ACTUAL Credit Scores

[suicidecharley]

Ok new here but not new to forum world and novice in credit rebuild. Doing LOTS of reading for NEWBS on here. One frustration I have is where can I get my actual FICO scores which financing companies are pulling? Here is an example of my frustration:

 

October 25th I call up AT&T for U-verse set up in a new place I moved into. Hard pull. DONE. Busy with the move and forget all about it until I received the letter in the mail "Hey we pulled your credit blah blah...716 is the score. Still busy with the move threw it in the trash. Today I realized MyFico score on that date was actually 535 (rebuilding remember?).

 

on 11/11 Barclays did a hard pull for a CC app, denied, recon'd, approved. TU Score on that date was 623. All the other free Fako's I have pulling from TU say 591.

 

ARGHHHHH!!!! How the heck am I supposed to know if I'm making ACTUAL progress on FICO scores if everything and everyone is different? I can't keep getting hard pulls for the sake of seeing my scores right!!!!

 

Does MyFICO pull your FICO score and just adjusts THAT pulled FICO score up or down based on activity or does it pull the FICO score again?

 

Sorry I've searched but my eyes are bleeding from all the NEWB reading and i just can't seem to get a specific answer to my question. Bits and pieces of inference is what I'm mostly seeing.

[cv91915]

Obsess over getting your reports clean instead of the nuances of all of the score models, especially if you're in the 5s.

[BobWang]

Think of credit repair as a journey of a thousand posts,

 

you're on your way,

 

but it's going to take awhile.

[suicidecharley]

I understand the journey is a process, I'm only 4 derrogs away from clean reports so I'm working on that. I just need to see where my scores are making progress (or not) and when. My goal is a mortgage (that's where my true obsession is lol) but I just can't seem to get a handle on when I may be able to apply. (Last task for now is getting my UTI down zero on all but CC's).

[BobWang]

Its a marathon,

 

and one of the most important lessons to learn

 

is how to pace yourself.

 

You're barely into the race,

 

and you're already planning your 100-yard kick at the end.

[cv91915]

You will get a free FICO periodically from Barclays on your new card. Use the direction of that score to know about where you are. It's a TU FICO.

 

You will never get recurring versions of every flavor of FICO (auto, bank card, mortgage and a few dozen others) from all three bureaus, but if you have four derogs left you have plenty of non-score related work to do.

 

You can tell how you're doing by how many derogs are left. You don't need FICO scores to know that three derogs is better than four.

[Momof5]

The only real FICO are the ones you get from myfico or CCs that provide this service. Even then, the numbers may vary. Some creditors still use EQ04 as opposed to EQ08, as an example. The number you get from myfico is your CC FICO. Unless you app for a car, you won't see your auto-enhanced score and a mtg for your mtg FICO.

 

It is good to pull a FICO (all 3) when you start to establish the baseline. (The myfico scores are currently the 08 versions.) After that, you use FAKOs to get a general idea of up or down trends. If you are ready to app for a large purchase, then it is wise to pay for a new set of scores. No sense giving FICO your hard earned money when you don't have to!

[takeshi]

One frustration I have is where can I get my actual FICO scores which financing companies are pulling?

As stated above you can't get scores for every model used by creditors so you can't rely on that approach. You've even indicated in your own OP that the same number isn't pulled by everyone.

 

All the other free Fako's I have pulling from TU say 591.

You can disregard the FAKO's.

 

How the heck am I supposed to know if I'm making ACTUAL progress on FICO scores if everything and everyone is different?

I'd also suggest not fixating on specific numbers. You can't guarantee that the number you pull is the number that a creditor will pull. It's not just a matter of the different scoring models but changes to data over time as well. I'd also recommend focusing on the data in your reports. Use this as a guide on the relative weights of the different factors.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

 

As stated above it should be obvious that less derogs are better and with 4 derogs you're still far from having clean reports. Lower utilization is better. Greater AAOA is better. Less inquiries is better. More credit diversity is better, etc. A good report will lead to good scores. If you absolutely must have a score as a metric then pick a scoring model and stick with it. Just understand that the score isn't necessarily what a creditor will pull for you.

 

Does MyFICO pull your FICO score and just adjusts THAT pulled FICO score up or down based on activity or does it pull the FICO score again?

All scores are based on the data on the report used when the score was generated. Scores are not adjusted. If a given score using a given scoring model changes for you it's because the data used for that score has changed between the time the first score was generated and the second score was generated.

 

Sorry I've searched but my eyes are bleeding from all the NEWB reading and i just can't seem to get a specific answer to my question.

That's because there is no such answer as what you're looking for. Read up on how your credit is assessed and you'll know what you need to do. If you're looking for a single number to refer to you'll never find it.

Edited November 19, 2014 by takeshi

[suicidecharley]

Thanks everyone who has responded (too many great responses to quote you all). Understanding that there are a billion scoring models which different creditors pull helps. So since I'll never figure that out, I'll spend more time focusing on the tasks that I know i need to accomplish. 4 derrogs and that UTI. Neither will be fixed overnight.

[cv91915]

Thanks everyone who has responded (too many great responses to quote you all). Understanding that there are a billion scoring models which different creditors pull helps. So since I'll never figure that out, I'll spend more time focusing on the tasks that I know i need to accomplish. 4 derrogs and that UTI. Neither will be fixed overnight.

 

There are a lot of helpful, experienced people here who can help with your negatives. I would suggest starting new threads, one thread per issue, and don't try to tackle all of them at once. Start with either the most damaging item or the simplest one, depending on your personality type.