EQUIFAX vs Other Scores

[Anonymous]

I have been working on rebuilding y credit for a year now.  Started out in the low 500s due to lack of credit.  According to Experian, TU and CreditKarma as well as just about all of those other free sites I am now in the mid-high 600s.  So yesterday I get a wild hair and decide to check Equifax and pay the $19.95 for my 3 Reports..   I about fell out of my chair when I see scores like 583 EQ, 569 EX and 550 TU.. Currently Experian paid site is showing my score as 675 (Fico 8) My FICO 2 (mtg) is the lowers at 608 with FICO 8 Auto being 683... I am planning on purchasing a motorhome in March and have worked very hard to get my scores up.   Then i see scores in the 500s from EQUIFAX... First Equifax report showed outdated information.  People laugh at CreditKarma but one thing is for sure with them, their information is usually up to date.  I went to Equifax direct to get my scores only to find out the information was way out of date.. I paid for this!!! WHY? I need to know before I contact the dealer in March and have them run credit.  They usually hit all the banks they can to get approval and if I am in the 500s I doubt anyone will want to give me a loan.  My credit itself isnt bad its just new because I stopped using cards etc about 8 years ago  so I have pretty much all new credit. A year ago I started with a $200 prepaid card and now am up to $15000 unsecured.  May not sound like much to others but its pretty good to me. 

Why is Equifax PAID information incorrect from their own Website?

Why are their scores so much lower than others?

WHY did I pay for outdated information!  

[kxkxkxx]

For my own experience ( and I had posted something about EQ before) they are always late for me! I will get 2+ credit score changes before they refresh theirs.

The only good news I can say, once they did finally refresh the scores, it was well worth the wait.

Have you called them to see what the holdup is?

[Anonymous]

Congrats on getting it all back together

If you're spending all this money on various sites for something the people who actually send the scores has already why not deal with them. I recommend joining the myfico reporting system (since you're spending money anyway). I've noticed they alert me way before anyone else, and they're usually reliable on what your scores really are considering most lenders will ask them for your info anyway. 

Leave the fakos and get the ficos!

[Anonymous]

I guess I just have a thing about Equifax... They keep screwing with my address and it keeps me from viewing and submitting disputes and other things,  Ive been working to get it fixed for over a year.  I finally just gave up.  Here is the deal.. And Im not kidding.  Today my address and former address will show. Current 12/3/2018  Previous 1#1 2/02/2018, Previous #2 12/01/2018.  It looks like I have moved 3 times in 3 days. The previous addresses are ocrrect, but the dates are WAY off.  Ive been at my current for almost 5 years yet Equifax says Ive only been here 1 day.  Now whats really screwy is that tomorrow those addresses will actually update and look ilke Ive moved again, and again, and again,  So when I use their services and it ask "Have you lived at your current address for less than 2 years". The correct answer is NO, but I am forced to say YES and then enter  my previous addy.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doest (most time doesnt)   Ive talked with Corporate, who "Understood my concerns" but transfered me to the same person who speaks little to no English and tells me to send in Docs.  Well, ive sent every doc I can think of and its still wrong. It appears to me to be a computer glitch and its killing me.  According to Equifax I literally have moved every single day for more than a year now,,,  And the really funny thing is with this info right in front of them, they cant seem to get it..  Ive gpt copies of reports for just about every day this year showing the screw uo,,,  I have had 2 heart attacks and a quad bypass.  Its actually hazardous to my health to call Equifax.. They used to be the Prime Credit Bureau many years ago.. Now Im not so sure... Experian on the other hand is great to work with,.  Im wanting to give up my apartment and go on the road full time living in an RV.  I am just trying to get everything perfect before I hit the road.  Good Credit, Credit Cards in line, I want no emergencies that Im not prepared to handle.  So I NEED good credit..

sorry for miispelled words, gotta brace on my finger...

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@kxkxkxx wrote:

For my own experience ( and I had posted something about EQ before) they are always late for me! I will get 2+ credit score changes before they refresh theirs.

