Credit Scores are a Sham!

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Priced_Out_IT_Guy_IHB

Priced_Out_IT_Guy_IHB

New member
So I just paid $6 to Equifax to tell me my credit score sucks. Keep in mind I have ZERO debt and only two credit cards (one of which I never use, the other I pay off every month). I have paid off my school loans, vehicle loan, etc.





<strong>Your VantageScore is:</strong> <strong>827</strong> <strong>on a scale of 501-990. SCORE: B</strong>





<em>Your report does not show any bankcard accounts, such as a Mastercard or Visa, with a valid credit limit amount. Having bankcard accounts with a valid credit limit can have a positive impact on your credit score.





</em>WTF? I have two active credit cards. How can they have invalid credit limits? LOL





<em>Your report does not show any usable/valid real estate loans, such as a mortgage. Having valid real estate loans with good payment history as part of your credit history can have a positive impact on your credit score.





</em>Translation: "First time buyers--Use back entrance."


<em>


Your report shows that the available credit across your open, recently reported revolving accounts, such as a credit card, is too low. Having low available credit amounts on revolving accounts has a negative impact on your credit score.





</em>So I'm punished for not paying 18% interest every month on a revolving credit card balance? Because thats totally financially responsible.





Translation: "WE ARE BORG. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED (or your credit report will suffer)."


<em>


Your report shows that the time since your oldest revolving account, such as a credit card, was opened is too short. Having revolving accounts open for a longer period of time can have a positive impact on your credit score.





</em>No wonder, my main credit card I've had open for the last two years doesn't even show up on my credit reports....





Translation: "We don't have the resources to adequately monitor your credit accounts. Hey, you're lucky if we get your previous addresses typed into the matrix correctly!"





Anyone else had similar experiences with credit reporting agencies? Transunion, Experian, Equifax? I was hoping to get an "A" score to get the lowest possible mortgage rate when it comes time for me to buy....Sorry for the long rant...


<em>





</em>
 
You should check it at myfico.com The FICO is the only official credit score there is. At least it's the one most major lenders use.
 
I will run my FICO. From what I gather, VantageScore is supposed to be the most comprehensive (but obviously not):





From experian.com:




<p>VantageScore<sup>SM</sup>, which is both used by lenders and now available to consumers, is the first credit score developed cooperatively by Experian and the other national credit reporting companies. </p>



<p>The VantageScore scale approximates the familiar academic scale, making it simple to associate your VantageScore number to a letter grade. You now will have clear insight into how lenders using VantageScore will view your creditworthiness.</p>



<p>901 - 990: A


801 - 900: B


701 - 800: C


601 - 700: D


501 - 600: F</p>

 
<p>POITG,</p>

<p>Vantagescrore was created by the three reporting agencies to compete with Fair Isaac. It's like the NAR creating a housing index; useless. FICO is what matters, as that is what the banks use.</p>
 
<p>Run yourself a 3-and-1 report. Lenders are going to get scores from the three major bureaus and take your median. Might as well look at what they will see.</p>

<p>I use <a href="http://www.truecredit.com">www.truecredit.com</a> for monitoring and score reporting.</p>
 
None of the scores generated by consumer-oriented sites such as www.myfico.com are the same scores generated for use by the mortgage industry. All consumer-oriented sites generate scores that are higher than those generated by a tri-merge report provided by the 600+ "mini-CRAs" for use by the mortgage industry. For example, VantageScore is not used by the mortgage industry, although it may be used by credit card companies, auto finance companies and the like. Known as a Beacon score at Equifax, Empirica score at Transunion and the Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Score at Experian, all use formulas developed by Fair Isaac & Co. specifically for the mortgage industry and approved by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These scores, posted by Priced_Out_IT_Guy...



901 - 990: A

801 - 900: B

701 - 800: C

601 - 700: D

501 - 600: F



...barely resemble the scores I see everyday when I run credit for prospective borrowers. A 900 score? Never seen it...not even once. I rarely see scores over 800, even for the creamiest borrower. Heck, I hardly ever see scores over 760 and 740+ is cause for celebration.
 
is vantage the new credit scoring thing now?





when will fair issac coming out with the new and improve credit rating does anyone know?
 
<p>The Vantagescore by Experian is not widely use. Those high scores only make the consumers feel good. Sort of like, certain retailers/designers will purposely put size 1 on a dress when it's actually size 4. Makes the women feel good about themselves.</p>
 
<p>I have never seen a credit score in the 900s. In fact I thought they topped out at 850 or so.</p>

<p>Including one family who had assets over a million, were older, so had open credit for a long time, and like you, paid everything off every month.</p>
 
<p>There is a new score system created by the three credit agencies that is supposed to be more accurate. </p>

<p><a href="http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/WhatTheNewCreditScoreMeansToYou.aspx">articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/WhatTheNewCreditScoreMeansToYou.aspx</a></p>

<p>Priced Out, I am sorry to tell you that you could have saved the $6 and gotten your credit score for free. All of the credit agencies (FIco, Transunion, Equifax, and Experian) have free credit score offers. All you have to do is sign up for their "credit score" watch trial (30 days) and then cancel before the 30 days are up. You can do this once a year for each of the services. I get my credit score from each of the credit agencies that way once a quarter. </p>

<p><em>Your report shows that the available credit across your open, recently reported revolving accounts, such as a credit card, is too low. Having low available credit amounts on revolving accounts has a negative impact on your credit score.</em></p>

<p>It is about amount of credit available, not how much balance is on the credit cards. One's credit score is also lowered if one has too many accounts or too much credit available. It also hurt one's score to recently open up a credit line. Also, one gets dinged for have a high balance to credit ratio (i.e. $5000 balance v. a maximum credit line of $10,000-50%.) </p>

<p>To get a good score, one needs to have a long history of credit (5-10 year) with multiple accounts (usually about 4 to 6) that are paid timely. It also helps to have a history of completed/full-paid credit activity (i.e. car loans and/or mortgages) I actually think that credit scores are pretty good ideas. After all, you have demonstrate that you can be "trusted" with credit before lenders will give you leeway. It is like building trust with a bank/lender. If that institution sees that you have been good in the past, it will be more likely to extend credit. </p>

<p>I do not think that you have "bad" credit but rather "incomplete" credit. My FICO is usually around 780-800 depending on the balance being carried on my credit cards. I have about 4-5 credit cards (oldest being about 12 years old), a full paid car loan, and student loans. I have never had a delinquent payment or non-payment. The only thing that can increase my score is for me to get a mortgage.</p>

<p> </p>

<p> </p>
 
<< My FICO is usually around 780-800 depending on the balance being carried on my credit cards. >>



You probably do have that score on the consumer-oriented sites, but if you apply for a mortgage, your scores won't be that high.
 
<p>Oddly enough SCG, when I applied to do refi in January, the scores that the lender obtained were higher on average by 10-20 pts than the scores reported to me at truecredit.com. </p>

<p>I was pleasantly surprised to see the median the lender pulled was 796 when truecredit.com was telling me it was 778...</p>
 
I'm surprised, too. I just shrug when people tell me their scores are over 800 or some stratospheric score like that. I know they've been to www.myfico.com or other "vanity" score supplier.
 
<p>SoCalGal,</p>

<p>My experience with the score report is that they are pretty accurate. I usually pull my score before buying a car or when I was interested in buying a house. The scores pulled by the car dealer/mortgage person were about the same as what I got. </p>
 
<p>In my experience, they are accurate as well. There are some people that manage their finances very well and keep a score over 800.</p>
 
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