Happy Credit

Financial wellness, including higher credit scores have been linked to better wellbeing, as shown in a study published by Harvard Business School. The paper, published in 2018, is titled: Good Credit and the Good Life: Credit Scores Predict Subjective Well-Being. The study was conducted in both England and the United States with the cooperation of the banks and their customers who participated in the survey.

The Harvard study stated that “credit scores predicted life satisfaction even after controlling for a range of financial covariates, including income, spending, savings, debt, and home-ownership. Respondents with higher credit scores felt more optimistic about their future, promoting happiness. Further, the relationship between credit scores and wellbeing was moderated by participants’ prior awareness of their score. Together, these results suggest that creditworthiness can plausibly increase well-being, either directly or indirectly, meaning that interventions to improve creditworthiness could improve consumer welfare.”

Credit where due, I excerpted the above paragraph from an article published on October 5, 2021 by Benefits Pro. 

The referenced study is reminiscent of a study done by the Federal Reserve and about which I wrote in 2016 titled: Romance and Credit Scores.

Image attribution: Google Images

Financially Speaking™ James Spray RMLO, CNE, FICO Pro | CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 | October 7, 2021

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may use this information in whole and not in part providing you give full attribution to James Spray.

How Credit Actions Impact FICO Scores – FICO

How much does missing a payment impact a FICO® Score? What about reducing credit card balances? New FICO research simulated how different credit events may impact FICO® Score 9 for five different credit profiles, as seen in Figure 1 below. These representative profiles were selected because they had credit characteristics (payment history, utilization, etc.) that were generally typical of the five scores shown below.

Source: How Credit Actions Impact FICO Scores – FICO

Image Credit

Financially Speaking™ James Spray RMLO, CNE, FICO Pro | CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 | July 9, 2019

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct for your situation. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may reproduce this information in whole and not in part, providing you give full attribution to James Spray

The 4 C’s of Credit

The following is written primarily for those wishing to obtain a mortgage. However the same dynamics apply to credit cards, vehicle loans, insurance, employment opportunities and even dating eligibility.

Character – Reputation is a key factor in obtaining new credit. Bankruptcy, foreclosure, late payments, settlements, collections, judgments, charge-offs and other derogatory events weigh how your credit character is measured. A short-cut for evaluating character is the credit score.

Capacity – Is the ability to repay the obligation provable with third party documentation? This is measured by the stability of the income, and how long the wage-earner or self-employed has generated that income.

Conditions – What is the purpose of the loan? If the purpose is to refinance for a rate or term improvement, a simple letter stating such suffices. If applying for a cash-out refinance, how are the proceeds to be used? Documentation is required to explain the perceived additional risk. In situations where Character is less than stellar, a cash-out refinance for the purpose, for example, reimburse a family member could jeopardize loan approval.

Collateral – How much equity is available to protect the investor? In a purchase or refinance, this is the percentage of Down Payment/Equity vs Appraised Value and the loan amount. The lower the loan amount to the equity, the stronger

For example, when the character and/or the credit are challenged a down payment/equity position of about thirty percent can mitigate two of the “C’s”.   The greater the collateral/equity, a lesser weight may be given to Character, Capacity.

What is your credit score? Use this credit score simulator to find out. It’s free and it will give you a good idea of what your score range is right now.

Caution – Finally, be very wary of credit repair schemes, many are designed to part you from your hard earned money. Most of these “service providers” are scams. It’s easy to see if they are running a scam. The scammers require cash up-front; this is not legal. Pursuant to the Credit Repair Organization Act (CROA), any credit repair work must be completed before a consumer may be charged for the work. For more information, see: Credit Repair Basics.

Image attribution

Financially Speaking™ James Spray RMLO, CNE, FICO Pro | CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 |October 19, 2015

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct for your situation. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may reproduce this information in whole and not in part, providing you give full attribution to James Spray.

4 Steps to Enhance Your Credit

Better job, better credit, better dating pool

We all know that a high credit score can help streamline life events like buying a house, landing a new job or a promotion or transfer and, yes, even establishing close personal relationship.