The only good news I can say, once they did finally refresh the scores, it was well worth the wait.

Have you called them to see what the holdup is?

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[Anonymous]

The only site I spent money on was/is Equifax direct... The others are free but they are also correct in their reporting of information,  I would have expected more from Equifax especially since it was a paid subscription...  And, I also have Experian already and its  FREE as well and updates daily with current scores.  CreditKarma updates weekly and provides accurate information for TransUnion and Equifax as well,  Its actually anybodys guess at which credit score lenders use anyway..  That in itself sucks!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The only site I spent money on was/is Equifax direct... The others are free but they are also correct in their reporting of information,  I would have expected more from Equifax especially since it was a paid subscription...  And, I also have Experian already and its  FREE as well and updates daily with current scores.  CreditKarma updates weekly and provides accurate information as well,  Its actually anybodys guess at which credit score lenders use anyway..  That in itself sucks!

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I think its a fact that most lenders use FICO scores more than VANTAGE scores. CK uses VantageScores which can vary up to 50pts (good or bad) in comparison to FICO scores. Just trying to help ya, why spend money with one company for their score when they contact myfico for the other two, when you can just sign up to myFICO and get all 3 and their reports.

I've only known people to use those direct sites to lock their profile. Even some of those people will order a myfico and then cancel it. There is also some 1$ site that gives all three scores as well for 7days. I've never used it but you can find it here on the forums

[Anonymous]

The gold standard for a credit report is annualCreditReport.com.

Personally I would avoid paying money for credit scores, unless you are using the $1 trial offer from Credit Check Total.  This can be cancelled promptly after you get your 3B report and your three FICO 8 classic scores. 

Credit Karma is usually a good free solution to the problem of wishing to see your latest EQ and TU report.  Be sure, however, that you ignore anything on Karma's "summary" page.  (It often tells you incorrect information about your Age scoring factors and can also tell you that you have a perfect payment history when you do not.)  But the report itself is fine -- just print it out and go over it in detail, especially if you have your report from ACR as a baseline.

And as the other folks are advising you, ignore any scores that are not explicitly called out as FICO scores.  Scores provided by other models (such as Vantage) will almost certainly not be used by any lenders to whom you might later apply.

[Anonymous]

I also want to add that there are a multitude of scores to be used in regards to your loan, Bankcard score, Autoloan Score, Mortgage score, etc. When you request a fico from a company, there is a good chance you will only get the fico8 and maybe a mortgage score. But with myfico you can dig into those other scores. 

I also use credit karma for the account information only, I don't rely on their scores as their algorithm is way off. I don't work for myFICO, but after using their frontend in comparison to others. I found a sweet spot for seeing valuable scoring across all the different metrics. I use all the free sites also, for their alerts and account information. Their scores might as well not be there as I don't see them being significant at all. 

The score they may use for your RV, could vary well be your middle AUTOLOAN score. They may also use your fico8, either way, you can ask them which they will use.

EDIT: Sorry CGD, I was typing this prior to seeing your reply, you hit the nail on the head

[NRB525]

First, congrats on your progress. Getting on top of your credit and improving it is important.

Next, it seems to me your obsession with “getting EQ just right” may be doing more harm than good. If they want you to confirm your address each time you draw a report, and then they update a date stamp, well, stop trying with EQ.

And I would question the accuracy of those scores, from EQ whether when you read the fine print it is really a FICO set.

The reports from MyFICO will get you your complete set of true FICO scores of all flavors, historical models with accurate, current scoring. And look... you are already here. How convenient is that?

GL

[Anonymous]

It's convenient -- but it does cost at least $30.  (And that assumes the user cancels soon after.)  With CCT the signup and cancel costs a buck. 

Naturally I am a big supporter of people choosing whatever credit tools they want, as long as they are making informed decisions.  A common belief for newcomers is that the FICO 8 Classic scores from myFICO are more accurate than the FICO 8 Classic scores from (say) Credit Check Total.  (And many of them don't even know about CCT's $1 trial.)