Is there any mathematical or formula relationship to the various FICO Scores?

[Anonymous]

I'm new to the forum, so please excuse if this question has been asked previously, but I'm on my quest for a new mortgage and thought my credit was stellar, until I learned that there are several types of FICO scores  and 3, 4, and 5 are what are used for mortgages.  My question is regarding the relationship if any of one score to another. For instance, this FICO8 that everyone seems to be using.  When my latest report was pulled for my mortgage (yesterday) it was ok, but my FICO8 scores were 788, 772 and 746.  I monitor these through credit watching services through the 3 credit reporting agencies.  My mortgage FICO scores however appear to be about 100 points lower than my FICO8 score. So I'm curious if there is any method or formula to these scores, that if I know my FICO8 score, I can back into what my mortgage FICO score is, without the mortgage company pulling my credit.  I appreciate any information or knowledge you can offer.  I'm determined to get my score higher, as it appears from a mortgage standpoint, 700 is the magic number. 

[Anonymous]

FICO8 is pretty well understood here but there seems to be a lot less clarity on the mortgage scores. There are tidbits floating around that I’ve seen, such as the fact that your mortgage score is sensitive to the number of open credit lines on which you currently carry a balance. FICO 8 really wouldn’t care much if you have 10 tradelines and 9 of them have a balance, so long as those balances don’t exceed 28.9% individually and 8.9% collectively of your limits. Your mortgage score will definitely take a hit though in that scenario - the more open tradelines you have that show zero balance, the better.

Others I’m sure will chime in but you may also do well haunting the mortgage section of the forum as there are likely to be well-versed members who regularly post there.

[dynamicvb]

If you purchase the 3b report from myfico then you will get all your scores including the mortgage scores from each of the CRA's. It's a little pricey, but worth it, in my opinion, to just know.  A hundred points seem way too much of a difference. Do you have any collections or other baddies? I doubt you have much negative with your Fico 8 scores. How about credit card utlization? Do you have any cards maxed or close to it and what is your overall utilization across cards?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm new to the forum, so please excuse if this question has been asked previously, but I'm on my quest for a new mortgage and thought my credit was stellar, until I learned that there are several types of FICO scores  and 3, 4, and 5 are what are used for mortgages.  My question is regarding the relationship if any of one score to another. For instance, this FICO8 that everyone seems to be using.  When my latest report was pulled for my mortgage (yesterday) it was ok, but my FICO8 scores were 788, 772 and 746.  I monitor these through credit watching services through the 3 credit reporting agencies.  My mortgage FICO scores however appear to be about 100 points lower than my FICO8 score. So I'm curious if there is any method or formula to these scores, that if I know my FICO8 score, I can back into what my mortgage FICO score is, without the mortgage company pulling my credit.  I appreciate any information or knowledge you can offer.  I'm determined to get my score higher, as it appears from a mortgage standpoint, 700 is the magic number. 

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1. The mortgage scores are EX FICO 2, TU FICO 4, and EQ FICO 5.

2.  No there's no formula. Some people have higher mortgage scores, some lower. They're just different algorithms, responding differently to different things. E.g., the mortgage scores give a lot of weight to the percentage of revolving accounts which report a balance, while the FICO 8 scores give a lot of weight to overall utilization percentages. I believe that the mortgage scores are more sensitive to 'newness' issues, like average age of accounts, age of youngest account, inquiries, etc., which is why so many people on this forum -- you and me included -- have lower mortgage scores than classic scores.

[Anonymous]

There is no relationship or correlation between a Classic FICO 8 score and a mortgage score.  Someone may possess two scores that are relatively equal, where someone else may possess a mortgage score that's 50-100 points lower.  You definiely can't try and draw a comparison between the two. 

Great points above regarding number of accounts with balances, a factor that the mortgage scores definitely weighs heavily.  I'm not sure if you were at AZEO when you last pulled your mortgage scores, but if not I'd suggest implementing AZEO and doing a $30 membership at MF to get your 3 mortgage scores and see where you stand.