But do you know how to increase your score? Try these four moves to give your scores a boost.

Fix Credit Errors — Don’t wait for a lender to check your credit before reviewing it yourself. Request a credit report from each of the three major bureaus every year, reviewing the accuracy of your personal info, credit limits and the open or closed status of each account. Dispute any errors immediately. Understand that open/unresolved disputes will, in many cases, impede your ability to get new credit.

Ask Forgiveness — If you have blemishes on your credit, try clearing them up. Negotiate paying an old debt if the creditor will mark your account “paid as agreed.” For a late payment on a long-held account, write the creditor, acknowledge your otherwise good history and ask for a goodwill adjustment that will remove the negative item it from your credit report. Act immediately upon learning of your oversight.

Make Strategic Repayments — You may not be able to pay off your credit cards quickly, but you can strategically pay them down. Start by dividing each card balance by its limit. Demonstrate moderation to lenders by keeping your credit balance below 20 percent of your available credit limit at all times, not just once a month. If your card debts are higher, make a plan to pay the balances down to reach a more desirable ratio within a few days. This is particularly true as you prepare to apply for new or better credit.

Increase Credit Limit(s) — Another way to reduce your debt-to-income ratio is to ask for an increased limit. It’s a balancing act; keep your credit balances in check, you will earn a better credit profile resulting in a higher credit score. Your chances of getting an increase on your credit limit are vastly better while your usage of the credit limit is minimal.

What is your credit score? Use this credit score simulator to find out. It’s free and it will give you a very good idea of where your score range is right now.

Caution – Be very wary of credit repair schemes, many are designed solely to part you from your hard earned money. Further, many are just scams. You can easily tell if they are running a scam. The scammers demand cash up-front. This is not legal. Pursuant to the Credit Repair Organization Act (CROA), any credit repair work must be completed before a consumer may be charged for the work.

• Q – Are there legitimate credit repair agencies?
• A – Yes, a few.
• Q – How do you know they are legitimate?
• A – They don’t charge you a fee until the work is done.
• Q – They told me there is a little known law they use to magically fix my credit.
• A – They are lying or under the influence of a liar.

Image attribution

Financially Speaking™ James Spray RMLO, CNE, FICO Pro | CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 | October 1, 2015 | July 8, 2018

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct for your situation. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may reproduce this information in whole and not in part, providing you give full attribution to James Spray.

Credit: Use It to Build It (Part 2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

As discussed in Credit: Use It To Build It -Part 1, it is essential to qualify for and properly use credit in order to have credit. A thin credit file does little good to help one build or rebuild credit. Thin credit is described as a file lacking in length and depth of credit history. Thin is not a good thing in the credit sense.

The length of a credit history is a matter of time. A short credit history may have accounts that have been open for a matter of months or one or two years. A long credit history may span decades because open, active accounts remain indefinitely.

The depth of a credit report is an issue of the number and types of accounts you have. A credit history with only one or two accounts will likely be considered thin, even if it spans many years. A “thick” file would have several accounts of different types. For example a credit history could include credit cards, installment loans and a mortgage.

The Basics

Let’s start with the basics, understand the mechanics of the FICO Pie Chart as well as the art and science of Rebuilding Your Scores. Credit scores are not a big mystery; they are simply a measure of the information reported to the credit reporting agencies by your creditors. Learn about your credit reports control that which you can as to what is reported and your credit scores will follow.

Credit Score Facts

On credit scores, how do they work? What you can do to raise your scores is discussed in this blog. It is necessary to understand there is a difference in the credit scores one may obtain for free via the Internet. These are not the scores used by lenders. They may not even be close to those used by lenders. In this blog we discuss the difference between what we call FICO or FAKO Scores?

Join a Credit Union

Not just any credit union will do. Some credit unions are so large they act more like a bank than a credit union. To learn a little more about credit unions and to find one you can join, read our blog titled: Credit Union Power. This is a key step to reestablishing your credit. Once you’ve become a member, ask for help to set up a $500 secured installment loan. Next, utilizing some of your savings, as much as possible, set up a secured credit card account and use it properly.

Beginning Anew or New?

