Difference between Fico 8 and Mortgage and what can I do?

[slowlyclimbing]

Hi Everyone!

New to the forum.  I have been fixing my credit and have managed to take my scores from 498 on 5/2020 to 698 today.  Super proud of my progress but I am confused on the difference in scoring models.

My Fico 8 scoring Vs my mortgage score is significantly different.  Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to "bridge the gap" so to speak?

8--    EQ      TU       Ex

        670     688   648

Mortgage  EQ       TU       EX

                    621      647     574

As you can see, some have as much as a 70 point difference.  I guess I'm just confused on how they can be SO different.

Thanks so much

[AllZero]

Each version and credit bureau may be weighed differently than the other.

How is your reported utilization?

Any derogatory or delinquency that needs to be addressed?

I would recommend reading the below from ABCD2199
The Truth about Credit Card Utilization
My 11 Rules to Credit Rebuilding
FICO Score: What to pay down first?

From Birdman7
General Scoring Primer and Version 8 Master Thread rev.5.17.20

[Anonymous]

---

@slowlyclimbing wrote:

My Fico 8 scoring Vs my mortgage score is significantly different.  Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to "bridge the gap" so to speak?

Welcome to the forum, @slowlyclimbing !

The mortgage scores can be more sensitive to inquiries, new accounts, number of accounts with a balance, and total balance owed (the reported statement balances). They vary in sensitivity to these - EX 2 is particularly hard on any 'credit seeking' behavior.

The best you can do is have 1 card report a small balance - something around $20 should be fine. Never let all cards report $0 at once - that will be a huge hit to your scores.

You'll also gain some points the further you get from any credit seeking behavior (new accounts, inquiries) - this can come at 3 month intervals, counting from the 1st of the month in which you were approved for a new account.

[slowlyclimbing]

My reported utilization for credit cards is 7%

I only have one credit card in my name. I have 3 that I'm an authorized user on 

I do have student loan lates from 2/19, 6/18, 7/18 that I'm working on. I'm guessing that could be the culprit right there 

all other delinquencies have been paid or removed

[Anonymous]

---

@slowlyclimbing wrote:

My reported utilization for credit cards is 7%

Also watch the total dollar balance. One member tested this and found positive changes all the way down below $100.

I only have one credit card in my name. I have 3 that I'm an authorized user on 

There will be a separate score drop if all of those AU (authorized user) cards report $0. So watch that as well.

I do have student loan lates from 2/19, 6/18, 7/18 that I'm working on. I'm guessing that could be the culprit right there 

---

Big culprit! Mortgage scores are much less forgiving of these.

[slowlyclimbing]

Do the lates on the student loans have less affect the farther out they get?

I know that student loans are incredibly difficult to fix. I put them in forebearance and it back dated but they had already reported

[Anonymous]

---

@slowlyclimbing wrote:

Do the lates on the student loans have less affect the farther out they get?

---

There is some evidence for that in a couple reason statements that can be provided with a FICO score.

A few people have reported some score gains that coincide with aging of these, but it's hard to isolate.

These 2 are from EX FICO 2 (mortgage), for example.

13	Time since delinquency is too recent or unknown	Missed and late payments, including the number of late payments, how late they were, and how recently they occurred, are an important part of your FICO® Score. Your score was hurt because the time since your most recent past due payment was too recent.
20	Time since derogatory public record or collection is too short	The recency of a derogatory public record (such as a bankruptcy or tax lien) or collection is a powerful predictor of future payment risk. Satisfying the public record or paying off the collection will not remove the item from your credit report. It will still be considered by your FICO® Score. Most public records and collections stay on your report for no more than seven years – though bankruptcies may remain for up to 10 years.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@slowlyclimbing wrote:

Hi Everyone!

New to the forum.  I have been fixing my credit and have managed to take my scores from 498 on 5/2020 to 698 today.  Super proud of my progress but I am confused on the difference in scoring models.

My Fico 8 scoring Vs my mortgage score is significantly different.  Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on how to "bridge the gap" so to speak?

8--    EQ      TU       Ex

        670     688   648

Mortgage  EQ       TU       EX

                    621      647     574

As you can see, some have as much as a 70 point difference.  I guess I'm just confused on how they can be SO different.

Thanks so much

---

In general, I would say this:

1. The mortgage scores are more sensitive to "age" factors, such as recent inquiries, new accounts, and average age of accounts.

2. The mortgage scores are more sensitive to number of accounts with zero balance.

3. The FICO 8 scores are more sensitive to percentage utilization in terms of dollars.

So the 2 best things you can do for your mortgage scores is refrain from applying for anything, and try to have almost all of your revolving accounts reporting a zero balance.

[slowlyclimbing]

Thank you for all this info!  It is so appreciated.  Maybe you could point me into another direction.  Maybe a link to help me research.

I have been cleaning up my report but I only have the following "revolving" acounts:

Credit one $400CL--i know i know....but i had to start somewhere lol. i only let 7% report --no lates

Capital one #1 2500CL--AU--no lates

Capital One #2 400CL--AU--no lates

Bank of America 1500CL--AU--no lates

Do I need to have additional revolving cards that are just "mine" or is keeping the above cards ok?  I don't want to necessarily get any other cards while i'm waiting for my mortgage to go through but I wanted to see if it would "help" my mortgage scores.

[Anonymous]

---

@slowlyclimbing wrote:

Thank you for all this info!  It is so appreciated.  Maybe you could point me into another direction.  Maybe a link to help me research.

This is the best compendium of credit scoring information on the internet: General Scoring Primer and Version 8 Master Thread 

Check out Message #2 there for some really detailed information about derogatories and getting rid of collection accounts.

I have been cleaning up my report but I only have the following "revolving" acounts:

Credit one $400CL--i know i know....but i had to start somewhere lol. i only let 7% report --no lates

Capital one #1 2500CL--AU--no lates

Capital One #2 400CL--AU--no lates

Bank of America 1500CL--AU--no lates

Do I need to have additional revolving cards that are just "mine" or is keeping the above cards ok?  I don't want to necessarily get any other cards while i'm waiting for my mortgage to go through but I wanted to see if it would "help" my mortgage scores.

---

Aww don't worry about that $400 Credit One card - lots of people started with low limits and no one here is going to say anything negative about it.

You really should have more cards in your name only, if only to prove to lenders that you can manage an average number of tradelines.

You can get an 800+ FICO score with only 1 credit card account on file, but that won't look as good as 3 or 4 which is the U.S. average for number of cards on file. 

I've found the Bankcard and Auto scores to be more sensitive to 'Too few accounts paid as agreed', and as I went from 2 to 3 cards, most of those reasons disappeared. At 4, they disappeared from every score.

But right now, since you're close to a mortgage app, don't take any action that causes a hard pull or a new account to show up on your file.