About the FICO Credit Score

Since we live in an computer-driven world, it should come as no surprise that your ability to repay your mortgage loan boils 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, spindled and mutilated into a single indicator of whether you're likely to meet your future obligations.

Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian, the three major credit agencies, each have their own proprietary formula for building a 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; all of the agencies use the following factors in building your score:

• Your Credit History - Have you had credit for years, or for a short time?
• History of Payments - Do you have a history of late payments?
• Credit Card Balances - How many accounts do you carry? How much do you owe?
• Inquiries on Your Credit - How many times have lenders pulled your credit report for the purpose of giving you a loan?

These factors are assigned weights based on the formula being used. Each formula produces a single number which varies slightly from one agency to another. FICO scores can be as low as 300 and as high as 800. Higher scores are better. Most borrowers getting a mortgage these days have a score above 620.

Not just for qualifying

Did you know? FICO scores affect more than your ability to get a loan. They also affect your interest rate. Lenders give lower interest rates to individuals with higher scores.

Raising your FICO score

Is it possible to improve your credit score? Because the credit score is entirely based on a lifetime of credit history, it's very hard to make a significant improvement in the number with quick fixes. You should remove any incorrect data on your credit report, which is the only way to quickly improve your credit score.

Know your FICO score

To improve your FICO score, you must have the credit reports that the agencies use to build it, and of course, you need the score itself. Fair Isaac, the corporation that invented the first FICO score, offers FICO scores on its website: myFICO.com. For a reasonable fee, you can get your FICO score from all three agencies, along with your credit report. Also available are helpful information and online tools that help you analyze what actions might have the greatest impact on your FICO score.

You can get a free credit report once per year from the three major credit reporting agencies when you visit AnnualCreditReport.com. You won't get a free credit score from AnnualCreditReport.com, but getting it is quick and very inexpensive.

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

Curious about credit scores? Call us at 7084035181.