Not All Credit Scores Created Equal

smartmoney.com ^ | 5/1/2008 | Aleksandra Todorova

[ukie55]

It's an issue Hedrick deals with all too often: Car buyers walk into his office with an inflated sense of their creditworthiness and he has to burst their bubble.

Looks like the self-esteem garbage they teach in public schools has been effective.

Then they get out into the real world.....and reality smacks them upside the head.

[proxy_user]

What really drives them crazy is if you just write a check for the full amount.

[commonguymd]

Great analogy.

[ArrogantBustard]

Problem is, the scores that consumers buy from the credit bureaus or heavily-promoted sites like FreeCreditReport.com or TrueCredit.com — owned by Experian and TransUnion, respectively — are not the same scores that are sold to lenders, landlords, insurers or employers...

This borders on fraud ...

[shove_it]

That’s what I was thinking too!

[Blue Highway]

Yeah I routinely have to deal with these slick willy’s trying to sell me on buying my own credit report if I have to contact my credit card company for any questions. Then when I grill them if it is an actual FICO score they would be providing or some proprietary score that means little to nothing to major lending institutions. They will then try a circular argument and I promptly decline and hang up.

[KarlInOhio]

What really drives them crazy is if you just write a check for the full amount.

The last time I bought a car I went into the dealer planning to tap my home equity line for about half the price. It was fun watching the loan guy's grind knowing what my interest rate I already had available. He started off around 9% and kept dropping when I told him "No, that's way too high". He finally got to around 4.5% which was just a hair below what the home equity line was after the tax deduction.

Never accept a car dealers first offer on either the price or the interest rate.

[TOWER]

The whole credit score thing is a big mess. I didn’t have to deal with my credit score until I recently bought my first house. Even though my credit score was high, Experian had mixed up all of my sister’s stuff into mine (which actually made my score higher because her credit score is even better). I still fail to see how we were mixed up because we have never shared anything other than the same last name. Regardless, I could not secure a mortgage with this obvious problem on my credit. In the end, I had to PAY Experian to fix it. The whole thing is extortion pure and simple.

[meyer]

Problem is, the scores that consumers buy from the credit bureaus or heavily-promoted sites like FreeCreditReport.com or TrueCredit.com — owned by Experian and TransUnion, respectively — are not the same scores that are sold to lenders, landlords, insurers or employers.

I see this as a major problem - If I pay to have my credit score reported to me, I expect it to be accurate and I expect it to be the same score used by all parties. Otherwise, what's the value of obtaining ones' credit score.

As ArrogantBustard says, this is borderline fraud.

[kawaii]

i’m interested.

did the report the client bandied about come from the government’s ‘free credit report dot com’?

if so are the tax dollars going toward this ‘resource’ accurately reflecting someone’s credit?

[kawaii]

banks commit fraud? i mean c’mon... (/sarc)

[ops33]

Yep, you’re absolutely correct. I once went into a dealer to buy a new car with a pre-approved site draft. When the dealer asked what the interest rate was I told him and he said, well I can give you that rate. I told him don’t give me something I already own, beat it by at least .5%. Of course, he couldn’t.

[DManA]

This seems like clear cut fraud to me.

are not the same scores that are sold to lenders, landlords, insurers or employers...

[bimbo]

I expect it to be the same score used by all parties. Otherwise, what's the value of obtaining ones' credit score.

You pay your money, and you then have your ego assuaged. I guess many believe that is a valuable service.

[CodeToad]

It would seem to me to be fraud to sell these credit scores to consumers if no one uses the score. The fraud is that these credit score agencies say to consumers to “know your credit score” and claim creditors use the scores.

[Pistolshot]

Experian is not one I would trust to have an accurate score or do an accurate search. They seem to pull any reporting with just a first and last name, and they do not verify SS#, middle name or initial, or signature.

I've had a number of items show up on my credit report that do not belong to me, including 5 houses in places I have never been in foreclosure procedings, co-signed loans for cars, and signature loans unpaid.

All reported by Experian. None from TranUnion or Equifax.

[Mygirlsmom]

Pay your freakin’ bills, people! I work in this field—most reports I see are in the 500’s. I can predict what’s on it without even reading it. 6 months late on the electric bill, 3 cellular providers and cable TV all in collections. And no one—NO ONE pays their medical bills, regardless of income level. To see a bureau without medical collections is a rare thing indeed.

[DManA]

It just floors me the flippant attitude these companies have toward the accuracy of the information they sell. Their only product is information and you would think their customers would demand accurate information but I guess not.

[DManA]

And people wonder why medical bills are so high.

And no one—NO ONE pays their medical bills, regardless of income level.