Why do I have 3 different credit scores from the credit reporting agencies?
I am currently monitoring my credit report from the 3 credit bureaus. I filed bankruptcy almost 2 years ago and I currently have no balances on any of the 4 credit cards I have and have never been late on a payment to them. I monitor my credit report with Experian and I now have a 620 credit score. With experian I have seen a steady increase in my credit score since I filed my bankruptcy. With the other two agencies, I haven't seen much of a change. Experian is at 550 and Transunion is at 505. I have checked my report with all 3 bureaus and they all have the same information. Can anyone tell me why there is such a difference in the three credit scores? As of right now, I have $100 balances. I pay all my bills on time and from everything I've read, a discharged bankruptcy from 2 years ago should have my credit back to about the 650 -670 range. Am I missing something?
The reason you have 3 different credit scores is because each of the bureaus are independent of each other, and have completely different scoring systems. In my 4+ years I have only seen someone have the same score from 2 of the bureaus ONE time. Don't be concerned about this at all.
What you should be working on (and it sounds like you WANT to) is raising your credit score. With the scores you have right now, you are in the bottom 10-15% of the population. But don't fear! It is rather easy to increase your scores drastically, and within a reasonably short amount of time.
#1: Keep each type of account on your reports. Your bureau is divided into the following: a)Mortgage, b)Installment (like auto, student and personal loans), and c)Revolving (credit cards). A:If you aren't a homeowner, or don't think you can qualify for a purchase, look into a Lease To Purchase option. This will allow you to get your foot in the door to home ownership. B: Paying cash for your vehicles will hurt you in the long run. If you can't qualify yourself, get a co-signor…At least you will be building your credit!
***C: REVOLVING ACCOUNTS***
The reason I am starring this, is because this is where the large majority of my clients with low scores have fallen short, and the easiest to correct!
1. Never pay late- pretty self explanatory
2. Don't close out all of your cards! One HUGE misconception is that you will benefit if you pay off and close out all of your accounts. On the contrary, this actually really hurts your credit. Think of it this way…You have had these long-standing accounts with good payment history, and all of a sudden they are gone! It's basically like a heart attack to your credit report! Closing out a few accounts which haven't been used for a while is okay- start with accounts that have smaller available credit limits and huge interest rates like store cards (Sears, Old Navy, etc).
3. Remember the "50% rule". Simply put, don't go over 50% of your available credit limit. It doesn't matter if you have a limit of $1000 or 10,000…Keep it under the 1/2way point. People who do not follow this will see a drastic drop in their scores; even if they pay on time each and every month!
4. Lastly, USE YOUR CREDIT! Charge dinner, gas, groceries, whatever…And pay it off when the bill comes. You want to make a conscious effort to keep your credit open and active every month.
I hope this helps! It will take some time and effort, but you could see your scores reach the prime level (above 685) within a years time! 
Each of the three main credit bureaus uses a slightly different system to assess the worthiness of their customers.
Here is how the three bureaus use credit scores:
Equifax uses the FICO scoring model. They don’t call it that; they call it “Score Power.” Nevertheless, the system is the same one as that developed by Fair, Isaac and Co.
Experian uses a system they call “PLUS Score” Their system is very similar to the FICO model but uses slightly different factors to generate the figure.
Trans Union’s system is proprietary; it is a system they have developed themselves for their own use.
References :
http://www.end-your-debt.com/credit_scores_vary_by_bureau.htm
If the iinfo is truly exact, the score shouldn't differ that much, but likely the info is slightly different.
References :
I'm a finance major and here is what we learned in class. Each of your credit cards does not have to report to all 3 agenices. Chances are it is reporting to Experian and that is why that score is higher. Also, by having open credit cards with zero balance is increasing your debt to income level. Therefore if you are not using them, close them!! The reason why you are to check you credit score with all 3 agencies is to see what is reported to them. Within time you score will increase. When you filied for bankruptcy, your score dropped back down to 0. Basically you are starting all over again and that takes time to build.
References :
first off sounds like your getting fako scores instead of fico scores. when you get your scores from the monitoring service does it say fico score or does it just say score? go to http://www.myfico.com and order all three reports and scores. i bet you will find a much different story but here is the bottom line. all three places use different scoring information so when you get "scores" from a monitoring company it will give you a score that they came up with which can sometimes be a few hundred points off +or- but when you go to myfico.com and order fico scores. myfico scores them all the same way accordign to the information that is on each on report. pay no attentino to fako scores they mean nothing. if you are really concerned like i said go to myfico and order all three reports and get your scores then keep your monitoring service and forget about the monitoring service scores. go to http://www.creditboards.com and read read and read and ask question and dispute and clean up your credit reports.
