FICO Score / Algorithm Used By Mortgage Lenders

Why does Credit Karma show one score... but when you pull your credit to get approved for a mortgage, the scores can sometimes be off by a lot?

That is because Mortgage scores are looking at the following FICO algorithms:

Experian - FICO 2
TransUnion - FICO 4
Equifax - FICO 5

FICO 8 which is used for most Credit Cards and Auto Loans are looking at your behavior over the last 2 years.

The older scoring models looking deeper into your history because they are typically looking to lend you more money as in the case of a mortgage.

When someone is going to lend you $100-500K, you can bet they are going to see what your last 7 years looks like, not just your last 2 years.

Have questions about this?

215-396-9370

[dananpowell]

Best explanation I’ve seen so far!! Great job!!

Thanks!

[PABU]

Finally a good explanation. Great Job.

[boondoggle]

What I learned having recently bought my first home and applied for my first model is that the model used by mortgage lenders only goes up to 818, so your score isn’t going to be as high as the score that you see when you check credit monitoring services.

[arbredevelopers]

My fico 8 score has increased but my fico 2, 4, 5 has not what should I do. Need it to increased

[joeleneviltz]

How can I contact you here in Houston Texas

[blackhawkjohn]

What if you have missed payments from 6 years ago, and they will fall off the next year, should I wait, or will that hurt me? I haven't missed any since then, but those missed payments keep my score just under 700. I want to buy a home soon.