Transunion Difference: 100+ Points?

[lkcrew426]

My DH and I are in the process of applying for a mortgage. myFICO tells us his TU score is 768, but the lender pulled TU (using the empirica model?) and it says 604. Does anyone have any idea how this could happen?

[llecs]

That's a big difference.

Look at your lender's docs. Does it say Empirica 04?

Did you pull the 768 from myFICO on the same day your lender pulled the score? If not, how far apart were the pulls?

[lkcrew426]

I thought so, too - but I'm not well versed on the scoring process. They pulled on March 12 (Fri) and I pulled on March 13 (Sat). Their docs say "Model Used: TransUnionEmpirica"

The score range listed is 300 to 850 if that helps?

[tbone74]

Well, looks like I learn something new everyday!  As you've probably read, myFICO uses scoring model TU98.  From what I've gathered thus far, it appears there at least 3 scoring models offered up by TU....TU98, Classic04, and Trans Union Empirica.  Most lenders use Classic04.  

Since I'm currently in my own mortgage journey, I have yet to find a lender that uses TU98.  My suggestion would be to research other lenders and find out which version they use.  I've been able to do this via email in most cases.  It might be worth a shot to let someone who uses Classic04 run your score....though, there could still be a difference in score, for the positive or negative.

[haulingthescoreup]

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@cruthisfamily wrote:

I thought so, too - but I'm not well versed on the scoring process. They pulled on March 12 (Fri) and I pulled on March 13 (Sat). Their docs say "Model Used: TransUnionEmpirica"

The score range listed is 300 to 850 if that helps?

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OP, this should be a classic TU score. Even if they're using 04 instead of 08, the difference shouldn't be nearly this big.

Maybe he has a split file. Has he been pulling his reports frequently? If you have access to the lender's report, check out how many and which accounts are on that one, and compare to what's on the myFICO version. It sounds like either the lender is seeing part of the file and you're seeing the other part, or one of you is seeing the whole thing, and the other is only seeing part.

EQ and TU reports are vulnerable to splitting, especially if a consumer (or someone else, I guess) pulls lots of soft reports.

[Anonymous]

What were your EQ and EX scores pulled by the lender? If the TU 604 is significantly lower than the other two (as it appears to be), there should be some obvious discrepancies among the credit reports. A split file sounds like a possible cause. There have been a couple of reports of 60 point differences between TU'98 and TU'04, but nothing remotely close to 160 points. Most differences between the two versions are 1-30 points. Empirica is just TU's trademark name for their classic Fico score, not a different scoring model ...

[tbone74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 Empirica is just TU's trademark name for their classic Fico score, not a different scoring model ...

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Revike- thanks for clarifying that...I was wondering

[lkcrew426]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What were your EQ and EX scores pulled by the lender? If the TU 604 is significantly lower than the other two (as it appears to be), there should be some obvious discrepancies among the credit reports. A split file sounds like a possible cause. There have been a couple of reports of 60 point differences between TU'98 and TU'04, but nothing remotely close to 160 points. Most differences between the two versions are 1-30 points. Empirica is just TU's trademark name for their classic Fico score, not a different scoring model ...

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His EQ and EX were both in the 700s, 703 and 721 respectively I think. How do I see the whole file, or get the lender to see the whole file if its been split?

I check ours both about once a month, but mine has been checked WAY more frequently than his and the difference in my myFICO and the lender's scores were just a handful of points.

Thanks for the clarification on the scoring model. I just got another form from them that named the scoring system as 04.

[Anonymous]

Well, first you want to confirm whether it is a split file - have the lender compare the tradelines on the tri-merge report to see if there are obvious discrepancies (or better, meet with the lender and review the report together). There are always a few differences from one CRA to another, but if you have 30 accounts on EQ and EX and 10 accounts on TU, that would point toward a split file. Another possibility might be that TU is showing a couple of new derogatory items that hadn't shown up on the MyFico report yet. Surprise bogus collections have been known to magically appear when someone starts applying for a mortgage. Also, if you have a copy of an earlier "normal" TU report, you can compare it to the TU section of the lender's report and see if a bunch of tradelines have suddenly vanished. If it does appear to be a split file, you can contact TU and see if they can fix it. I don't have first-hand experience - perhaps someone else who's had a split file can offer more detailed suggestions.

More importantly, is there any difference in your interest rate if your middle score is 703 or 721? If not, the TU score is irrelevant. Of course, you will want to fix whatever is causing the big difference, but there would be no urgency if TU is not going to be considered for this loan approval ...

[lkcrew426]

Okay, thanks for the info. I'm going to check into it and see if I can deduce what the problem is.

There not using the TU score, so there's no urgency - but I just want to get it resolved so it doesn't cause problems in the future.