Whether beginning from scratch as a young person with no credit or whether starting again, the tasks are quite similar. Read through both Part 1 and Part 2 of these blogs to learn more of what to do and not do as you begin this new journey. If you have a family member with excellent credit, read and share this blog on this which we call inherited credit. You have the opportunity to learn about how it works and how it doesn’t work.

Credit Utilization

Anyone who uses credit cards could have high utilization, particularly those which pay off their balances in full each month. This is because balances are often reported to the credit bureaus mid-billing cycle. So if you have a $5,000 limit and you charge $4,000 in a month, you could be reportedly utilizing 80% of your available credit. The result is most often dramatically reduced FICO™ Scores.

We wish you success!

Image attrbution

Financially Speaking™  James Spray, MLO, CNE, FICO Pro

CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 | September 21, 2014

 

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may use this information in whole and not in part providing you give full attribution to James Spray.

Refinance After Chapter 7

US Customs House – Bankruptcy Court Denver, Colorado

 

You filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and all debts were discharged. You selected not to reaffirm mortgage(s). You have continued paying on your mortgage(s) and now you want the payments reported on your credit report. With one exception that is not going to happen. The fact is that there is but one permanent way to get your mortgage payments reported on the credit reports and that is to refinance your mortgage, when possible. When your bankruptcy was discharged, the Promissory Note portion of the mortgage was legally eliminated. As a result, the mortgage payments will no longer be reported to the credit reporting agencies. Consumers, for obvious reasons, cannot self-report their credit history. For further information as to why the bank or mortgage company doesn’t report your payment, refer to an earlier post I wrote on this subject.

How To Get “Credit History” For Your Mortgage Payments In Order To Refinance

How can you refinance when your present mortgage servicer does not credit report your mortgage payment? There are a couple of ways to do this. The least expensive is for you to obtain proof of your mortgage payments for the past twelve (12) month and provide this to your mortgage broker.  A temporary way to pull the mortgage payments onto the credit reports is via a proprietary system such as Rapid Rescore which is available only to mortgage brokers. Your mortgage payment history can be pulled onto the credit reports for the purpose of mortgage refinance by a mortgage originator in cooperation with a credit reporting service through a credit rescoring system. This is a temporary fix only; a bridge to refinancing once all other factors are in place. The only permanent way to get your credit report to reflect your mortgage payments is to refinance if and when you are eligible.

How To Qualify For Refinance After Chapter 7

• You have been paying your housing expenses [rent or mortgage(s)] on time every month for at least the last 24 months – in rare circumstances, 12 months.
• There have been no 30 day late payments on your mortgage(s) since filing bankruptcy.
• The CAIVRS Authorization system  provides a clean report regarding default on an applicant’s past Federal government loans or guarantees.
• Your current taxable income as well as that of the past two years proves you can pay your mortgage and your debt ratio is acceptable to the lender.
• The taxable income used to qualify for the home loan will continue for a minimum of three years.
• You did not have a junior mortgage prior to filing or it is also current with no late payments or see (*) below.
• No other real estate was included in your bankruptcy or was foreclosed, short sold or surrendered such as investment property or second home within 4 years.
• You have no new bad credit whatsoever and no open credit disputes.
• Your present property value is 10% greater than what you owe on your mortgage(s), i.e., the house can be sold to payoff the mortgage(s), in full, including the cost of sale.
• You have minimum 700 middle FICO® Score (not FAKO scores). To get an idea of your score range use the FICO® Score Simulator (garbage in = garbage out).
• All borrowers must have established new good credit and exhibit that they are managing it very well.
• If the property is a Condominium, it must be FHA approved for FHA home loans or VA approved for VA home loans.

