FICO - Your Credit Score

Since we live in an automated society, it's not surprising that your ability to repay your mortgage loan boils down to just one 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.

The three credit reporting agencies use slightly different formulas to build 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; each agency uses the following to build a score:

• Your Credit History - Have you had credit for years, or for just a short time?
• Payment History - Have you paid more than 30 days late, and how often?
• Credit Card Balances - How many accounts do you have, and how much do you owe?
• Requests for Credit - How many times have you had your credit checked for a loan?

Each of these factors is assigned a value and a weight. The results are added up and distilled into a single number. Credit scores range from 300 to 800. Higher is better. Most home buyers these days have a score above 620.

Not just for qualifying

Did you know? Credit scores are used for more than just determining whether or not you qualify for a mortgage. Higher scores indicate you are a better credit risk, and thus may qualify for a better mortgage rate.

Raising your FICO score

Is there any way to raise your FICO score? So called "credit repair" companies advertise quick fixes, but the FICO score is formulated from your lifetime credit history, so it's not possible to raise it significantly in the short term. You must, of course, appeal for the credit agency to remove any incorrect data from your credit report; this is really the only way to quickly improve your credit score.

Know your FICO

To improve your FICO score, you've got to have the credit reports that are used to build it. Of course, you need the score as well. Fair Isaac, the company that invented the first FICO credit score, offers credit scores on its website: myFICO.com. It's inexpensive to quickly get your FICO score from all three reporting agencies, along with your credit report. Also available are helpful information and tools that can 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 all three credit reporting agencies by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. You won't get a free credit score from AnnualCreditReport.com, but getting one is quick and inexpensive.

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

Curious about your FICO score? Give us a call at 720-598-8300.