TU04 vs. TU98?

[haulingthescoreup]

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Kimberly68 wrote:
The LO pulled my scores and TU had me at 634; myfico has 610 and TU (truecredit) has 671.  

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Then it appears that your LO pulled a FICO 04. The myFICO score is TU98.

The TrueCredit score is not a FICO and has no relationship to FICOs. It's on a different number range, and it's the result of a different formula. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

[AndySoCal]

One of the differences bet TU 98 and FICO 04 is the "shopping period" for mortgages and auto loans. FICO 04 is 45 days and TU98  is 14 or 30 days. You will see most if not all lenders use FICO04 for mortgage loans now.

[Anonymous]

I pulled my TU score from myFico on 3/5, and it was 664.  I immediately called my mortgage broker (I mean within less than 5 minutes) and asked her to pull my TU score, and she pulled a 600 (they use TU04, like almost everyone does now)!  I am just 1 piece of paper away from closing on a house (09 tax transcript) and the credit report she pulled is almost ready to expire. Since my TU score was up according to myFico, I wanted her to pull the report again to start the 90 day clock anew before the things they made me pay off to get the mortgage posted and dropped my score.  Lot of good that did me, huh?  Now I'm worried that the UW will pull my scores right before close, and I'll be screwed.  I saw a much earlier post on this board that asked whether or not the TU98 score should now be considered a FAKO score.  I, for one, think it should be.  Just my two cents. 

[smallfry]

I don't think inquiries can make that much of a difference so far as the score between 98 and 04 goes. There has to be a common thread between the lower and higher scores. AAofA, utilization, accounts with balances,new credit or whatever. Number of inqs wouldn't tank a score that much.

[tbone74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I pulled my TU score from myFico on 3/5, and it was 664.  I immediately called my mortgage broker (I mean within less than 5 minutes) and asked her to pull my TU score, and she pulled a 600 (they use TU04, like almost everyone does now)!  

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Uh oh....now that totally got my anxiety going!  I'm going to see my LO this Friday for our VA Loan.  Initially, the first set of scores she pulled were on 02/04/2010: TU (via TU04) 608/ TU98 Score 638 / EQ: 613 / Exp: 663.  

Since then, I've had several baddies removed.  The change:  TU98 670 / EQ: 616 / Exp: ?   

After seeing my TU98 score go up 32 points.....I WAS pretty confident that my TU04 would be above 620.  But, after reading the above post indicating a 64 point difference....I'm not so confident.  

Darn credit scoring systems......aghh!

[fused]

Its "believed" that TU 04 punishes high (not sure how high) revolving util more than TU 98 does. 

[Anonymous]

I suppose that's possible, but that certainly isn't the reason for the huge discrepancy in my case.  I have 2 cc with $500 limits on each.  Both carry balances of about $20.  Those are the only cards I have. 

[smallfry]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I suppose that's possible, but that certainly isn't the reason for the huge discrepancy in my case.  I have 2 cc with $500 limits on each.  Both carry balances of about $20.  Those are the only cards I have. 

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You might see a big ding for 2 out of 2 cards reporting balances even though the balances are small.

[Anonymous]

I have paid them off in full every month since I had them, and in December, my mortgage officer recommended that I keep a small balance on both of them in order to increase my score.  It worked. 

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to clarify a little further. It seems that under utlization of credit can hurt you just like over utilization can. From everything I have read on this board and learned over the years, it's best to keep revolving credit balances at 7-10% of the available balance, if not a little less.  Mine is at 4%.  The whole point of this thread, though, is that myFico is not selling "true" TU scores.  They are selling what amounts to an outdated, useless score that lenders no longer use.  So I, for one, now consider the TU score a FAKO score and will not buy another TU score from myFico until they provide a true, current, and useful score.  A 64-point difference between what I pull here and what a lender pulls less than 5 minutes later is simply ridiculous.