Archives for "Credit Score Facts"

FICO, the Score that Counts

There are many credit scores available, but the FICO score is the one that matters. FICO, by the way, is an acronym for Fair Isaac & Company, the creator of the scoring model. Virtually all lenders use FICO scores to make loan decisions. If you are in a credit repair program, any score you monitor is fine for measuring progress. But if you are planning to apply for a loan the FICO score is the one to watch.

FICO and Your Lender

When you apply for a loan, the lender orders your credit report from one (or more) of the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Each credit bureau report comes with a FICO score. If you speak with your lender about your credit, they are likely to refer to each of your scores using the specific credit bureau name.

The Credit Bureau Illusion

Given the constant association of FICO scores with the three credit bureaus, you might assume they have some proprietary claim on the scores. You might also assume that if you purchased your scores from the credit bureaus, you would get the same FICO scores the bureaus sold to your lender. You would not be alone. In the credit repair business, we find most of our customers make the same assumptions. The assumptions are wrong.

Credit Score Re-Branding

As an aside, I should mention that the three bureaus have re-branded the FICO scores they sell to lenders. Equifax calls it a Beacon score, TransUnion calls it an Empirica score, and Experian calls it an Experian Score. Different names, but they are all FICO scores. Our credit repair customers often ask about numeric differences in the scores. Numeric differences arise because each bureau gets information from a slightly different mix of creditors. Timing also plays a roll in score variance; a recent change in your credit may be picked up sooner at one bureau than another.

The Business of Credit Scores

As it happens, the credit bureaus don’t own the FICO scores, nor do they sell them directly to consumers. Fair Isaac & Company owns the scoring model and licenses it to the credit bureaus. The credit bureaus use the model to score the data they have on file for consumers. Then they bundle the scores with consumer credit reports and sell them to lenders. Fair Isaac collects royalties from the credit bureaus for these sales.

Putting Credit Scores to Use

If you are planning to apply for a loan, you might want to purchase your FICO scores beforehand. You would want your real scores, not “estimated” scores that might vary widely from the ones the lender will use. Yet “estimated” scores are exactly what millions of consumers get every year when they visit the credit bureau’s websites. Many of these consumers go on to apply for a loan, and are disappointed when the lender tells them that their scores are lower than they were led to believe. We hear this story almost every day from people starting up their credit repair effort.

Estimated Scores

Fair Isaac would have been happy to have the credit bureaus sell FICO scores directly to consumers. The credit bureaus, however, seeing the opportunity, developed their own “estimated” credit scores rather than paying royalties to Fair Isaac. Equifax, the exception, offers a FICO score to consumers, which provides an economical way for consumers, or anyone in a credit repair program, to monitor their score, but on its own does not provide a complete solution.

Experian’s PLUS Score

Experian sells a credit score at their website called the “PLUS Score”. Here is the small print from their website, “Your PLUS Score is formulated using the information in your credit file. It is modeled after the hundreds of commercial credit scores that help potential lenders, landlords, and employers quickly gauge your credit history and decide what kind of a risk they might be taking if they approve your application.”

TransUnion’s TrueCredit Score

TransUnion sells a credit score called the “TrueCredit” score. Here is the small print from their website. “TrueCredit” is not connected in any way with Fair, Isaac and Company; the credit score provided here is not a so-called FICO score. The credit scores of TransUnion may not be identical in every respect to any consumer credit scores produced by any other company.”

Equifax FICO Score

Equifax, as mentioned, makes a FICO score available to consumers. If you are in a credit repair program, or planning to apply for a loan, this is the most economical way of seeing a real FICO score. But it is important to know that many lenders, and almost all mortgage companies, look at all three of your FICO scores, and base their decision on the value of your middle score. One score is simply not enough.

Myfico.com the FICO Source

So, if you want to know where you stand prior to applying for a loan, or to monitor your credit repair efforts for each credit bureau, you will need to see all three FICO scores. These are available at myfico.com, The Fair Isaac website.

Copyright © 2007 Sky Blue Credit. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Your credit score is a measure of the risk that lenders take when lending you money. Your credit score will determine your financing options and the interest rate that you pay on every dollar you borrow. In fact, it may be the most important number in your life! Here is the inside track on credit scores and how they work…

Not all Scores are Equal

There are many credit scores available, but the only one that matters is your FICO score. FICO, by the way, is an acronym for Fair Isaac and Company, the developer of the score. This is the score that virtually all lenders use. Other scores attempt to approximate the FICO score, but frequently vary by a significant margin.

