Why aren't my MyFICO scores the same as my REAL FICO scores?

[Demotage]

I was considering applying for a loan and the lender told me that my middle score needed to be above 660.  So I paid the 55 bucks to MyFICO to get all three of my scores.  Bingo, my middle score was over 660!  So I called the lender to apply, they pulled my credit reports and the 2 of the scores were completely different than those scores supplied by myFICO  (EquiFax was the only one the same).  Not only that, they weren't even in the same order.  In the myFICO report, TransUnion was, by far, my lowest score (EF and Experian were about the same).  In my REAL credit report, Experian was, by far, my lowest score and TransUnion was similar to EF.  Unfortunately for me, the REAL TU score was just under 660, so my loan application crashed and burned.  I'm not blaming myFICO for that - my score is my score - but they promised me an accurate score, and I apparently didn't get that.   I do blame them because my credit report has now taken a hit because of the hard pull from the lender, which I would not have asked for had I known in advance that my score was not going to qualify.  Note that I got my myFICO score and the REAL scores within half an hour of each other.  Anyone know why myFICO scores are not accurate representations of the actual FICO score?

As a final note, I asked myFICO for a refund for giving me innacurate info and they refused.

[blondy250]

Why would they give you a refund, It's 100% your correct and 100% real fico score. There are 49 different "real" fico scores, myFico sells 3. They happen to be the only real fico scores available for consumer purchase.

[blondy250]

This thread is very helpful.     http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-many-flavors-of-FICO-Editions-version...

[Anonymous]

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@Demotage wrote:

I was considering applying for a loan and the lender told me that my middle score needed to be above 660.  So I paid the 55 bucks to MyFICO to get all three of my scores.  Bingo, my middle score was over 660!  So I called the lender to apply, they pulled my credit reports and the 2 of the scores were completely different than those scores supplied by myFICO  (EquiFax was the only one the same).  Not only that, they weren't even in the same order.  In the myFICO report, TransUnion was, by far, my lowest score (EF and Experian were about the same).  In my REAL credit report, Experian was, by far, my lowest score and TransUnion was similar to EF.  Unfortunately for me, the REAL TU score was just under 660, so my loan application crashed and burned.  I'm not blaming myFICO for that - my score is my score - but they promised me an accurate score, and I apparently didn't get that.   I do blame them because my credit report has now taken a hit because of the hard pull from the lender, which I would not have asked for had I known in advance that my score was not going to qualify.  Note that I got my myFICO score and the REAL scores within half an hour of each other.  Anyone know why myFICO scores are not accurate representations of the actual FICO score?

As a final note, I asked myFICO for a refund for giving me innacurate info and they refused.

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Any score you get from myFICO is a real FICO score.  The issue is there are 3 different models/versions sold here.  EQ is Beacon 5 which mortgage lenders use and will be the same.  TU is an older version, 98, and though it is still used, not as widely.  EX is the newest version, 08, and is used by some of the CCCs.

Mortgage lenders use the 04 model, which, as mentioned, EQ is the exact same.  Unfortunately, as a consumer, we are not able to purchase those other 2 scores anywhere.

myFICO can only sell what the CRAs say they can sell. 

And for clarification, your "real" credit report is any report pulled from the CRAs.  The ones from 3rd parties like myFICO are more summaries.

[Demotage]

Thanks for the link - I skimmed a bit and will read more later when I have time - but when you say there are multiple versions - do you mean that there are multiple versions of my current Experian FICO score, my current TransUnion Score and my current Equifax score?    I'm familiar with the idea of a FAKO score and with the idea that the model changes over time, but if the  specific score from the specific agency at the same instant in time is different between myFICO and the score that a lender actually pulls, then what is the point of paying for a myFICO score?   If it doesn't reflect what a real-world creditor is going to use, then knowing it is useless.

[bobebob]

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@blondy250 wrote:

Why would they give you a refund, It's 100% your correct and 100% real fico score. There are 49 different "real" fico scores, myFico sells 3. They happen to be the only real fico scores available for consumer purchase.

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+1

But I think that there should be legislation enacted that requires credit monitoring agencies to make any score (in addition to the credit file it's based off of) offered to a potential creditor available in real time to the individual at no charge.

Getting the file once a year is not sufficient to monitor and protect one's credit history.

[Demotage]

OK, thanks, that makes more sense to me.  But it also reinforces my conclusion that paying myFICO 50 bucks for my scores is a complete waste of money, because what they send me does not reflect what a lender actually uses (with the exception of EquiFax).  It may be the best they can do, but it is not useful to me as a consumer, and I felt I was promised an 'accurate' score (I could have paid a lot less for a FAKO score - which I understand is different, but in the wash, a score that is different than what lenders will use is kind of useless FICO or FAKO.  In my case, the mismatch between the score they gave me and the score the lender actually uses is probably going to cost me money because my actual-in-the-real-world score is going to take a hit because of the hard pull from the lender I applied to - confident I had a score high enough because of what myFICO told me.

[Taylor4236]

Don't think you're the only one that feels this way.  We'd ALL like to be able to see behind the curtain to the magic man.  

[Demotage]

I'd at least like them to be straightforward about the fact that I am not going to see behind the curtain before they take my money.

[Anonymous]

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@Demotage wrote:

OK, thanks, that makes more sense to me.  But it also reinforces my conclusion that paying myFICO 50 bucks for my scores is a complete waste of money, because what they send me does not reflect what a lender actually uses (with the exception of EquiFax).  It may be the best they can do, but it is not useful to me as a consumer, and I felt I was promised an 'accurate' score (I could have paid a lot less for a FAKO score - which I understand is different, but in the wash, a score that is different than what lenders will use is kind of useless FICO or FAKO.  In my case, the mismatch between the score they gave me and the score the lender actually uses is probably going to cost me money because my actual-in-the-real-world score is going to take a hit because of the hard pull from the lender I applied to - confident I had a score high enough because of what myFICO told me.

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Again, they are accurate scores for the version/model used.  We as consumers often do not know what score a lender is going to use.  Even asking them up front they sometimes will not tell you. 

All of the scores provided here are actual in the real world scores, depending on the lender and what they use.  If you are talking about a mortgage, then no, other than EQ, they are not because mortgage lenders use the 04 version.

Yes, there are 49 different version/models of the 3 FICO scores.  There are the classic scores, the auto enhanced scores and the CC or bankcard enchanced scores of the different models.

Your scores pulled by your mortgage lender would not be the same scores, even if they were the same model, that an auto dealer pulled because they would more than likely use an auto enhanced version.  Yet they would still be accurate scores.  Or those pulled by a CCC because they would use the bankcard enhanced scores.  Yet those are accurate scores too.