Which Credit Score Do Lenders Use
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has stated that scores provided by credit bureaus like TransUnion and Equifax are rarely used by lenders. Instead, theyre considered educational credit scores intended for consumers educational use.
Equifax explicitly states on its site that lenders do not use its scores in assessing consumer creditworthiness. Instead, Equifax scores are provided to consumers merely as a way to let them know where they stand.
According to myFICO, 90% of U.S. lenders use FICO Scores when they check consumer credit in making their lending decisions. The FICO 8 model used by credit card companies is the most commonly used model overall, others use VantageScore.
According to myFICO: You have more than one FICO Score depending on what type of credit youre seeking, your lenders may evaluate your credit risk using different FICO Score versions. Credit card issuers tend to use the FICO Score 8 or FICO Bankcard Scores. On the other hand, lenders are more likely to rely on FICO Auto Scores when youre applying for an auto loan.
Get Your Credit Score
A lender will use your credit score to determine if they will lend you money and how much interest they will charge you to borrow it. Your credit score is a number calculated from the information in your credit report. It shows the risk you represent to a lender compared to other consumers.
Knowing your credit score before a major purchase, such as a car or a home, may help you to negotiate lower interest rates.
You usually need to pay a fee when you order your credit score online from the two credit bureaus.
Some companies offer to provide your credit score for free. Others may ask you to sign up for a paid service to see your score.
Make sure you do your research before providing a company with your information. Carefully read the terms of use and privacy policy to know how your personal information will be used and stored. For example, find out if your information will be sold to a third party. This could result in you receiving unexpected offers for products and services. Fraudsters may also offer free credit scores in an attempt to get you to share your personal and financial information.
Always check to see if a website is secured before providing any of your personal information. A secured website will start with https instead of http.
How To Report Rent Payments To A Credit Bureau
Rent payments are not always included in credit scores because they are not routinely reported to credit bureaus. However, rent is the largest monthly expense for many people. Approximately 25% of renters spend more than half of their income on rent, and nearly 50% spend more than 30% of their income on rent.
If you pay your rent on time each month, you could stand to gain from rent payment reporting, especially since 35% of your is based on your payment history. If youre looking for a way to boost your credit score or just want credit for making your rent payments on time, there are some options for reporting rent payments to the credit bureaus.
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How Many Credit Reporting Companies Are There
Most people only think of the top three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. There are nearly 50 different companies that report specific data about consumers, from banking information to utilities. You are entitled to a yearly report with all of this information on it to be aware of your financial and credit report standing.
Reporting Directly To Credit Bureaus
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The Creditor Doesn’t Report To Cras
Your report might also be missing accounts. This kind of omission can happen if your local bank or credit union doesn’t provide information to credit reporting agencies. If you’re in this situation, try the following:
Ask the CRA to Add the Information
Send a copy of a recent account statement and copies of canceled checks showing your payment history and ask the credit reporting agencies to add the information to your file. The nationwide credit reporting agencies themselves don’t specifically say that they will add accounts to your report if you report them, or whether they will charge you to do so. But it doesn’t hurt to try.
Ask the Creditor to Report the Information
Another possibility is to ask the creditor directly to report your account information to the reporting agency. Creditors and the credit reporting agencies generally have existing contracts. So, if a creditor isn’t already providing information to the credit reporting agency, it might not want to spend the resources necessary to do so just for your account. But again, it’s worth a try.
Use an Alternative CRA
You can create a free account at www.prbc.com. Its website, however, lacks the kind of consumer information you see on the websites for the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. Before you jump into this option, find out whether the creditors you are seeking credit from will agree to use a credit score from this company.
Read more articles and Q& As on Repairing and Rebuilding Your Credit.
The Credit Bureaus Dont Have Identical Information
Different credit bureaus wont always have exactly the same information. One reason is that a lender may report credit activity for inclusion in the Equifax credit report but not to TransUnion, or vice versa. Your credit card activity, car loan payments, or student loan status may be reported to one credit bureau and not the other. As a result, your scores may differ.
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Who Can Request A Copy
- lenders and creditors
- insurance companies
- landlords
- potential employers
If a person denies you credit or increases a charge or fee and if you request it within 60 days you must be told:
- the nature and the source of the information
- the name and address of the consumer reporting agency reporting the information
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Services You Can Use If Your Landlord Does
-
ClearNow: This service debits your rent from your checking or savings account. Theres no cost to tenants, but your landlord must be signed up. If you opt in, payments are reported to Experian via RentBureau.