References :
When a bank "pulls credit" for you (applying for a loan) they pull from all three places. Those places have different ways to report. One may have correct info another may only have part info. For this reason these credit reporting agencies will show different scores. They will use the middle score of the three.
Example
Experian 620
Transunion 610
Equifax 590
Your credit score in the above scenario would be 610 to the banks.
Bankruptcy stays on a credit report for way more than 2 years. It will show for at least 7 years. Yes you can rebuild credit but it will take longer than most people will tell you. Just be patient. As long as you are doing what you said…..things will get better.
Good Luck
Bob Laibach
http://www.gogreedy.com
References :
The reason you have 3 different credit scores is because each of the bureaus are independent of each other, and have completely different scoring systems. In my 4+ years I have only seen someone have the same score from 2 of the bureaus ONE time. Don't be concerned about this at all.
What you should be working on (and it sounds like you WANT to) is raising your credit score. With the scores you have right now, you are in the bottom 10-15% of the population. But don't fear! It is rather easy to increase your scores drastically, and within a reasonably short amount of time.
#1: Keep each type of account on your reports. Your bureau is divided into the following: a)Mortgage, b)Installment (like auto, student and personal loans), and c)Revolving (credit cards). A:If you aren't a homeowner, or don't think you can qualify for a purchase, look into a Lease To Purchase option. This will allow you to get your foot in the door to home ownership. B: Paying cash for your vehicles will hurt you in the long run. If you can't qualify yourself, get a co-signor…At least you will be building your credit!
***C: REVOLVING ACCOUNTS***
The reason I am starring this, is because this is where the large majority of my clients with low scores have fallen short, and the easiest to correct!
1. Never pay late- pretty self explanatory
2. Don't close out all of your cards! One HUGE misconception is that you will benefit if you pay off and close out all of your accounts. On the contrary, this actually really hurts your credit. Think of it this way…You have had these long-standing accounts with good payment history, and all of a sudden they are gone! It's basically like a heart attack to your credit report! Closing out a few accounts which haven't been used for a while is okay- start with accounts that have smaller available credit limits and huge interest rates like store cards (Sears, Old Navy, etc).
3. Remember the "50% rule". Simply put, don't go over 50% of your available credit limit. It doesn't matter if you have a limit of $1000 or 10,000…Keep it under the 1/2way point. People who do not follow this will see a drastic drop in their scores; even if they pay on time each and every month!
4. Lastly, USE YOUR CREDIT! Charge dinner, gas, groceries, whatever…And pay it off when the bill comes. You want to make a conscious effort to keep your credit open and active every month.
I hope this helps! It will take some time and effort, but you could see your scores reach the prime level (above 685) within a years time!
References :
4 years in the Mortgage industry.
Everyone who posted has had really great answers except for the so called finance major. Your credit score can never be a zero and you should never close your open credit accounts, if you did that would kill your score even more because it would show you having no credit at all. Bankruptcy stays on your account 7 years (10 years if you filed after 10/2005) so that will kind of always be a negative until the time is up. The best way to get a better credit score is with time. You need to prove that you are credit worthy so keep your accounts open, use them for small purchases and then pay them off in full each month. After time your credit score should gradually increase as you build a good payment history.
One other thing….it is possible that your credit cards aren't reporting your info to equifax and transunion and that may account for your scores being so much lower there.
One other other thing….be sure that you are gatting your info from a reputable source. I currently monitor both my credit reports and scores from all three bureaus through Transunion for $14.95 a month and have never had a problem. They come highly reccomended from me. their website is http://www.truecredit.com They may also have helpful information for you to look at. Hope this helps.
References :
The first step you need to take to repair your credit score is to get your credit reports from all three of the major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. You want all three because the information provided is not necessarily the same on all three. In fact, you might find something reported to just one that is not reported on the other two. Compare the three reports and look for any errors. There just might be a mistake on there that is dragging your credit score down. If this is the case, write to the credit reporting agency immediately to discuss the error. The easiest way to do this is to visit the agency's website and report the error through their online form.
References :
http://www.squidoo.com/repair-credit-score/
http://www.squidoo.com/raising-credit-score-now/