Investor Overlays

Investor overlays are measures lenders take to manage risks. You may need to shop around as, some lenders require 36 months from the Chapter 7 Discharge. Most lenders require higher credit scores, say in the plus 700 range before considering a new loans. The higher the FICO® Score, the better the rate and the lower the cost of the rate will be offered. There is much more to be discussed on the subject of lender overlays

Reaffirmation Is Not Necessary To Refinance

If your mortgage lender/servicer/bank insists that the mortgage must be reaffirmed, you simply need to call on a more seasoned mortgage banker or broker. There are those who will tell you that you must reaffirm the debt. Neither your attorney or I would recommend doing this; nor should you, in any case, do so without seeking the advice of your bankruptcy attorney. Keep in mind that the reaffirmation must be done prior to the Discharge and that is only your bankruptcy judge that can approve a mortgage reaffirmation – my understanding is that many will not.

Readers of this blog most often read Credit Union Power and New Credit During And After Bankruptcy too.

(*) The junior or second mortgage lien was legally stripped from the property in the bankruptcy. Note: this is a very, very rare circumstance. Another option is: the mortgage has been settled, such as via a short payoff in which case a further time-out period may be required.

Courthouse image attribution

Graph image attribution

Financially Speaking™ James Spray, MLO, CNE, FICO Pro

CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 | January 12, 2012 | Revised October 5, 2014

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may use this information in whole and not in part providing you give full attribution to James Spray.

 

Credit Score Facts

 

Am I a Fact or a Myth

 

Myth – The more money you have or earn the better your credit scores.

Fact – One can be incredibly wealthy or high paid and still have not good credit scores. Your credit scores do not reflect your income or assets. Your credit scores reflect your wise use and management of credit or not.

Myth – Cell phone, cable and Internet companies all regularly report payments to the credit bureaus.

Fact – They only time you can count on these service providers to report to credit bureaus is when you do not pay them.

Myth – Marrying someone with lower credit scores than yours will lower your own credit scores.

Fact – That is simply not true. What is accurate is that if you open new joint credit accounts which are not paid on time or become abused this will reflect against both of your scores. This is simply co-signing for debt or as we call it committing financial “suicide by pen.”

Myth – Credit has nothing to do with your relationships or love life.

Fact – A good credit score is now considered sexy and bad credit can break a romance.

Myth – Your credit history is erased when you file bankruptcy. This is part of your Fresh Start in life.

Fact – When you file bankruptcy your creditors are to list your account as being in bankruptcy. Most creditor history is shown on your credit reports for 7 years. In the case of bankruptcy it can show for up to 10 years. In the case of judgments not discharged in bankruptcy these may show for up to 20 years. Errors can be corrected or deleted from your credit reports.

Myth – Creditors always play fair and credit reports report correct information only.

Fact – There are those creditors that simply do not play fair. The key rules for playing in the creditor and debt collection sandbox are the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). The sandbox monitors are consumer protection attorneys. Yes, a consumer is empowered by the Federal Trade Commission to correct errors but has almost no chance against the creditors or credit reporting agencies. Use great caution when doing this as you can do more yourself harm than good with a wrongly worded argument.  Keep the Miranda Warning, so to speak, in mind as you write as anything you say can and will be used against you.

Myth – There are incorrect addresses listed on my credit report and this is why my scores are so low.

Fact – These are simply clerical errors and do not reflect on your credit score whatsoever. Verily these are a nuisance but it may be more trouble to prove you never lived at a certain address than it’s worth in the time and energy invested. If you wish to dispute the errors, I suggest you read Credit Repair Basics.

Myth – All credit inquiries reflect against your credit score.

Fact – That is simply not true. The Social Security Administration has a great explanation for ‘soft’ credit inquiries: “Soft inquiries do not affect your credit score, and you do not incur any charges related to them. Soft inquiries are displayed in the version of the credit profile viewable only to consumers and are not reported to lenders. The soft inquiry will not appear on your credit report from Equifax or Transunion [or Experian], and will generally be removed from your credit report after 25 months.”

Myth – Cable/internet, utilities and cell phone accounts are regularly reported to credit bureaus.

Fact – These type of accounts are not regularly reported to the credit bureaus. The only time they are reported is when collection activity begins after payments haven’t been made.

Myth – All credit scoring companies are the same as are the scores they provide.

Fact – Companies that sell credit scores do not sell credit scores used by most lenders. See FICO or FAKO Scores?.

Myth – It’s fine to run a high credit utilization each month as long as you payoff the entire balance at the end of month.

