Use of scores other than FICO?

[Brentgerson]

I am currently working on a home equity loan.  I applied with a mortgage firm recently, understanding ahead of time that a 660 score was required for approval.  I check my credit data daily, and occasionally use MyFico to pull scores before app-ing.

According to yesterday's MyFico pulls, my middle score was 664. (TU 685, EX 664, EQ 595)  I app'd with confidence this morning, and the loan officer unfortunately notified me that my credit scores were too low for them to pursue the loan.  When I asked more questions, she revealed that my top score was in the 660's, my middle was in the 650's, and my low was in the 580's.  I was baffled, but I was willing to accept the unlikely possibility that my scores have changed ever so slightly since yesterday.

However, this afternoon I checked them on MyFico again, and they are all unchanged since yesterday (685, 664, 595).  There was no change in any data between the days, nor a change in score.

She claimed that they use FICO's - (and she even implied that maybe I was confused with a PLUS score - which I am clearly not).  If this is the case, how on earth did they get a different FICO than I do on this website?  Are there different FICO scores??  A different lender pulled my credit earlier this week, also for a home equity loan, also with the same credit account data, and they have the same 664 I do. 

Please let me know if you can shed some light here.

[Anonymous]

There is a chance that the TU score is slightly different because the lender could be using the never version-

EQ and EX should be exactly the same-

[Anonymous]

Tim--

EQ and EX should be same?  My Ex is 700 and EQ is 686. ???????My EX plus is 761.  Does anyone ever look at this?

[haulingthescoreup]

They're not going to look at your EX Plus score. Some lenders have started looking at your Vantage score in addition to your FICO's --probably trying to see if they have any predictive value at all.

OP --you might want to print out your scores and reports from this site, with the dates showing, and ask your mortgage lender to compare them with what she's seeing. As Timothy said, there is an updated TU version that some lenders are using, but the others should be the same. Unless they're using any outdated version??? Don't know if there is an option to do that.

Anyway, I would present the scores and reports you got here, and ask her for comments. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

The EQ and EX score should match what you lender is pulling-

Sorry that was not clear. Take HTSU's advice or take you business elsewhere.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Tim--

EQ and EX should be same? My Ex is 700 and EQ is 686. ???????My EX plus is 761. Does anyone ever look at this?

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[Brentgerson]

One possibility, based on your shares, could be that the TU score was messed up - so the EX (664) and EQ (595) may have been reporting accurately, but the TU score may have been reporting differently than on this website - perhaps that is the reason.  Is there any literature discussing the changes in TU scoring models - perhaps explaning some of the difference in weights or criteria?  Is the lower score more likely a newer model or an outdated one?  Is there a timetable out there for the rollout of any new models/updates?

My goal with the home equity is to pay down the credit cards to 5-9% util - I want that middle score over 700!

Tx,

Brent