Differences in credit scores (credit report, mortgage, bureaus, average)

[trmaoy]

I suscribe to scorewatch with equifax which alerts me to changes in my credit score. I have also recently viewed my credit reports with equifax and experian. Today I purchased my credit score from experian's website and it is a totally different scoring scale. The report said the scoring ranges from 500 -980 and it was called VantageScore. Equifax says the scores range from 350-850 and they call it FICO score. I haven't looked at transunion yet.

I thought your credit scores from all three were based on the same scale. Did this change? My experian score is almost 250 points higher than my equifax score. The last time I looked at all three they were all within about 50-60 points of each other. I just wonder if I was looking at valid information.

If anyone can help answer this I would appreciate it.

[evilnewbie]

VantageScore was supposed to be a "new" system that better "detail" your financial risk than FICO which made its score from a very, very complex equation. Also, I think VantageScore (which is newer) is suppose to be "cheaper" than FICO (which is owned by some other company). The whole point of VantageScore was that all three credit bureau would have the same score because it would suppose to build a score in a way that reflected your credit risk "appropriately" so there is less variation. FICO can be different in all three credit bureaus so this can be disadvantageous to the consumer when you apply for a mortgage and they "use" your lowest credit score (or average) giving you a higher interest rate. However, VantageScore is new (about 3-4 years old) and hasn't completely replaced FICO yet... we will see...

[trmaoy]

So is there a different FICO score for the three credit bureaus or does the FICO score only come from Equifax? In other words, do I need to look for a FICO score from Experian and Transunion as well? Thanks.

[MMullin]

The credit scoring issue is even more complicated than noted here so far - in my opinion you might as well not worry about your score unless it starts to drop.

I've been told there are over a 100 DIFFERENT scoring models - one for auto loans, one for home loans, one for home owners insurance, etc. They will all have a different scale and a different means of calculating that score.

Are the scoring models the same at the three credit bureaus? NO, each one of them has a proprietary scoring model. Your score is likely to be different at all three - that's why home lenders arbitrarily take the "middle" score when approving/pricing you loan.

So watching your score through one of these services can be helpful in terms of watching the trend but do not worry about the actual score.

Mike Mullin