Fact – On credit utilization anyone who uses credit cards could have high utilization, particularly those which pay off their balances in full each month. This is because balances are often reported to the credit bureaus mid-billing cycle. So if you have a $5,000 limit and you charge $4,000 in a month, you could be reportedly utilizing 80% of your available credit. The result is most often dramatically reduced FICO™ Scores.

As always do not hesitate to write back with comments or questions.  I read everything that comes back, even though I don’t always get a chance to respond as quickly as I would like.

Image attribution

Financially Speaking™ James Spray, RMLO, CNE, FICO Pro

CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 | November 7, 2010 | Rev. April 3, 2014

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may use this information in whole and not in part providing you give full attribution to James Spray.

FICO or FAKO Scores?

FAKO scores are not  used by your mortgage lender

What’s the difference between FICO™ Scores and the ‘free’ credit scores advertised on the Internet and television? The short answer is that lenders (especially home loan lenders) use only FICO_™ Scores to evaluate your credit. The advertised FAKO sites are a waste of both your time and money and they may put your private information at risk. Consider this as you think of the fake scores, would you want a watch that only gave you the approximate time? Would you trust a banker that let anyone buy your private information?

There are three national credit repositories known as credit reporting agencies. TransUnion, Equifax and Experian. All are for profit corporations. All have an agenda which is to sell you a subscription to something you truly do not need. They wish to sell you, among other things, access to useless monitoring services and FAKO scores. Lenders do not use FAKO scores.

There is a big difference. As reported by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, Buyer Beware!

FICO™ or FAKO Scores

Question: From which of these sites can you obtain FICO™ Mortgage Scores?

freecreditreport.com	freecreditscore.com	consumerinfo.com
creditexpert.com	freescoreonline.com	equifax.com
experian.com	transunion.com	truecredit.com
truelink.com	creditkarma.com	creditsesame.com
quizzle.com	creditsesame.com	creditreport.com
creditchecktotal.com	creditprofinity.com	thinkcreditreport.com

Answer: This is a trick question. None of the above sites provide FICO™ Mortgage Scores. These are all what I call FAKO Scores. Note: This list is not complete.

Similar to FAKO Scores

What does FICO_™ stand for? FICO_™ is the company originally known as the Fair Issac Company which developed the mathematical models to predict credit behavior based on current and past credit usage. This company is as protective of their proprietary information as is Coca Cola of its formula.

You can obtain a free copy of your credit reports annually by logging onto this government created site free annual credit report. While these reports contain the information on your credit reports, they do not contain your FICO_™  Scores. To obtain your FICO_™ Scores, you will need to purchase your FICO_™ Scores as explained below.

How can you get a copy of my credit report with the mortgage FICO_™ Scores? You can get a copy of  all three of your mortgage FICO_™ Scores with the error codes (very important) from only one place – your favorite mortgage loan originator (banker or broker); they may not mark up the price you pay for the tri-merged reports including your FICO_™ Scores. The company myFICO can provide access to all three FICO_™ Scores however it is quite likely that these will not be the same version of FICO™ Scores as used by mortgage lenders. The fact is that mortgage lenders use your middle FICO™ Score. This leaves you with the risk of not knowing where you stand until your mortgage professional pulls your tri-merged credit report.

The marketers of the generic scores are almost as good at marketing as the bottlers of “brand name” tap water.

You can you get an idea of what your FICO_™ Scores are without spending any money? The short answer is FICO_™ Scores are not free. You can, however, use the FICO_™ Score simulator to get a good idea of what your FICO_™ Score range. I preface this with a word of caution; the FICO_™ simulator will act as any computer program, in other words garbage-in = garbage-out. The free FICO Score Estimator will give you a fair idea of your FICO™ Score range.

In September 2012 the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau released a 42 page report explaining in great academic detail much of what I touched on in this blog. Twice now, CBS 60 Minutes has reported on the situation of ego scores vs. the scores lenders use.

