You Credit Score- How's Your FICO?

Since we live in an automated, it should come as no surprise that your ability to repay your mortgage loan comes down to a single number. All the years you've been paying your various bills: your mortgage, vehicle payments, and credit card bills are analyzed, diced, spindled and mutilated into a single indicator of whether you're likely to meet your future obligations.

Each of the three credit reporting agencies has its own formula for building your credit score. Fair Isaac and Cooriginally developed this score. . Experian uses this model and calls its score FICO. Equifax's model, based on FICO, is called BEACON, while TransUnion, which also uses a slightly modified FICO, calls its score EMPIRICA. While each of the models considers a range of data available in your credit report, the differences aren't huge; each agency uses the following factors to build your score:

• Your Credit History - How long have you had credit?
• Late Payments - Do you have a history of late payments?
• Credit Card Balances - How many accounts do you hold, and how much do you owe on them?
• Inquiries on Your Credit - How many times have lenders pulled your credit report for the purpose of lending you money?

These factors are assigned weights based on the formula being used. The results are added up and distilled into a single number. Credit scores can be as low as 300 and as high as 800. Higher is better. Most folks getting a mortgage these days score 620 or above.

Not just for qualifying

FICO scores affect more than your ability to get a loan. They also affect your interest rate. Higher scores indicate you are probably a better credit risk, and thus may qualify for a better mortgage rate.

Raising your credit score

What can you do to raise your FICO score? Very little in the short term. So called "credit repair" companies advertise quick fixes, but the score is built on your lifetime credit history, so you can't turn it around right away. You should, of course, appeal for the credit agency to remove any incorrect data from your credit report, which is the only "quick fix" for credit troubles.

How do I find out my credit score?

Before you can improve your FICO score, you must obtain your score and make sure that the credit reports from each agency are correct. Fair Isaac has created a web site (www.myFICO.com) that lets you do just that. For a reasonable fee, you can quickly get your FICO from all three agencies, along with your credit report. They also provide helpful information and online tools that help you improve your credit score.

You can get a free credit report once a year from all three agencies by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. These reports do not include a free credit score, but it's very inexpensive to get one at the same time.

Now that you have all the facts, you will be a more informed consumer and you'll be better positioned to obtain the most favorable mortgage.

Want to know more about credit scores? Give us a call: (813) 200-7931.