wool to blow their nose when they asked for Kleenex; it’s darn near useless and can make the situation worse. Or something like that.

It was frustrating to discover how much misinformation is out there and how difficult it can be to find the answers. The folks posting here taught me more than I learned anywhere but even that takes some time to consume and understand. Thanks, everyone!

[Anonymous]

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@909^^^ Giving some one a FAKO score (Credit Karma, Vantage, etc.) score when they asked for a FICO is like giving someone steel wool to blow their nose when they asked for Kleenex; it’s darn near useless and can make the situation worse. Or something like that.

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Right, but someone would surely know if they're giving someone steel wool to blow their nose rather than a Kleenex.  The majority of people that are giving someone a non-FICO score have absolutely no idea that there is such a thing as a non-FICO score; Most simply think that everyone has 1 score, "their" score and that's it.