FICO - Your Credit Score

Since we live in an automated society, it's not surprising that your ability to repay your mortgage comes down to a single number. Credit reporting agencies use your history of paying loans in order to create your FICO score.

All three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) use a slightly different system to arrive at a credit score. The original FICO score was developed by Fair Isaac and Company. While Experian still calls its score "FICO", TransUnion calls its score "Beacon" and Equifax uses "Empirica." While the formulas vary, the differences aren't huge; each agency uses the following to build your score:

• Credit History - How long have you had credit?
• History of Payments - Do you pay your bills on time?
• Balances on your Credit Cards - How many credit card accounts do you have, and how much do you owe?
• Requests for Credit - How many times have you had your credit checked for a loan?

These factors are assigned weights based on the formula being used. Each formula produces a single number which may vary slightly from one agency to another. FICO scores can be as low as 300 and as high as 800. Higher scores are better. Most home buyers these days have a score above 620.

Credit scores make a huge difference in your interest rate

FICO scores are used for more than just determining whether or not you qualify for a mortgage. Lenders give lower interest rates to individuals with higher scores.

Improving your score

What can you do about your FICO score? Very little in the short term. So called "credit repair" companies advertise quick fixes, but the score is based on your lifetime credit history, so you can't turn it around right away. You must remove any incorrect data from your credit report, which is the only "quick fix" for credit problems.

How do I find out my FICO score?

Before you can improve your score, you have to get your score and make certain that the credit reports from each reporting agency are correct. Fair Isaac, the corporation that offered the first FICO credit score, sells scores on its website: myFICO.com. It's inexpensive, fast, and easy to get your credit score as well as credit reports from all three agencies. They also provide helpful information and online tools that can help you understand how to improve your FICO score.

You can get a federally-mandated free credit report once per year from all three credit reporting agencies by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. While this report does not include a free credit score, the cost to "upgrade" your report to include a credit score is very reasonable.

Now that you have all the facts, you will be a more informed consumer and you'll be better positioned to get the right mortgage for you.

Want to know more about credit scores? Give us a call: 3103737406.