Why Am I Killing Myself to Go Nowhere????

[Flipper]

I have noticed that the disparity in accuracy between the different sites, such as truecredit (TU's site), freecreditreport (Experian's site) and myfico.com are so ridiculous, that it seems as if the whole FICO scoring thing is only relevant based on which particular reporting site a prospective lender is using.

For instance,

on myfico.com, my TU FICO score is 615

on experian's site, my TU FICO score is 584

on TU's site, my TU FICO score is 533

From highest to lowest, that is an 83 POINT difference in one bureau's score from three different sites! Now, how in the hell am I supposed to really know how I'm doing or worse yet, what if I apply for a loan? How am I supposed to know which scoring site these lenders are using?

If the FICO formula is proprietary, why is there such a huge difference here? Is there any way to find out what my score REALLY is? Seems they are all over making sure I'm accountable as a consumer, but when it comes to their accountability, it's with a very cavalier and irresponsible attitude. I feel like asking these websites for a refund if they can't keep their scoring somewhat consistent from one site to the next.

[Pogmathon9]

There are FICO's and FAKO's. Looking at the independant sites from the big 3 you are looking at your FAKO scores. I did notice you had myfico.com and I believe thats the one true FICO score. Im sure some advanced users here could confirm.

[Flipper]

I don't even know what a "FAKO" is; sounds like some sort of joke. If there is another scoring model out there, then these sites should not be touting FICO as the model they're using, when clearly, they are not using anything even remotely resembling FICO...unless FICO has hired Ms. Cleo to calculate people's scores. I can't get all three scores from FICO unless I pay $42 for an annual membership for the privilege of paying them $45 each time I want my updated score

The only thing I'm learning in this process is what a shameless scam the whole credit and credit reporting industry really is.

[jq26]

It can be complicated. There are all sorts of scoring models. Some use one of FICO's scoring models. There are many within the FICO family. Some are geared towards the mortgage industry, some the cc industry, and some the vehicle loan indusrty. Each is based on a FICO proprietary formula that assigns a weighting to each of the various hundreds of pieces of data that comes in from your TU, EQ, and EX report.

If you are not dealing with a company that has a contract with Fair Isaac, then that company cannot provide you any sort of FICO score. They attempt to simulate a FICO score by creating their own algorithm which CIC'ers have deemed a "FAKO" score (because it is fake) and then running CRA info through it to spit out a simulated credit score.

To give you an idea, this month my Providian card is telling me I have a FICO score of 707 based on TransUnion info. However, my Juniper card is telling me my TransUnion credit score is 652. When I dig further, it turns out the Juniper score is just a simulated FICO based on TrasnUnion information (ie: a FAKO).

Myfico is probably the best predictor of your "real' FICO because it comes straight from Fair Isaac who owns the FICO formula. But you have to pay so it is not worth it imo. Just use your FICOs and FAKOs that you get for free. The key is to use them as indicating positive/negative scoring trends and compare on a month by month basis. Do not compare them among each other. It is apples and watermelons.

[admin]

Don't be disheartened....sometimes it takes a lot of work before you make progress. We are here for you.

Keep posting when you need more encouragement.

[kb9tbq]

on myfico.com, my TU FICO score is 615

on experian's site, my TU FICO score is 584

on TU's site, my TU FICO score is 533

I don't know what type of fico models Experian and TransUnion are selling consumers but the Myfico is a mortgage model.

Mortgage Model

Auto Model

Credit Card Model

Installment Loan Model

Credit Union Model

Utilities Model

Insurance Model

Personal Finance Model

Bankruptcy Model

There are likely more then what I have listed here but there are some that lenders can pull.

You really don't need to be pulling myfico unless you are applying for a mortgage loan.

I stick with the credit reporting agency scores myself and any improvements I make to the score I shoot for a score 50 points or more higher then what I think is good to cover the spread that the credit reporting agency might sell to the creditor. So if you want 650, shoot for a 700 score instead.

If you ever get the chance, recommend going in person to a bank and asking for a secured loan, if they pull credit report if you can have a copy of the report they pull. If they do so, then pull a copy of the regular report and compare the scores so you can see the offset for yourself.

If you want to build credit a secured loan is a good way to go, you take out a loan, but put it into savings. And make payments over a 6 month period of time, and get the deposit back after you pay the loan back. That will create a good installment loan on your credit report, you want to establish a good tradeline for rebuilding.

Anyway if you ask the bank for a copy of their in house credit report with score, they can sometimes initiate an application to pull one for you. It will cause one hard hit, but you can bump that off, or dispute it.

[Guest BucFan]

If you want to build credit a secured loan is a good way to go, you take out a loan, but put it into savings. And make payments over a 6 month period of time, and get the deposit back after you pay the loan back. That will create a good installment loan on your credit report, you want to establish a good tradeline for rebuilding.

I just wanted to add to this.

Instead of putting the loan into savings, take a look at your bank's CDs.

I'm actually earning quite a bit more than I'm paying in interest on the same money the bank loaned me.