@celeste45 wrote:
I have a question? how often should you request your fico scores. i requested my score from transunion and FICO. the FICO score was surprising lower, is that possible.
Hi, celeste, welcome to the forums!
You have three FICO scores: from Equifax (EQ), TransUnion (TU), and Experian (EX.) Each of these credit bureaus hired FICO to research creditor behavior and create a formula to predict how well people would handle their debts. Since each bureau is biased toward slightly different behavior, the three FICO scores differ, even with identical credit reports.
Now that the media has done such a good job in making consumers aware of credit reports and credit scores, Experian, TransUnion, and various credit monitoring services have realized that there is gold in them thar hills, and they have invented their own credit scores, which are pretty universally called FAKO's. The score that you got directly from TransUnion is a FAKO, and sad to say, it's worthless. Equifax is the only credit bureau that will sell you your FICO score, plain and simple. (You can get your TU score from transunioncs.com, note the "cs", but it involves buying the quarterly credit monitoring product.)
Sorry to hear that the FICO score is lower, but once you hang around here and do some homework, you will learn how to improve it. By the way, since you call it your score from FICO (in the singular), I'm guessing that you pulled your FICO EQ, but maybe not. Start by reading Credit Scoring 101 (stickied up above), plus posts on this particular board.
As far as how often to pull your scores, that depends on both your needs and the depth of your wallet. Are you headed toward some sort of credit application, like a mortgage or car loan or a couple of credit cards? If so, it would be wise to know all three of your FICO's now. Be sure to Google FICO coupon or FICO discount code to save some money when you buy.
Then, if you are going to start actively working on improving your credit, you might want to sign up for a 3-in-1 credit monitoring program. I use TrueCredit, but there are plenty of others. They seem to run $12-15/ month, some less. They all come with FAKO scores, and it's pretty important to learn to ignore these, and especially to ignore the advice that comes along with them. Many of us also have myFICO's Scorewatch, which monitors the EQ report and FICO score only (not EX or TU.) This covers the bases well enough that, once you learn here what changes on your credit report are apt to result in score changes, you'll know when it's worth pulling your FICO's again.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Starting Score: 469