TU and EQ Score Difference

[Whereis750]

Just pulled wife's TU and EQ FICO scores:    EQ  724 and TU 694.   A difference of 30 points.  The two credit reports are IDENTICAL with one exception:  EQ showing 1 inquiry from September 2011. 

Both CRs display the following info: 

Oldest Acct - 5 years, 7 months

AAoA - 4 years

Anyone have an idea as to why there is a 30 point difference?  Seems like this inquiry should not cause such a large difference.

[marty56]

Check # CCs reporting a balance.  TU is more picky then EQ.

[llecs]

And TU dislikes baddies more, and EQ seems to weigh util more....IME anyway

[Whereis750]

Thanks for the replies.  Here is her credit picture:

Both TU and EQ Report the following:

- No Baddies ever.  From Day One to Today nothing negative on either report.

- Only TLs are:  4 open revolving, 1 closed revolving (at consumer's request - not sure why she closed this TL, she was 18 at the time and can't remember).

- All 4 revolving accounts reporting balances (same balance amounts reporting on both reports).

- Util % same for both reports

Only difference between the TU and the EQ reports, TU (score 694) showing 1 inquiry in Sept 2011 while EQ (score 724) showing 0 inquires.  So knowing this, does it make sense for there to be a 30 point difference in score?

[Quips]

Another possible difference is the TU doesn't like too many cards carryinig a balance - my TU was 14 pts lower than EQ - mainly for that reason as well as the fact that TU doesn't pick up CL's (or high balances) on some revolving accounts (like the BOA CR VISA) so the UTI may be higher on TU.

[Whereis750]

Thanks Quips - I guess with all revolving accounts reporting balances and the 1inq showing up on TU it's what's tanking the score, whereas EQ seems to be more resistent to these factors.

[MarineVietVet]

I have a wide variance in my TU and EQ scores with basically the same information. TU dings me for having "non-mortgage balances too high" but EQ ignores that item.

[Whereis750]

My personal TU and EQ reports have about 99% of the same info reported, and the score variance is 14 points (to me, that difference is acceptable).  On the other hand, my wife's TU and EQ reports are also 99% identical with the exception of 1 inq on TU and 0 on EQ, and the score variance is 30 points.  That seems absurd to me.

The rule makers in this credit game have mastered the art of convolution.  Between 3 national CRAs who don't work together and countless versions of FICO scoring models, it's, to say the least, a bit frustrating making sense of it all. 

[Anonymous]

My situation is opposite. TU 660, EQ 617, only difference is that eq has 1 inq, tu has 6.

[Anonymous]

TU and EQ use different methods of calculating scores.