Middle Score?

[Anonymous]

First thank goodness for myfico,  I was duped out by True Credit and those other NON real credit score sites! 

The situation I'm trying to get approved for a Fha 1st time buyer program,  I know lenders mainly use the middle score to qualify you.

As of today through the myfico site my Ex is 582 then I paid to see TU and its 610.

Is it possible to get a experian fico?  I've looked at their site but they are partnered with free creditreport.com and offer plus scores not fico. 

Or does it not matter because regardless my middle is either 582 or 610 ?

Thanks alot

[nothingman02]

You cant get EX fico. However, if you pull all three credit reports, you can get an idea of where your score stands based on which report its closer to. TU or EQ. Just an idea. I would not for a bit trust the FAKO though. So basiclly, unless all thers no way to know your middle score.

[Anonymous]

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/fico/board/message?board.id=special_announcement&thread.id=10

Your lender will be able to get an EX FICO for you, but us consumers can not.

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birdfan83 wrote:

Or does it not matter because regardless my middle is either 582 or 610 ?

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If your EX score is lower than 582, then 582 would be your mid score. If higher than 610, then 610 would be your mid score. If EX is between 582 and 610, then your mid score would be your EX score.

[Anonymous]

Actually, OP cannot assume anything related to the 610 score, because the lender may be looking at a TU '04 score, rather than the TU '98 that MyFico sells. The Fico TU '04 score can be higher or lower than the Fico TU '98, with a few rare cases where the TU '04 score was 30+ points lower than the TU '98 score.

I'd look at all three credit reports first, try to clean up or improve whatever is obvious, and then have the lender pull a set of credit scores to determine the current middle score ... 

[haulingthescoreup]

I think that OP is using EX as an abbreviation for Equifax, maybe.

[Anonymous]

Opps correct I meant EQ in the first post

So the EQ score I get from here should be accurate to what I lender pulls but the TU may or may not be accurate?  But still in the same ballpark?

And the only way to get an ex report is through the lender when he goes to find the middle.

I think I just need a 560 or so for the Fha,  I have good job history and pay.  I've done alot to my credit the past 4 months,  I was at a 520 EQ in Dec so the 582 welcome.  When I saw the 610 I was thinking I could get near the 620 which I understand opens up new possibilites.  I just opened a secured card for $500 that hasnt hit my report yet so that should help.  I'm looking to actually qualify for the loan in July/August.  Also in terms of my new credit I shouldnt use more than 30% of the limit each month then pay it off in full? 

Sorry for going off topic I really appreciate the help.

[haulingthescoreup]

No problem at all.

Have you read the threads about how to control what balances are reported to the credit bureaus? Essentially, you pay off all your cards but one several days before their statements drop so that they report $0. On that one card, pay it off to 9% or less, ten bucks will work, let that report, and then pay off the card before the due date. Many people can squeeze out more points that way, both for having minimal util and for having few accounts with balances. Do let that one card report, though. You'll lose points for having all report $0.

It doesn't matter how much you use your cards during the month as long as you can always immediately pay them off. Many creditors will eventually increase your CL's if you demonstrate high usage of their cards, as long as you show that you can handle the debt by promptly PIF'ing.

No telling how much the TU will vary. Sometimes TU 98 and TU 04 are quite close; sometimes there's quite a spread. As I understand it, myFICO is trying to get TU to switch the score here to TU 04, but this sort of stuff seems to take forever, at least to us impatient consumers.