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The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

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Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

Thank for this information, this was very informative.

so the question that I have is what companies have moved to using FICO 9 as of 2019?

As I look on MyFICO scores, my scores are lower on FICO9 vs FICO 8...What would be the leading contributor to that reason?

Message 151 of 166
clipperskipper
Regular Contributor

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

I'm only familiar with 8.0 from Experian, as I do have an account with them. Beacon scores are used by mortgage companies, which looks at credit at a slightly different approach.

 

TU 850   09/19

EXP 832 09/19 

Message 152 of 166
iv
Valued Contributor

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations


@clipperskipper wrote:

I'm only familiar with 8.0 from Experian, as I do have an account with them. Beacon scores are used by mortgage companies, which looks at credit at a slightly different approach.


Nope.  BEACON is/was just the Equifax brandname for the FICO scores they sell.

 

BEACON 09 was at one point Equifax's name for FICO 8 , for instance. Generally, past practice was for FICO, Equifax, and Transunion to use the calendar year to identify score versions - "98", "04", "05/5.0", "08", "09"... while Experian used version numbers - "V2", "V3"...  along with their own branding - "Equifax BEACON", "TransUnion EMPIRICA", or "Experian Risk Model".  But all of these were just CRA-specific variations of actual FICO models.

 

Thankfully, the names were standardized to the current "FICO Score X" (where X is 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, or 9) a few years ago.

 

Mortgage companies use a specific set of scores, as required by Fannie/Freddie: Equifax FICO 5 (AKA BEACON 5.0), TransUnion FICO 4 (AKA Classic 04), and Experian FICO 2 (AKA Risk Model V2).

 

None of those three scores are actually mortgage-specfic - they don't use a "slightly different approach" in any sort of mortgage lending targeted way.  They are just old versions (FICO 2 is more than 20 years old, FICO 4/5 is over 15) of the FICO models that Fannie/Freddie settled on using.  As the assumptions built into them are somewhat dated, they do react differently to report changes from the newer models.

 

(Not that FICO 8 is all that current, either... the data and assumptions that it's based on are over ten years old - specifically the period of time leading right up to the "Great Recession".)

 

EQ8:850 TU8:850 EX8:850
EQ9:847 TU9:847 EX9:839
EQ5:797 TU4:807 EX2:813 - 2021-06-06
Message 153 of 166
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

I'm still slightly confused. I am looking to get my homebuying process started in April 2020. I went to see how much of a boost I can give my score before I go in. My bankruptcy was discharged in April 2018 and right now my Experian score is 662. I do not know the others. I was going to buy the Fico package that tracks all three to monitor my scores and make sure my milddle score is about 640 (which is what I was told I needed via my employer, which does mortgage finanicing). What products should be looking into? 

Message 154 of 166
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations


@Anonymous wrote:

I'm still slightly confused. I am looking to get my homebuying process started in April 2020. I went to see how much of a boost I can give my score before I go in. My bankruptcy was discharged in April 2018 and right now my Experian score is 662. I do not know the others. I was going to buy the Fico package that tracks all three to monitor my scores and make sure my milddle score is about 640 (which is what I was told I needed via my employer, which does mortgage finanicing). What products should be looking into? 


The only way I know of to get all 3 of your mortgage scores is through one of the MyFICO products, which are quite expensive.

 

The quarterly update costs $30 month plus tax; the monthly update costs $40 month plus tax.

 

You can get your EX mortgage score, updated daily, from experian.com, but that's probably $25 a month.

 

You can get your EQ mortgage score for free, if you have an account with Digital Federal Credit Union, but it's very time delayed and updated only monthly.

 

 


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 155 of 166
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

Hi ZAB23,

 

I would recommend: 3-Bureau Monitoring Plus Monthly Credit Reports. You can get your 3 bureau FICO scores updated every month. Experian (owns FICO) scoring is immediate when changes occur to your credit report. 

 

As you are making changes, the 3 bureau scores help you confirm that the changes you are making are moving your credit report, and by extention your score, in the correct direction.

 

It is 40/month. You can start and stop anytime. If you want to save a few bucks, perhaps start and stop every other month (one month on, one month off).

 

Most important things you can do are:

-pay every bill on time

-reduce your debt level

-do not apply for new credit

 

If you have errors on your report, provide as much evidence as you can of a mistake.  Opinions do not matter, only documented evidence.

 

Happy thanksgiving, and good luck to you 

 

 

Message 156 of 166
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

Thanks @SouthJamaica

 

MW, 

Well since I filed, I opened 3 credit cards and my student loan is still reporting. So I have to figure out how to increase my scores somehow if I need to. I did get a 90 day late a couple of months ago from my student loan. I was paying the wrong amount, dont know how I messed that up and after awhile the left over balance kept rolling over. I set up auto draft through my bank so I never even looked. That hurt my heart so bad cause I had been doing so good after the bankruptcy. Scores bounced back to pre-90 day late the following month after I paid off the balance. I'm still down about 15 pts from that and trying to work my way back up. 

 

I have the Experian monthly credit monitoring already. If I can find a discount and buy the credit monitoring from Equifax and Transunion seperately would that be the same thing as ordering from here? I had an option of getting free Equifax monitoring because of a credit breach but declined it due to me already having Experian and the other two have credit locks that are easily accessible. I could switch to the free Equifax and then would only be out of extra money on the Transunion if I could do it that way. Are the monitoring service scores the same as I would get from myfico?

Message 157 of 166
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

Ask. Go back to whomever is carrying your student loan. If you can make a strong and defensible case that the payment error was due to a misunderstanding caused by something they did (do not accuse, instead, explain), you may be able to get them to make a correction. Ask respectfully. There are no guarantees. It cost you nothing, and may get you relief.  Stay away from new credit and keep you credit usage as low as possible, especially as you get close to applying for a mortgage.

Message 158 of 166
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

Oh I tried that. They won't budget. Told me it was their policy to report 90 day lates and 90 days lates only. They dont report 30 or 60's. It was my fault. I was on a ICR and didnt know my payment amount changed after I recertified it. 

Message 159 of 166
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: The many flavors of FICO:__Editions, versions, and variations

2 things:

 

ICR? What is that?

 

"I have the Experian monthly credit monitoring already."  Which one, the 5/month or 20/month?

Message 160 of 166
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