One Score with Three Names

The FICO score may be referred to by three different names. This is because the three bureaus have branded it for their own marketing. Equifax calls it a BEACON score, TransUnion calls it an EMPIRICA score, and Experian calls it the EXPERIAN/Fair Isaac Risk Model. Because of this you will hear of three different scores, although they are all a product of the same formula.

Why Are Your Three Scores Different?

Your three credit scores are different because each bureau gathers information from a slightly different mix of creditors. If you were to look carefully at your three reports you will notice that some accounts are missing on each bureau. Timing also plays a roll. A recent change in your credit may be picked up sooner at one bureau than another.

What is Included in Your Score?

You have more control over your credit score than you may think! But in order to influence your score it is essential to understand how it works. Here is an overview of the contributing factors.

Pay History

Your pay history is the big ingredient. This category includes installment and revolving accounts, as well as public records and collections. The age of a derogatory item diminishes its impact on your score. The first step in the credit repair process is to examine your report for obvious errors in this category which makes up 35% of your score.

Balances

Your account balances make up the next category. The relationship between the balance and the credit limit on your revolving accounts is a major factor. Anyone involved in a credit repair effort should minimize their revolving balances as much as possible. The relationship between the current balance and the original balance on installment loans is also taken into consideration. This category makes up 30% of your score.

The Age of Accounts

New credit will have a negative impact on your score, and those accounts that you have kept alive and healthy for years have a good impact. Closing old accounts is a common credit repair error to be avoided. This category makes up 15% of your score.

New Credit & Inquiries

New credit and recent inquiries are a factor. Many credit repair candidates open new secured credit cards for the long term benefit. But generally, anyone involved in credit repair should limit new credit activity. Either way you will lose a few points on this one. Fair Isaac weighs this at 10% of your score.

Type of Credit

The type of your credit is the final 10% of the calculation. Fair Isaac won’t define the perfect mix of mortgage, installment, revolving, and consumer debt, but in our experience the key to a long term successful credit repair effort is to be a moderate user of credit, make your payments on time, and try to keep those revolving balances down.

False Credit

As you begin your credit repair effort it is important to have reliable information. Amazingly, the same three credit bureaus that sell authentic FICO scores to lenders also sell unreliable estimated scores to consumers. Every day untold numbers of consumers go to TransUnion’s “True Credit” website and pay for what they believe to be their credit scores. What they get are deceptively named “TrueCredit” scores which vary significantly from the FICO scores used by lenders. Here is the (almost impossible to find) small print from the TransUnion website. “TrueCredit is not connected in any way with Fair, Isaac and Company; the credit score provided here is not a so-called FICO score. The credit scores of TransUnion may not be identical in every respect to any consumer credit scores produced by any other company.”

Real Credit Scores

Are you starting the process of credit repair? Do you want to see your real FICO scores? MyFico.com is the only place that consumers can purchase their authentic FICO scores. Want to save some money? It is handy to know that mortgage brokers typically look at all three FICO scores when pre-qualifying you for a mortgage. If you ask, they just might give you a copy of your report along with all three scores. It can’t hurt to save a few dollars!

Copyright © 2007 Sky Blue Credit. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

The Real Problem with Disputes

Credit bureau disputes are the essential backbone of every successful credit repair program. And almost without exception it is necessary to start the process with these disputes. But if your efforts are confined only to disputing your issues with the credit bureaus you are virtually guaranteed to be disappointed.

Hitting the Credit Repair Wall

If you send a dispute letter to the credit bureaus you will receive a response back within thirty days or so. You might be excited to see that some of the problem items have been removed. You are also likely to see that some of the items that you have questioned have been verified. This can be frustrating. What is the next step? You might think that a second dispute is in order, and you may be right. Or you may be wrong. Read carefully. Has the credit bureau asked you to address all future inquiries to the original creditor? If so you may discover that additional credit bureau disputes produce no results.

Moving On

Many consumers in search of professional credit repair services will find an ample supply of credit repair companies offering a basic low cost program that consists entirely of credit bureau disputes. What happens to this consumer when the credit bureaus ask you to direct future inquiries to the original creditor? There are two possibilities.

