Question:
“I just talked to a lender about refinancing my condo and he told me my FICO scores. They’re 719, 729, and 744. How come there’s 3 different scores?”
Answer:
There are three nationwide credit bureaus, each with their very own FICO score name:
- Experian has “Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model”
- TransUnion has “FICO Risk Score, Classic”
- Equifax has “Beacon”
And, as you noticed, each comes up with their own score, different from the others. As I understand it, your scores will vary for four reasons:
- Not all lenders and businesses report your credit activity to all three bureaus.
- Different ways lenders and businesses report to credit agencies.
- Different ways agencies record the same information.
- Different FICO models used by each credit reporting agency.
I know, you’ve got to be an actuary to be excited by that answer. But you asked the question…
