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Best Accurate Credit Score

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TwoBeFree
Contributor

Best Accurate Credit Score

I am in the process of repairing and have had several things removed and update. When following my credit score which score is the most accurate to follower? I need to start opening some new account as soon as possible and I don't want to take any chances of not getting approved if my scores are too low. I have had 9 accounts removed from my TU report but its only showing it went up by 4pts from 570 to 574.

Message 1 of 16
15 REPLIES 15
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score

Where did you get your TU score from?

Message 2 of 16
TwoBeFree
Contributor

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score

I got the score from Credit Karma it also showed a Vantage score of 560.

Message 3 of 16
thom02099
Valued Contributor

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score


@TwoBeFree wrote:

I am in the process of repairing and have had several things removed and update. When following my credit score which score is the most accurate to follower? I need to start opening some new account as soon as possible and I don't want to take any chances of not getting approved if my scores are too low. I have had 9 accounts removed from my TU report but its only showing it went up by 4pts from 570 to 574.


How long ago was the removal of the 9 baddies from your TU report?  Keep in mind that it could take a couple of report cycles to fully see the results of baddies falling off, depending on how quickly the reports have been updated by the issuer/account holder. 

 

Credit Karma is a FAKO score, meaning it's not a FICO, so is good only for educational/informational purposes.  It is good for following TRENDS in your credit history, up or down, but NOT for monitoring scores.  My suggestion would be to buy the TU and EQ scores here at MyFICO, so you have a baseline of what your starting score is.  Use that to judge what your progress will be.  The TU score here is an older model of TU (there are 2 newer ones), and the EQ score here is a Beacon 5.0, which is a model that many lenders use. 

 

I would also suggest you read up on some of the stickies at the top of each forum, and you might do well also in the Rebuilding Forum. 

Message 4 of 16
dethkultur
Contributor

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score

Before buying in too much, you should realize MyFICO only sells one FICO score, while creditors use 46 other FICO scores. They are all called FICO, and it's a regular occurence for people to report that their bank, credit card, etc, is telling them a different Equifax FICO score than is reported here (and it always seems to be lower.) MyFICO makes no guarantees that the score you see here is the same score Equifax will send to your potential creditors. All that said, there's a bias against FAKO that you get on credit karma, but the score you get here is worth about as much. 

Message 5 of 16
thom02099
Valued Contributor

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score


@dethkultur wrote:

Before buying in too much, you should realize MyFICO only sells one FICO score, while creditors use 46 other FICO scores. They are all called FICO, and it's a regular occurence for people to report that their bank, credit card, etc, is telling them a different Equifax FICO score than is reported here (and it always seems to be lower.) MyFICO makes no guarantees that the score you see here is the same score Equifax will send to your potential creditors. All that said, there's a bias against FAKO that you get on credit karma, but the score you get here is worth about as much. 


Yes....there are multiple scores (models, enhancements, etc)  that say "FICO" on them.  However, one still needs a baseline of legitimate FICO scoring, so one knows where they stand initally, and more importantly where they are progressing.  FAKOS (such as Credit Karma) frequently do not include closed/in good standing accounts in their scoring, whereas FICO does.  This is a substantial difference between the 2 and a difference not to be taken lightly, since future creditors will look at the big picture and not just open accounts. 

Message 6 of 16
guiness56
Epic Contributor

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score

myFICO sells TU and EQ FICO scores.  Sometime in the future, they will be selling EX.

Message 7 of 16
dec33162
New Member

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score

Generally speaking, opening a "new account" ends up hurting your score, as does closing long-standing existing accounts. One of the things that goes into credit scores is the length of your credit history on given accounts. An additional factor is the balance on the account, relative to the high credit limit. So, a long-standing account with a low balance, is better than a new account with a low credit limit and high balance.