The End of the Road

If you sign up for a credit repair program that only offers credit bureau disputes there is almost zero likelihood that you will end up as a satisfied customer. After the first round of disputes you may get few additional results. Or, if the company that you have chosen does offer additional levels of service you will probably find it necessary to upgrade to a more expensive version of the program in order to get the results that you desire. The truth is that the dispute only version of the program should never have been offered.

An Honest Approach

Remember that I started by saying that credit bureau disputes are the essential backbone of every successful credit repair program. It is so. In fact, it’s absolutely logical to start your dispute process with the credit bureaus. But to stop there would be like putting your socks on and then imagining that you are fully dressed. A truly effective credit repair program will seamlessly move from credit bureau disputes to creditors as a natural part of the process. Collection agencies can be challenged as needed in the same way.

The Educated Consumer

Credit Repair can and will produce fantastic results if done in a competent and comprehensive manner. Would you go to dinner at a restaurant that only cooks the food half way? Would you hire an auto mechanic that takes your engine apart but doesn’t quite put it back together again? Of course not! Make sure that your credit repair company will complete the job that you hired them for.

A Smooth Process

It is our opinion that a credit repair program should be inclusive of every step that is necessary to produce the final desired result. And the credit repair professional should be armed with every tool needed to do the job. We believe that the process should be offered as a unified whole. Our customers hire us for the most important reasons in the world. Their goals are inseparable from the quality of their financial life. We believe that credit should be taken seriously.

Beyond the Dispute

A comprehensive dispute process encompassing the credit bureaus, creditors, and even collection agencies is essential for success. But it is also equally imperative that these activities occur in the context of a complete understanding of both the credit scoring model and the way creditors view credit in making a decision. I cannot emphasize this enough! A good credit repair company always has their customer’s goals in mind. You do not want to complete a credit repair program and discover that your scores have suffered or that you don’t meet lenders criteria for credit content. When selecting a credit repair company make sure that they have the universal perspective that will produce the real results that you want. It turns out that the details can make all of the difference in the world.

Copyright © 2007 Sky Blue Credit. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

The Importance of Your Credit

Your credit score will determine the interest rate that you are charged on everything from your credit cards to your mortgage. No other single bit of data has such a dramatic impact on the quality of your life. Nothing is as important, and yet credit scoring is widely misunderstood. Here are answers to some of the most common questions that we are asked.

When Did Credit Scoring Start?

In the 1950s two Stanford University researchers, engineer Bill Fair, and mathematician Earl Isaac invented the first version of what has become known as the FICO score. Fair, Isaac & Company’s FICO score is now the most widely used credit bureau score in the world. Automated FICO scores were first made available in 1989 and initially used primarily by credit card issuers. In 1995 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two secondary mortgage market giants, first recommended that lenders pull credit scores for all borrowers. And the rest is history.

Why Are the Three Scores Different?

There are three primary credit bureaus. They are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Each of the three bureaus uses the same FICO scoring model although each of the bureaus has re-branded the score name for their own marketing. There are differences in your scores for three reasons. First, creditors do not all report to all three bureaus – if you look at your three reports you will most likely see that there are content differences. Second, the timing of the inclusion of information by each bureau is different – if you used a credit card recently the new balance is likely to be reported by each bureau at different times. And third, Fair, Isaac & Company modifies the software from time to time, but the bureaus do not all adopt the new release simultaneously.

The Fastest Way to Increase Your Score

There are two things that can produce very rapid results. The first is the reduction of outstanding balances. Should you decide to pursue this option you should be aware that there is a strategy which will produce the optimal result. You should pay down your revolving balances before any other type of account. And in paying down your revolving balances you should try to reduce each balance to 50 percent of your high credit limit. As a credit repair professional I counsel people on this approach daily and can vouch for the dramatic and rapid results that are produced.

A Controversial Method

There is a second way to improve your scores quickly. If you have a friend or relative with great credit ask them if they will add you to one of their accounts as an additional card member. It is important that they have good credit and that the account in question has been opened for a significant period of time. Within a short period of time your credit score will have inherited the value of your benefactor’s credit card.

A Personal Note

On a personal note, I should say that I have mixed feelings on this. Clearly, the inheritance of a benefactor’s credit rating is not an indication of your own credit worthiness. On the other hand I believe that everyone should be given all of the opportunities available to build their own credit. Because I can not find any logic in the way that the FICO model treats additional card member status, I believe that this is a loophole or bug in the system that cannot last.

