FICO Please Educate me?

[kingfisher]

Okay, when I go to myfico.com it looks like there are TWO FICO scores to buy, Experian and Equifax. I thought there was only one? Do I need both? Is one preferable to the other?

Thanks,
KF

[CCsAreEvil]

I'm assuming you are trying to find out your FICO scores to start re-building your score(s)? If so, you will probably want to buy both. There should be plenty of public info out there which talks about FICO all over the place. IMO, it "is" worth buying directly through MyFICO.com. Yeah, they probably make a killing off of us, but that's usually the best way to get your "true" scores (the same scores creditors/etc receive when they do a FICO score check on you). ALL other sources which claim to get your scores are NOT the same scores (aka FAKO scores).

There are actually 3 major FICO scoring models (who came up with this complicated crap?). The other 3rd is TransUnion. However, I think there is some sort of pending lawsuit so individuals currently can't obtain their true FICO TransUnion score. Years ago, I had ordered all 3.

And far as creditors checking people's FICO scores. Some select a specific reporting agency.. and other creditors grab your FICO scores from all 3.

[msm859]

might be a silly question, but unless you are going to buy something on credit (which I would suspect you should try to avoid after going bk) why does it matter, other than idle curiosity?

[whipster1]

No publicly available FICO for EX, you can buy TU and EQ.

[Amy26]

might be a silly question, but unless you are going to buy something on credit (which I would suspect you should try to avoid after going bk) why does it matter, other than idle curiosity?

Well, credit isn't just for "buying something on credit". Depending on what state you live in... your credit is more than just for getting a credit card. It can affect your employment, insurance rates, ability to rent or buy a house, even your automobile deductible. Banks and Credit unions are now checking credit when you open up accounts (checking and savings accounts).

I had a car loan through my credit union long time before I filed for bankruptcy and I had a 1000 deductible on my car insurance. My credit union made me change it to 500 cause they said "my credit didn't support a higher deductible"... to this day I can't figure out why my credit had anything to do with my insurance deductible.

So, for some people it can be idle curoisity to know your credit score etc... but for me... its important that mine be accurate and doing well.

My auto insurance renewal last year went up over 300 dollars a year because I filed for bankruptcy and they saw it on my credit.

[Amy26]

Also, in regards to the "fako"/fico thing... I subscribe to the credit monitoring services offered through each reporting agency directly and I'm finding those credit score numbers are typically pretty close to the actuals.

Like right now, experian is reporting my score at 661 and when I just applied to Apple Federal Credit Union they checked experian and she said my score was 651. So, it was only 10 points off.