About the FICO Credit Score

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Because our world is so computer-driven, you're probably not surprised to hear that your creditworthiness boils down to a single number. All the years you've been paying your various bills: your mortgage, car payments, and credit card bills are analyzed, sliced, diced, spindled and mutilated into a single indicator of whether you're likely to meet your future obligations.

All three major credit agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) use a slightly different system to arrive at a credit score. Fair Isaac and Cooriginally developed this score. . While Experian still calls its score "FICO", TransUnion calls its score "Beacon" and Equifax uses "Empirica." While each of the models considers a range of data available in your credit report, all of the agencies use the following to build a credit score:

• Credit History - Have you had credit for many years, or for just a short time?
• History of Payments - Do you pay your bills on time?
• Balances on your Credit Cards - How many credit card accounts do you have, and how much do you owe on them?
• Requests for Credit - How many times have you had your credit checked for 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. Credit scores range from 300 to 800. Higher is better. Most home buyers these days have a score above 620.

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

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot you can do to immediately improve your credit score. Some companies promise quick fixes, but they can't do anything different than what you can do — for free. (Of course you can and should remove incorrect data on your credit report.)

Know your FICO

In order to raise your score, you've got to obtain the 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 credit score, offers scores on myFICO.com. For a reasonable fee, you can get your FICO score from all three reporting agencies, along with your credit report. Also available are helpful information and online tools that help you understand how to improve your FICO score.

You can get a free credit report every year from the three major credit reporting agencies when you visit AnnualCreditReport.com. These reports do not include a free 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 right mortgage for you.

Curious about credit scores? Give us a call: 314-835-1195.