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My reports from Experian, Transunion, and Equifax are all very similar or exact (as they should be) with the exception of my mortgage does not show on my Experian report. What I've gathered is that my mortgage company does not report to Experian. This only bothers me because my Experian Fico 8 is 30+ points lower than Transunion and Equifax Fico 8 scores. Transunion is 796, Equifax is 797, and Experian is 763.
My two questions are this:
1) Does this seem logical due to only the mortgage difference? I really see no other differences other than inquiries which show fewer on Experian than the other 2.
2) Assuming I wanted to get this score up and my mortgage company does not report to them, what would be a logical plan to make this happen? Some other type of installment loan that would report to them? Other ideas?
Thanks in advance for any insights!
Having an open installment loan on file is typically worth 30 points. If the mortgage is your only open installment loan it could be costing you 30 points on EX where it is not listed.
I'd 1st write a letter to your mortgage company informing them the loan is not being reported on Experian and request the loan be reported to EX. Including along comparative screen shots from all three CRAs showing might be helpful for documentation of the difference. Best to avoid taking out another loan for a score boost when just having the account report is still a possible solution.
A roughly 30 point difference is exactly what we'd predict in FICO 8 between a report with no open loans at all and a report with exactly one loan that is paid down and/or has a long history of payments.
Can you confirm that you have exactly one open loan on the other two reports (a mortgage) and no open loans of any kind on Experian?
Questions about the mortgage::
* What was the original loan amount?
* What is the current balance?
* What is the Date Opened?
All of your answers should be based on how the mortgage data reads on the actual reports.
The solution to the 30 point difference is two fold.
First, you say that you have gathered that the lender does not report to Experian. That sounds like an inference, based on the absence of the record from the EX report. But it it also sounds like you have not confirmed that explicitly with the lender. I would do that. Call them and ask if they report to all three bureaus. It is unusual for a mortgage lender to refuse to report to one of the three bureaus -- typically they report to all three. (Some do in fact only report to 1 or 2 bureaus, but it is not the norm.)
If the mortgage rep says they report to all three, tell them that the mortgage does not appear on EX, and that is why you are calling. Ask if there is a way they can look into this further. Always stay friendly and don't hesitate to make multiple calls or speak with a senior loan officer.
It's possible that they are reporting to EX but due to some computer glitch the record is being sent to the wrong Experian consumer file, which is sometimes called a split file.
There is another solution that will work, called the Share Secured Loan Technique, but explore the question of the missing EX record first.
I have no other open installment loans and this is the only mortgage. Original balance was $349K I believe and current balance is roughly $216k. Loan is a little over 3 years old (been making multiple extra payments and applying bonuses to it as well).
I sent an email to the bank to try to get more information on who they report to. It is Farm Credit of Mid America (specialize in rural property and acerage) and am waiting to see what they say. For some reason I have it stuck in my mind that they only report to the 2 and not Experian but not sure why. Hopefully they let me know they do report to all 3 and then I can go from there to see why it is not showing.
I'll let you know when I get information back from them.
Your mortgage has over two years of payment history and is under 70% B/L. As a result you should be getting full points for this installment loan - IMO.