Folks: What is the best way to get the most accurate credit score(s)? I've heard about eloan and that mess, and I know that one or two of the big 3 are now offering these scores for purchase online, but I'm sorta confused as to which CRA offers which score.... FICO? BEACON? Other? Thanks in advance... "Smile, it's Friday!!!"
No, but around what I'd expected. I've started the process though, and we'll see what happens! "Smile, it's Friday!!"
Let's see if I've been paying attention or if I need to be corrected. FICO is a formula developed by Fair Isaac. Everyone with a credit file has three FICO scores: one computed using Experian data, one with Equifax data, and one with Trans Union data. If your reports are consistent then they match. If you're getting a mortgage then all three matter. BEACON is a name used by Equifax for a FICO computed with their data. You can buy this yourself at www.equifax.com. Currently for the other FICOs you would have to have a mortgage lender run your credit and show you, but the other web sites should start offering scores later this year. Others: everybody (every individual bank, insurance company, etc.) has their own formula that they find helpful. For example, some banks give you an automatic 0 if you have an <7 year-old bankruptcy, while some don't. (FICO holds it against you, but it's not killer after a couple years. Whether that makes any sense is a hot debate topic. Hi Mike. There are also some others that are used throughout the industry. CreditXpert scores are supposedly used in many credit card decisions, and you can get that from at least two places: eloan.com (which costs you a hard mortgage inquiry) will compute it from your Experian file, and qspace.com (personal review/soft inquiry) will compute it from your Equifax file. They tend to be close to a person's FICO score but it's not the same thing. All these scores can fluctuate. Sometimes we think we know why, other times we don't. See <http://www.bayhouse.com/FICOisFRAUD.html> for one wise lady's glimpse into day-to-day fluctuations.
Stick around. The way my day is going -- oil caps aren't that small, how could I forget to replace mine? -- I probably got at least something completely backwards.
