@Anonymous wrote:
After taking some hard hits four years ago, I've been steadily bringing my credit score back.
I purchased a home last spring and have made 10 payments (on time) only to learn that the government is contracted with a company called Innovis and does all of their history reporting to them (and Trans Union). Neither of my two banks have ever heard of Innovis....let alone use them.
I discovered that my mortgage was being reported on Experian and Equifax while applying for a rate reduction on my auto loan this month. They use Experian as their number one agency; Equifax number two. I missed reducing my rate from 5.2% to 1.9% by only 6 points! We were looking for ways to "gain" those 6 points when we discovered this omission.
I know that mortgages fall into Installment Utilization and that's a much smaller part of the overall score than Revolving Utilization. How much of a % is it? Could this have cost me those "6 points"? I also missed an opportunity to reduce insurance rates based on credit reporting...again, they used Experian.
I plan to pursue this. I'd like to know how much it's hurting me.
Hello, and welcome to the FICO Forums.
I think you meant to write that your mortgage is NOT being reported on EX and EQ, just like your thread title, correct?
Other Forums members have mentioned that their loans from the government - USDA direct loans come to mind - are reported only to Innovis (a 4th credit reporting agency) and Transunion. There's no way to compel any lender to report to all the credit bureaus. Reporting is entirely voluntary, and any lender may report to all, one, or none of the credit bureaus. If the government agency that issued your loan does not routinely report to EX or EQ, then it's highly improbable that they will make an exception for your loan.
As for whether the magnitidue of the effect that the mortgage non-reporting had on your EQ and EX scores, well, that's impossible to quantify. If you have other installment loans on your report - prior mortgages, auto loans, student loans, etc - then the addition of another installment loan may not have a significant effect on your scores. If, on the other hand, this was your first-ever installment loan, then your score may indeed have been higher since you have an improved diversity of accounts. But even then it is not possible to say whether it would have increased your score by the desired 6 points.
Since it's not likely that you'll be able to change the reporting of your mortgage, I would recommend that you review your credit report to see if there are aspects that are within your control. For example, if you are carrying high credit card balances or have a maxed-out credit card on your report, then paying down your balances could have a significant effect on your credit scores.
