PLEASE HELP EXPLAIN

[Anonymous]

So I understand that different types of lenders pull different tiers of credit history, but I went to a bank Saturday and they pulled a 612!!!! Myfico.com was a 668. Why? How?

I do have a lot of unsecured debt, putting gf through school, but even with that...  a 612???? Can anyone help me with this? I guess I thought pulling a fico score was how lenders see you, but after today I'm not so sure.

Message Edited by Eurosooner7 on 01-20-2009 01:48 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, Eurosooner7, welcome to the forums!

You actually have three FICO scores, one each from Equifax (EQ), TransUnion (TU), and Experian (EX.) Generally, when new members here refer to their FICO score in the singular, they've got their EQ FICO score.

It is incredibly rare to have all three FICO scores match. In fact, I've never seen it here. Not only are there often differences in what's listed on each report, each CRA (credit bureau) commissioned its own score formula, so the info on your reports is crunched slightly differently.

It's entirely possible that your bank pulled your TU FICO or your EX FICO, thus resulting in a completely different score.

[Anonymous]

My fault. I didn't go into much detail on this. They actually pulled my Experian so I asked them which one they pulled, then came home and pulled Experian 15 minutes later and it was 50 points higher!. The one I pulled even shows and inquiry by them so I know it was updated.

Message Edited by Eurosooner7 on 01-20-2009 03:26 PM

Message Edited by Eurosooner7 on 01-20-2009 03:26 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

Well, that's unusual! They might be one of the very rare lenders who use the Experian PLUS score or the three-bureau Vantage score.

Don't see many of those.

[Anonymous]

I've been reasearching and it looks like the PLUS scores are generally higher than FICO scores. The other method do they just average the 3? I havelike a 658-670-668. Not sure what happened. Maybe I will just stop uring that bank.

[haulingthescoreup]

Eurosooner, just a thought, what exactly did you apply for? (auto loan, personal loan, credit card)

There are some specialized versions of FICO scores that are tweaked for particular lenders, for instance, auto loans and credit cards. Even though these are FICO scores, they vary from the "classic" FICO scores that you find here.

[Anonymous]

I applied for an auto loan. Is there a way I could figure how banks would see my score for particular situations?

[haulingthescoreup]

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Eurosooner7 wrote:
I applied for an auto loan. Is there a way I could figure how banks would see my score for particular situations?

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Ah, that might be it, then.

The FICO "industry-option" scores take the same information but weight it differently to predict your risk in that particular area (auto loans, credit cards.) No one knows enough about them to take a crack at trying to break their code. But it's reasonable to assume that any history somewhat similar to what you're applying for will carry more weight than in the classic versions.

So if you've ever had problems repaying a loan of any type, or if you've never had a loan, or maybe if you have high util on the CC's, implying that there might be a cash flow squeeze --any of these might make you look riskier for an auto loan. I'm picking those out of the air, though --as I said, we don't begin to know as much about the industry-option scores as we know about the classic scores. Or I should say, as much as we think we know!

[Anonymous]

I've never missed a payment or defaulted on anything, but my unsecured debt is high. I think your on to something there. Thank you for your help!! I will continue to try to figure them out!!!.