 

But, here's another problem. I monitor my scores at each of the "three major credit bureaus", Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Checking my scores today, at Transunion, for instance, the score is 673. I was in the process of buying a car and when the approval, with teh low loan amount and relatively high rate "from my credit union, which pulls from Transunion" came in, I went in to the credit union to inquire, since my debt-to-income ratio is less than 35%. Upon talking to the credit union rep, who in turn spoke to the underwriter, I found that the credit score they pulled was a 629! I pulled a fresh credit report and showed the 673 to the rep. The underwriter then advised that though they pull from Transunion, they actually use a FICO Auto 08 scoring model. That is what led me to this site. From reading some other posts, I understand that FICO issues "different" credit scores for different purposes!!?!?!?!!

 

All of this crap must be a scam to get MORE of the money you're willing to spend! What's the point of signing up on this site to monitor or obtain your FICO score, if that's not the score that's going to be obtained by the lender you're seeking to obtain financing from? This **bleep** should be illegal, but, I'm sure whatever entity you seek to complain to is in the pocket of, (or can't or won't do anything about) these people/systems that pull this type of nonsense.

 

If it's not too late, review your old credit report and see which of those old accounts you closed were still in good standing and had decent balances on them, even if you hadn't used them recently and see if you can re-open the SAME account, (with the same account number). If you haven't used the account in a long time, go buy something small on it, (a tie, some socks, anything insignificant), just to the keep the reporting up to date, then pay it off when the bill comes in. That'll do more for your scores than opening new accounts which they have no ability to track your payment history and will keep your scores low.

 

Finally, along with what was mentioned above, your best bet is to have "the good mix" of accounts, i.e., a mortgage, revolving and an installment debt. Those 3 things, paid on time over time, with no "late" payments is the key to building a strong credit profile. By "late" I mean, nothing over 30 days beyond the due date. So, if the payment is due on the first and you get it in on the 30th, for credit reporting purposes, it's not late, since the creditors report how many times you were 30, 60, 90, 120 etc., days late. So less than 30 days, you're good!

Message 8 of 16
guiness56
Epic Contributor

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score

Closing an account in good standing does not hurt your score.  If it has a balance it will affect your utilization until paid off.  The CL of a closed account is not factored in for utilization purposes.  Closed accounts still factor into AAoA.

 

Only revolving counts toward revolving utilization.  Installment accounts have their own utilization and count very little toward the score.

Message 9 of 16
llecs
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Best Accurate Credit Score

 

 


@dec33162 wrote:

 

But, here's another problem. I monitor my scores at each of the "three major credit bureaus", Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Checking my scores today, at Transunion, for instance, the score is 673. I was in the process of buying a car and when the approval, with teh low loan amount and relatively high rate "from my credit union, which pulls from Transunion" came in, I went in to the credit union to inquire, since my debt-to-income ratio is less than 35%. Upon talking to the credit union rep, who in turn spoke to the underwriter, I found that the credit score they pulled was a 629! I pulled a fresh credit report and showed the 673 to the rep. The underwriter then advised that though they pull from Transunion, they actually use a FICO Auto 08 scoring model. That is what led me to this site. From reading some other posts, I understand that FICO issues "different" credit scores for different purposes!!?!?!?!!

 

All of this crap must be a scam to get MORE of the money you're willing to spend! What's the point of signing up on this site to monitor or obtain your FICO score, if that's not the score that's going to be obtained by the lender you're seeking to obtain financing from? This **bleep** should be illegal, but, I'm sure whatever entity you seek to complain to is in the pocket of, (or can't or won't do anything about) these people/systems that pull this type of nonsense.



Unfortunately If you monitor your scores from each of the 3 CRAs, and that source was the same, then none of them are FICO scores. You cannot buy your EX FICO from anywhere without the help of a lender and the only other place you can pull your TU FICO is from myFICO outside of a lender. Other sites sell scores but none of them are FICO scores. You can easily have 100 point differences in your score when pulled from sites that offer FAKOs vs. a FICO.

 

With the above said, had you pulled your TU FICO from here the same day as your CU for the auto loan, you would see two different scores. The Classic FICO on here including TU04) is geared towards most lenders, whereas the auto-enhanced FICO your lender provided is geared towards a small minority of lenders, specifically auto lenders. If you were to apply for a mortgage the same day you'd see a different score. If you applied for a new CC, you might see even yet another score. Personally I'd like to see myFICO offer all types of FICOs for sale. I'd buy them.

 

 

Message 10 of 16
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