Credit scores can be very confusing.  Especially when there are so many different variations of credit scores available online.  Moreover you may not realize the scores you pull may be very different from the mortgage Fico score range that bankers use. It can be very frustrating thinking you’ve been given misinformation, and by the time you understand you’ve pulled the wrong credit score it is too far along in the buying process for credit restoration and you risk losing an apartment you want to buy.   So here is an explanation of which score is used by most bankers and the variations of scores available for purchase.

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The closest score to the score used by most mortgage lenders can be purchased at
http://www.myfico.com and is called a Fico score. If you buy a different credit score it may have a totally different range. For example. if you had a 740 Vantage Score it would not equal to an excellent 740 Fico score. Knowing what score to preview can help you better prepare for financing.

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Varied Scores:

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Fico: Ranges from 300-850. Above a 740 is excellent. Ninety five percent of banks use Fico scores to evaluate a borrower’s potential risk when applying for financing.

 

Vantage: 501-990 with letter grades A-F. This score is sold by the Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA’s -Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax) and is very different from the Fico banking scores.

 

Plus Scores: 330-830 are sold by the CRA’s strictly for educational purposes.

 

Equifax Scores: 280-850 also score for educational purposes by CRA.

 

There are also Credit Karma Scores, National Risk Scores, and more. Be sure you are comparing the score used by lenders or you may find out you are in a totally different category then you think.