Credit Scores Question

[Anonymous]

I just pulled a 3-in-1 credit report and score with a company called Credit Adapter. I tried to pull the score from MyFico.com but some reason it kept giving me an error so I had to look elsewhere.

Here were the results:

TU: 584

EX: 527

EQ: 605

I was a little disturbed by the huge gap in credit score between Experian and the other two so I went to Experian and ordered my credit score and report there and that website said my score was 568.

How can the score be so different depending on who pulls the report and which one is correct??  My assumption is that the score I pulled directly from Experian would be more accurate.

Any advice is much appreciated. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just pulled a 3-in-1 credit report and score with a company called Credit Adapter. I tried to pull the score from MyFico.com but some reason it kept giving me an error so I had to look elsewhere.

Here were the results:

TU: 584

EX: 527

EQ: 605

I was a little disturbed by the huge gap in credit score between Experian and the other two so I went to Experian and ordered my credit score and report there and that website said my score was 568.

How can the score be so different depending on who pulls the report and which one is correct??  My assumption is that the score I pulled directly from Experian would be more accurate.

Any advice is much appreciated. 

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Hi bmiddaugh and welcome to the forums.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but none of those scores is a FICO score.

No one has been able to buy their own Experian FICO score since February of 2009. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU (PSECU) in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only. The scores you buy from the EX website are called "PLUS" scores and are not used by any lenders. You can only buy true FICO scores at a few places. One place is here at myFICO.

At one time you could also purchase your Transunion score at transunioncs.com but no more. Wal Mart now offers a TU08 score to those who have their store card and the Discover version.

Equifax will still sell you a FICO score found here: www.equifax.com/web-myfico-products/

(With all due credit to long time member llecs for this):

"Virtually everyone sells scores, but they are not all FICO scores. If you got scores from the big 3, then very likely 2 or all 3 of them are not FICO scores. Experian and TransUnion do not sell FICO scores on their website. We call these non-FICO scores, FAKOs, and can easily be as much as a few points to 100+ points off your real FICO when pulled the same day. If it didn't say "FICO" next to the score, then it isn't.

Other companies (e.g. freecreditreport.com, freescore.com, truecredit, creditkarma, Equifax Credit Complete, Quizzle, and dozens of others out there) sell scores, but they are nothing more than gimmicks and lenders don't use them. They do this because they want to avoid paying any fees to FICO and when they say "credit score" people buy it anyway on the assumption that it is a FICO. The scores are off because the formula is different, factors in different things as compared to FICO, and score ranges are different than FICO's (e.g. FICO is 300-850, Vantage is 501-990, PLUS is 330-830, TransRisk is 350-850, and so on)."

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[Anonymous]

Thanks!  I saw FAKO being talked about around the forum and I wasn't sure what it meant.  I clicked the link to the Equifax and saw its $39.95 and provides 4 FICO Scores.  What are the 4 scores if someone doesn't mind me asking. 

I'm trying not to sound negative but how is an average person supposed to fix their credit if we can't monitor all 3 or 4 scores?? Last year I applied for credit and they were talking about Beacon score that was 800. But an Experian score that was 520 which seems really close to the score I pulled from credit adapter.  So I guess I'm just going to assume it hasn't changed and since its the lowest that's the one all the creditors will use.

I'm trying to get an auto loan and I'd love to know my true situation before talking to the sales rep or the finance guy.  But it sounds like I just have to go in there and swallow my pride and hope for the best. 

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks!  I saw FAKO being talked about around the forum and I wasn't sure what it meant.  I clicked the link to the Equifax and saw its $39.95 and provides 4 FICO Scores.  What are the 4 scores if someone doesn't mind me asking. Those are the same Equifax (Beacon 5.0) scores that are available here. There is a CMS Guide here onsite that might be helpful to you.

I'm trying not to sound negative but how is an average person supposed to fix their credit if we can't monitor all 3 or 4 scores?? IMO (In My Opinion) it's just as important to monitor your reports for changes and updates. If you get errors corrected, negatives removed, etc. you'll see the results and usually better scores will follow. It's an unfortunate fact that most of us can't see our Experian score but there is still access to our EQ and TU scores from here and other sources. I will add that the reports from those sites are accurate but ignore the scores and the credit suggestions given. Those suggestions are very often the exact opposite of what you actually need to do to improve your situation.

I would suggest that you spend as much time possible here reading and researching and asking questions and I think you'll be surprised how quickly you'll catch on. You're welcome to vist all the different boards that you think might interest you and in particular the Rebuilding Your Credit board. Everyone there (including myself) has had credit problems or is still repairing and rebuilding and so they know how you are feeling. You'll get the best advice around IMHO (In My humble Opinion).

Last year I applied for credit and they were talking about Beacon score that was 800. But an Experian score that was 520 which seems really close to the score I pulled from credit adapter.  So I guess I'm just going to assume it hasn't changed and since its the lowest that's the one all the creditors will use.

I'm trying to get an auto loan and I'd love to know my true situation before talking to the sales rep or the finance guy.  But it sounds like I just have to go in there and swallow my pride and hope for the best. 

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