Does Fico 8 recognize AU's?

[Stryder]

 My wife didn't want to pay for MyFico, so we were using Vantage 3.0 sites and she was right around 700 on all three cb's. My scores are starting to do well, so I set her up with a MyFico 3B pull subscription and was shocked...her scores were EQ 610, TU 620, and EX617...?????? really???

Her other version Fico's weren't too bad 660 - 690...but it looked to me like Fico 8 was ignoring her 4 AU cards (under me). It said "could not recognize any valid revolving accounts"??? They were good before and everything I've read says Fico 8 recognizes AU's. She is on my BoA, QS, BCE &  CSP.

I also read that the new Fico 8 does not recognize AU's that are on purchased accounts? Like for credit repair.... If that is what they think she has, how do I fix it? She is currently un-employeed, so I cant app her to get a new card right now. One poster had suggested correcting any personal info, to make sure what gets accredited goes to her.  

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated...We want to do a mortgage next year, so I need to get her fixed.

Thanks!

[mitchblue]

As far as I know they do.. I suspect something else from Fico 8 was the reason for the lower score..

[Anonymous]

Actually I think it is common for FICO 8 to ignore AUs in its utilization calculations.  Send Thomas Thumb a private message and ask him to comment on this thread.  He's done a bunch of research on it.

There are a number of other veterans who know about it -- if they see this thread they may be able to tell you.  I have never myself been an AU or had someone be an AU on my account.so I have never done the work to remember how this aspect of the model works.

[Revelate]

There's an anti-AU abuse algorithm in FICO 8 which nobody really understands and we've never been able to discretely test.

Only way I explicity know to test if an AU is working or not is to let a small balance report on the AU, then zero out everything.  If your score stays the same (and you likely saw a drop before this) then it doesn't count; however, if it drops only when you zero out the AU, it does count.

I've yet to see any rational or objective measure otherwise: whatever is presented in CK, MF, or others simply isn't the algorithm (and for the life of me I will never understand why other intelligent people think that it is somehow meaningful and refuse to test their assertions).  Moral of the story: have AU's if they make sense, but get your own tradelines too.

[Stryder]

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@mitchblue wrote:

As far as I know they do.. I suspect something else from Fico 8 was the reason for the lower score..

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She did have three old derogs, one has fallen completely off, the second off of EQ and EX, TU should drop pretty quick, and the third is still there. So it should be a better score from last month. But I dont think I've ever pulled an actual Fico report on her.it's been Credit Sesame which is Vantage 3.0

When I go into her accounts on a CCT Experian Fico 8 report, it says this about her revolving accounts.

No credit card activity

There is no recent activity on your credit cards.

Your credit report shows no open credit cards or it does not report recent information (such as balance or credit limit) about any of your credit cards. Your FICO® Score evaluates your mix of credit cards, installment loans, and mortgages. People who demonstrate responsible use of different types of credit are generally less risky to lenders.

She is a AU on 4 of my credit cards which shows up in the "Accounts category" as open and paid, except for one that has $10 on it. The TCL on the summary page is correct.

Also, she has an open Conns installment plan and a car note, but installment loans says there is only one? We are both on the car note, the Conns is all hers.

[Stryder]

CreditGuy...TT is a great suggestion... i went back and looked at the personal data on all 3B reports and it looks good...correct spelling on her name and current address. Her DOB is only correct on 1 CB....

Revelate....There's an anti-AU abuse algorithm in FICO 8 which nobody really understands and we've never been able to discretely test.

I think that is what this is...something has triggered the algorithem you suggest.....I just don't know what I need to do to show she is a valid AU..Everything I've read says Fico 8 does recognize AU's, but screens for those that buy situations to boost there score

Should I call the CB's and ask them?

As always, thanks to both of you for your input!

[Anonymous]

The crucial thing I am discovering is that she and you do not know her actual reports well at all if at all.  You have been relying solely on a score generation site (Credit Sesame) that gives a very abbreviated summary of one bureau's data and does so from the perspective of Vantage.

It sounds like you have just started her on Crediit Check Total, so you should be able to print out her full reports from all three bureaus.  You should do this and start becoming really well aquainted with what they say and what they mean.

You guys may be on a budget, given that she is unemployed, so the MF and CCT subscriptions may be something you do not want to continue paying for month after month.  If so there are completely free ways to regularly pull her credit reports.  If you want details let us know.

The key info about your/her situation as I understand it is this:
    *  She has no credit cards in her own name
    *  She has derogs
    *  She is unemployed
    *  She needs to start building a score ASAP given that you both want to buy a house (one year from now)

Because of this I encourage you to head over to the rebuilding forum.  If you explain those four points, they may be able to give you practical advice on how she can begin getting 1-2 credit cards in her own name.  These might need to be secured cards at this point.

Of tremendous importance is learning how to pull and read her full credit reports at all three bureaus.  Again, this can be done cost-free.

[Stryder]

Thanks CGD, I have pulled the MyFico 3B on her and it says the same thing as CCT ( I didn't copy off of it because I would have to log out to log her in)

You are right in that I don't understand everything, but I have learned quite a bit. What I don't have, is a good history of her Fico scores...I don't know if her Fico 8's have always been like this, or just recently dropped or what. I just have to deal with what I have now....I will go to the rebuild forum ...

Do they detect and or reflect her being un-employeed into her scores?

Thanks again CGD

[Anonymous]

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@Stryder wrote:

Do they detect and or reflect her being un-employeed into her scores?

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Nope!  FICO scores are not based in any way on employment status, annual income, or assets (e.g. whether a person has a million dollars in the bank or zero). A lender or credit card issuer, however, is totally free to ask for those kinds of information and most do.

FICO scores are also not based on a person's age, race, religion, etc.

Getting your wife 1-2 cards in her own name strikes me as a great idea -- that plus learning about how credit works and understanding your and her reports backwards and forwards.  Good luck!

PS.  I don't reject out of hand continuing to follow up on the possibility that FICO has somehow misidentified her as one of the cases that AU status was not intended for.  Certainly as your wife she is certainly a very orthodox case of an AU.  Making sure that you and she have exactly one address listed on each credit report and that the address for both of you reads exactly the same might help.  But regardless, make getting her 1-2 cards of her own a high priority -- that's my opinion anyway.

[Stryder]

Thanks CGD...I didn't think so, but I dont like to assume..

She is interviewing and hope to be employeed within the next 30 days... then i will surely be doing that. I will not add myself to those cards because of my AAoA.

I need to get her attached to my oldest card for her AAoA and number of accounts.

Thanks