Be aware of the data miners which are, through these type of services, tracking what you are doing regarding credit. All of the above are data miners and will obtain Non-Public Personal Information (NPPI) from you. Are you sure their business is hacker proof? The Federal Trade Commission found that at least one of these business exposed NPPI. Do you want them to have your Social Security Number and other personal information for life?

On to reality, I strongly urge you to read this brief post to learn how it is the FICO Score is built. Knowing this and understanding how to interpret this information is your key to rapidly building and maintaining a good credit score and be on the way to building a great credit score.

January 3, 2017, HOUSINGWIRE News CFPB fines TransUnion and Equifax for deceiving consumers with their marketing

• Deceiving consumers about the value of the credit scores they sold: In their advertising, TransUnion and Equifax falsely represented that the credit scores they marketed and provided to consumers were the same scores lenders typically use to make credit decisions. In fact, the scores sold by TransUnion and Equifax were not typically used by lenders to make those decisions.
• Deceiving consumers into enrolling in subscription programs:  In their advertising, TransUnion and Equifax falsely claimed that their credit scores and credit-related products were free or, in the case of TransUnion, cost only “$1.” In reality, consumers who signed up received a free trial of seven or 30 days, after which they were automatically enrolled in a subscription program. Unless they cancelled during the trial period, consumers were charged a recurring fee – usually $16 or more per month. This billing structure, known as a “negative option,” was not clearly and conspicuously disclosed to consumers.

HOUSINGWIRE News  February 10, 2017, “VantageScores are no substitute for FICO Scores”.

HOUSINGWIRE News March 23, 2017,”CFPB fines Experian $3 million for lying about consumers’ credit scores. Told consumers that purchased credit scores were same ones that lenders used.”

FAKO image attribution

Diet water image attribution

60 Minutes image attribution

 

Financially Speaking™ James Spray, CNE, RMLO, FICO Pro

CO LMO 100008715 | NMLS 257365 | September 18, 2010 | Revised March 23, 2017

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may use this information in whole and not in part providing you give full attribution to James Spray.

 

 

FICO Score Facts and Myths

 

FICO Facts and Home Loans

What is the difference between FICO Scores and the free credit scores advertised on television? The short answer is mortgage lenders only use FICO Scores to evaluate your credit so the FAKO sites advertised on TV are a waste of both your time and money.

There are three national credit repositories which we know as credit reporting agencies. Trans Union, Equifax and Experian. All are for profit corporations. All have an agenda which is to sell you a subscription to something you truly do not need.

What does FICO stand for? FICO was the publicly known name of the Fair Issac Company which developed the mathematical models to predict credit behavior based on current and past credit usage; they are now known as FICO. This company is as protective of their proprietary information as is Coca Cola of its formula.

You can obtain a free copy of your credit reports annually by logging onto this government created site free annual credit report. While these reports contain the information on your credit reports, they do not contain your FICO Scores. As of this publication, you will need to purchase your FICO  Scores as explained below.

How can I get a copy of my credit report with the FICO Scores? You can get a copy of your FICO Scores with the error codes (very important) from only three places at varying costs – none of the reports with your FICO Scores are free: 1] Your mortgage banker – who may not mark up the price paid for the tri-merged reports with your FICO Scores – is the only one that can get all three of the credit reports with the explanatory codes. 2] My fico again provides all three FICO Scores as of September 2014. The costs are not insignificant and the scores you purchase may not be the ones your mortgage lender utilizes.

Can I get an idea of what my FICO Scores are without spending any money? Yes. But with a word of caution; the FICO simulator will act as any computer program, in other words garbage in garbage out. The free FICO Score Estimator will give you a good idea of your FICO Score Range. I do not encourage you to purchase any of the products offered as you utilize the FICO simulator.

In future articles I plan to discuss: How you can improve your FICO Scores; understanding how your FICO Scores are earned as well consumer credit topics suggested by readers.

Image attribution

Financially Speaking – James Spray, CNE, FICO Pro 

CO LMO 100008715| NMLS 257365 | May 24, 2010

Notice: The information on this blog is opinion and information. While I have made every effort to link accurate and complete information, I cannot guarantee it is correct. Please seek legal assistance to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. You may use this information in whole and not in part providing you give full attribution to James Spray.