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How to Understand your FICO Score

Whether you are or have ever been in the market to buy a new home or simply trying to refinance an existing mortgage, one thing is for certain: you have heard the term FICO and/or Credit Score more than once throughout the process. But do you know what these numbers actually mean? Has anyone explained to you who and what FICO is, beyond a number that can alter your life?

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FICO, Fair, Isaac and Company, is just one (the most popular) of the scoring models within the mortgage world designed to make the home loan process easier for the lenders by placing a "score" on applicants. Basically, this score tells a lender how likely you are to pay your bills on time by calculating together all aspects of your credit history and current financial activities to arrive at a number between 350 and 850- your credit or FICO score. The higher the number, the better loan opportunities and rates you'll be qualifying for. Therefore, someone with a FICO score of 820 will qualify for a much better program than someone with a 670 score.

Because each bureau can and does receive information from different banks and creditors, your credit score (also referred to as "FICO score") can differ from credit bureau to credit bureau. While credit scores themselves range from 350 to 850, a FICO score of 700 from Experian is generally considered the equivalent of a 700 FICO score from Equifax or TransUnion. Regardless of which bureau supplies your credit report rating, the higher your FICO score, the better your chances are of securing a loan, with a favorable interest rate and ultimately having a stronger more solid credit history.

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The "cutoff" score is 620- This is the number that separates the good scores from the bad. Any mortgage granted for someone with a FICO score of 619 or below is considered a higher risk than those with a score of 620 or above. The "less than 619 mortgage market" is referred to as the "Subprime Lending Market", an area full of predatory lenders, higher rates and some ridiculously high fees.

Additionally credit scoring systems such as Fair Issac (FICO) did not treat authorized user accounts separately when computing the credit score, so the son or daughter would inherit, so to speak, the favorable credit history of the parent. The result could be that even kids with limited credit experience who were authorized users with good credit parents might now have a strong FICO score. Of course, the reverse was also true, and many authorized users could inherit the bad credit from the parent, lowering their score.

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That part is relatively simple, but what about the formula for calculating the actual score?

In the US, all three credit reference agencies distribute a standardised credit scoring system known as FICO scores, developed by Fair Isaac. The higher your FICO, the better. FICO scores also exist in the UK, but are not distributed by the UK credit reference agencies, who instead distribute their own bureau scores (known as Callscore, Delphi and Wescore).

Card Credit Discover Service The basis and calculations of FICO scores has been shrouded with mystery since its inception, mostly due to the rise of competition. Once Fair and Isaac could prove that the scoring would work, it would only be a matter of time before other scoring models came into existence and took over (The Beacon Score, for example), leaving the originators left out in the cold.

Fair Isaac (FICO) finally recognized the abuses of the practice recently and adjusted their credit score algorithm (the set of rules FICO uses to score credit reports) to ignore authorized user accounts. The result is that generally credit scores will no longer be inflated by authorized user accounts. Good news for lenders who do not want credit scores artificially manipulated. Bad news for legitimate authorized users who may have benefited somewhat from their parents’ good credit habits.

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Here's the latest breakdown used by the credit bureaus to calculate your FICO score:

Pay particular attention to the FICO® score on each of your reports. The FICO® is a credit score developed by Fair Isaac and Company that condenses your entire credit history—including payment history, amount owed, length of credit history, new credit and types of credit used—into a number between 350 and 850 so lenders will have a fast, objective measurement of your credit risk. The higher your score, the lower your interest rate will be.

Card Credit Processing Service - 35% is based upon the payment histories with all of your creditors (with recent accounts weighted a bit more than past ones).

Center Credit Service Union - 30% is the amount of debt you owe.

Card Credit Service Wireless - 15% is determined by the amount of time you've utilized your credit (longer credit with on-time payments is better.)

Credit Security Service Union - 10% is based on the number of inquiries into your credit history (how may loans or lines of credit you've applied for), plus the most recent history of all bills.

Credit Report Service - 10% is the mix of your credit0 installment loans (car, personal loans), revolving credit (credit cards), and other - (mortgages and leases).

Blogspot Com Christian Brock Hayslip recommends that you visit http://www.equifax.com for more information on FICO Score.

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