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What matters more, score or report?

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mrcrisp023
Frequent Contributor

What matters more, score or report?

Any help here is appreciated. I've been working on cleaning up my credit. My scores are approaching 700 across the board. However, I have a ton of missed payments (mortgage and car) on my reports from some financial issues I had last year. Do creditors care more about the score or so they really dissect the report? I'm considering applying for a legit credit card once I hit 700, which I believe should be soon once I pay down a couple more items on my report. I currently just have one secured card. No bk, no collections, no foreclosures. Just missed payments and some burned creditors that I've since paid off (discover, synchrony, Barclays). Do I need to wait until all my missed payments have aged off or is my score what really matters?

 

Thanks!

Capital One SavorOne: $3000 / Bank of America Unlimited Cash Rewards Visa Signature: $500 / Mission Lane: $1500 / Merrick: $2000 / CreditOne Amex: $850

Starting 09/2022 MyFico 08: EQ 648 / TU 659 / EX 644
Current MyFico 08: EQ 665 / TU 670 / EX 670

2024 EOY Goal: 750
9 REPLIES 9
GatoradeZeroGuy
Valued Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?

I imagine not all 700's are created equal. 

 

a 700 from a dirty file with recent lates is going to be much different than a 700 from a clean profile. 

 

I believe the score does matter somewhat, but you should be realistic given your profile and compare any future apps to other DPs found on here.

 

But I would love to hear more people's opinion on this myself as somebody with similarly currently percieved inflated fico 8/9 scores.

Starting FICO 8:

Current FICO 8:

3/6, 5/12, 14/24

Message 2 of 10
Remedios
Credit Mentor

Re: What matters more, score or report?

Report. Score is just a numerical representation of your report that used to mean something. 

Then, most major lenders came up with their own proprietary algorithms that "translate" your report based on their UW standards. 

 

So, one bank may think nothing of 30 day late from 5 years ago, for another one it might be a deal breaker, even though both would technically see same score but they would apply different standards based on your report and their underwriting standards. 

Nothing special happens when 700 is reached. It's not a world of difference from 680, and 720 isn't magnificent compared to 700.

They are just numbers that used to be hot commodity but developing technology available to lenders has made score almost obsolete. 

 

 

 

Message 3 of 10
CYBERSAM
Senior Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?

Your FICO score is the reflection of your report! There are no 800+ scores that have bunch of negatives reporting or -600 scores that have clean records!







                
Message 4 of 10
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?


@mrcrisp023 wrote:

Any help here is appreciated. I've been working on cleaning up my credit. My scores are approaching 700 across the board. However, I have a ton of missed payments (mortgage and car) on my reports from some financial issues I had last year. Do creditors care more about the score or so they really dissect the report? I'm considering applying for a legit credit card once I hit 700, which I believe should be soon once I pay down a couple more items on my report. I currently just have one secured card. No bk, no collections, no foreclosures. Just missed payments and some burned creditors that I've since paid off (discover, synchrony, Barclays). Do I need to wait until all my missed payments have aged off or is my score what really matters?

 

Thanks!


There are many differences in approach, but I would say that in general the score sort of gets you in the door, but they do indeed "dissect" the report to see if there are things they don't like.  I was once turned down by a credit union for a credit card when the score they pulled was an 829.  Mostly, they didn't like the fact that I'd added a number of new accounts.

 

As to your question, "Do I need to wait until all my missed payments have aged off or is my score what really matters?"

 

No you do not have to wait until all your missed payments have aged off.

 

And no your score is not "what really matters".

 

Both the score and the report matter. And few of us have a report that will be perfect in the eyes of all beholders.


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

Message 5 of 10
GatoradeZeroGuy
Valued Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?


@mrcrisp023 wrote:

 Do I need to wait until all my missed payments have aged off or is my score what really matters?

 


I think a good way to think about it is:

 

Have I done everything in my power to make my report the best I possibly can in my situation? 

 

Have I paid off my debt so balances are 0?

Do I have three revolvers and practing AZEO?

Do I have an open loan? Preferably at <9%? 

 

After that, all you can do is wait. And let time heal all credit wounds, as it were. 

 

I would 'Dave Ramsey' the paying off of debt if you haven't gotten to that point yet.

 

Then, I would focus on adding two revolvers to have a minimum of three. See what Cap1, Mission Lane, Discover, Petal, CU's are offering.

 

Then, see if you can get an open loan/SSL, NFCU SSL perhaps? 

 

Then allow time to heal the past.

Starting FICO 8:

Current FICO 8:

3/6, 5/12, 14/24

Message 6 of 10
FireMedic1
Community Leader
Mega Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?

I have to go with @Remedios . I have pretty good scores. But the BK will keep me from getting all those "I Want" cards that wont approve me until the BK falls off. If I didnt have the BK. Probably break 800 and have a Chase, Citi, BoA card, ect.


Message 7 of 10
krit
Regular Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?

You've received some great info. All I would suggest is to go ahead and get a couple of revolvers on your reports to start aging and mitigating some of those negatives. Try Discover and Cap1. I closed my Cap1s after they'd served their purpose. (They will show as positive TLs for ~10 years, even closed.) I kept my Disc. It grew much faster than Cap1. As was suggested, also hit up your credit union to see what they might have to offer. The important thing is to get some good NEW pmt history going asap. 

Message 8 of 10
OmarGB9
Community Leader
Super Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?

Definitely report. Both matter, but report gives more insight into your credit history than a mere numerical score. And no you don't need to wait for all your lates to age off, but I would definitely wait at least another year or two before trying for "prime" cards. In the meantime, you could grab some low hanging fruit such as secured cards (ideally ones that graduate to unsecured) or starter/rebuilder cards.


Last App: 1/10/2023
Penfed Gold Visa Card

Currently rebuilding as of 04/11/2019.

Starting FICO 8 Scores:




Current FICO 8 scores:


Message 9 of 10
Anonymalous
Valued Contributor

Re: What matters more, score or report?

Report. My EQ 8 was in the mid 780s when I first became scoreable. Most lenders looked past that, and saw I only had 6 months of personal credit history. I saw that in denials, prequals, SLs, APRs, and offers. Many lenders care more about personal credit history, credit seeking, debt (like DTI), derogs, and other factors more than a score represents. A score is a barometer, not the weather.

 

Those are really recent negatives, especially if some of them are 90 days. Look for lenders who are friendly to people with relatively recent problems, and adjust your expectations. There's nothing wrong with secured cards.

Message 10 of 10
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