Do Mortgage and Auto Inquiries Count Against Me?

This question seems to come up a lot in the credit repair business; and for good reason. If you are shopping for a mortgage or a new automobile you should have the freedom to compare different auto dealers, or mortgage lenders. In most cases they will need to run your credit to determine your interest rate. Multiple inquiries should not count against you. The FICO scoring method does take this into consideration.

Comparison Shopping Allowance

To allow for comparison shopping the FICO model simply ignores all mortgage and auto inquiries made in the prior 30 days. In other words, you can have as many inquiries as you wish during any 30 period and all of the inquiries will be entirely ignored, at least until the 30 day period has past. Once the 30 day period has past, FICO counts all the inquiries that fell in the previous 45 days as a single inquiry when determining your score. I can’t explain why FICO switches from ignoring 30 days of shopping to treating the previous 45 days as a reasonable shopping period, but there you are! As an aside, I should mention that this rule is very recent. Instead of a 45 day allowance for a shopping period the prior FICO model used 14 days.

Copyright © 2007 Sky Blue Credit. All Content. All Rights Reserved.

Your credit score can have a profound effect on your financial life. It is essential to understand how credit scores work and how you can make them work for you. Here are the basic credit repair facts that can make all of the difference.

Who are the credit bureaus?

Here at Sky Blue Credit we speak with people about their credit all day long. There is a common misconception that the credit bureaus are in some way connected to the government. It’s not true – they are nothing but big business. There is no government charter or anything of the sort. And yet there may be nothing that has such a profound influence on your financial life.

There are three credit bureaus that matter. They are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Their business is to gather credit data about you and sell it to potential creditors to determine your credit worthiness.

There is a fourth bureau called Innovis that you may hear of occasionally. Innovis is a major compiler of credit data which is used for pre-screening those unsolicited credit card offers we all get in the mail. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac contributed to the rise of Innovis in 2001 by demanding that all of their mortgage servicers report borrowers’ pay histories to Innovis. I suspect that we will all hear more about Innovis in the future, but for the moment it has no direct impact on your life.

What is a credit score?

At the moment all three bureaus use a single scoring model called the FICO score. FICO is an acronym for the developer of the score, Fair Isaac and Co. The three bureaus have branded the FICO model for their own marketing so you may hear it called different names. Equifax calls it a BEACON score, TransUnion calls it an EMPIRICA score, and Experian (who seems to lack imagination) calls it the EXPERIAN/Fair Isaac Risk Model.

Why are your three scores different?

Your scores with each bureau are different because each bureau gathers information from a slightly different mix of creditors. If you were to look carefully at your three reports you will notice that some accounts are missing on each bureau. Timing also plays a roll. A recent change in your credit may be picked up sooner at one bureau than another.

What’s included in your score?

Everyone wants to know what they should do to improve their credit scores. The exact method for calculating your credit score is a secret. But Fair Isaac offers a fair amount of information about the essentials. There is a lot of information on your report. And not all categories of information carry the same weight in the score calculation.

Your payment history is the big ingredient. This category includes the obvious installment and revolving debt payments. It also includes public records and collections. The age of any derogatory item in this category diminishes its impact on your score. Fair Isaac indicates that his category makes up 35% of your score.

The balances you owe make up the next category. Different weights are given to revolving versus installment balances. The relationship between the balance and the credit limit on your revolving accounts is a big factor. And the relationship between the current balance and the original balance on installment loans is taken into consideration as well. Fair Isaac indicates that this category makes up 30% of your score.

The length of your credit history is a factor as well. New credit will have a negative impact on your score, and those accounts that you have kept alive and healthy for years have a good impact. This category makes up 15% of your score.

Your new credit and your recent credit inquiries are a factor. If you have new credit or have had your credit run recently you have increased your debt load, or you are about to. Either way you will lose a few points on this one. Fair Isaac weighs this at 10% of your score.

The type of your credit is the last ingredient and the final 10% of the calculation. This is a bit more mysterious. There is some ideal mix of mortgage, installment, retail store cards, revolving accounts, and consumer debt that Fair Isaac will reward. Fair Isaac won’t say exactly what the perfect mix is, but in our experience the key is to build and maintain a well managed balance of accounts, make your payments on time, and try to keep those revolving balances down.

Copyright © 2007 James W. Kemish. All Content. All Rights Reserved.