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PayYourRent: Fees are typically paid by management. It reports to all three credit bureaus.
Self Visa Credit Card
The Self Visa® Credit Card offers another way for Self members to improve their credit score. To be eligible for this card, youll need to:
- Currently have an open Credit Builder Account
- Make three on-time monthly payments to your Credit Builder Account
- Have at least $100 in your Credit Builder Account
- Have your account in good standing
This is a secured credit card, which means its backed by some form of collateral that protects the card issuer in case of default. In order to provide this backing, youll need to decide how much of your Credit Builder Accounts $100 or higher balance will act as collateral. In addition, this amount will also become your cards credit limit.
During the application process, Self will not run a credit check on you. Thats because you will already own a Credit Builder Account, which means the company already has knowledge of your credit situation.
Once you receive your card by mail and activate it, youre free to use it as you please. Because Selfs card is a Visa, its accepted virtually everywhere.
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Transunion Vs Equifax: Major Differences Explained
Reviewed by Ana Gonzalez-Ribeiro, AFC®
If you are interested in knowing your credit history, you can find out from one of the three major credit bureaus: Transunion, Equifax, and Experian. However, you may be surprised to find that the information varies from one bureau to the next.
The three major credit bureaus calculate credit scores using slightly different credit scoring models. Well cover the difference between TransUnion and Equifax in this article.
How To Report Credit And Become A Data Furnisher
Establish Reporting Agreements
Companies reporting good credit or bad debt to the credit bureaus, must first establish a Data Furnishers or Service Agreement with each credit bureau to which you will be reporting. The Data Furnishers agreement is required whether you are reporting directly to the credit bureaus or through a processor/stacking service such as The Service Bureau. This is a separate agreement from pulling credit reports.
The credit bureau repositories also require a minimum number of active accounts and monthly reporting, even if you are reporting through The Service Bureau or another processor/stacking service –see example. We have provided phone numbers and account minimums for each credit repository for your convenience .
Companies reporting trade lines must use an application which is up-to-date with the Credit Reporting Resource Guide®, meets all credit reporting laws and regulations and is capable of accurately producing the Metro 2®* format layout such as.
Please Note: Consumers reporting personal loans are not eligible to report credit. Our software will upload to all bureaus that accept the Metro 2 format and support SFTP or HTTPS.
Dun & Bradstreet reviews each request individually and determines eligibility base on proprietary requirements. Participants have access to several incentives for contributing their data.
Procedures for reporting your accounts to the Credit Bureaus
Step 4 – Install Credit Manager software on your computer.
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Transunion Credit Score Calculation
TransUnion is a Chicago-based company founded in 1968. It has information on more than a billion customers in 30-plus countries, including 200 million in the U.S.
TransUnion uses the VantageScore 3.0 model in compiling its credit score, which ranges from 300 to 850. A good credit score under the TransUnion model ranges from 720 to 780.
For TransUnion, your payment history is even more important than it is under the FICO system, accounting for 40% of the total score. Your credit history accounts for 21% of this total score.
How To Report Auto Loans
Are you interested in reporting car payments on auto loans and leases to the credit bureaus? As a credit reporting software service, Datalinx helps you work through the credit reporting process. Our goal is to be sure your data is reported correctly and on time with each of the major credit agencies.
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How To Report To Experian
Experian is a global technology company and market leader in business data and analytics. They have a comprehensive commercial database of third-party verified data of business entities to support business credit. Companies reporting to Experian can benefit their community as well support collection efforts.
Learning About Credit Bureaus
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How To View My Credit Rating
Perhaps you lost your wallet at a club or restaurant, and you suspect that whoever has it won’t think twice about using your information to apply for credit cards. In this case, the best plan is to ask any of the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian or TransUnion, for a fraud alert to be placed on your account. This will prevent fraudulent credit applications bearing your name, without disrupting your life too much.
What If You Spot An Error In Your Self Credit Reporting
If something on your credit report from Self isnt correct, or after a few months you notice something missing from Self on your report, please take screenshots of the missing or incorrect info and send them to .
From there, someone on our customer service team will help you troubleshoot and start the process to correct the errors if needed.
Heads up:
We are required by law to report the history on your Self accounts accurately, which means we have to report the good and the bad .
We are not able to remove or change any accurate late or missed payment information from your credit report.
If you are struggling financially and at risk of missing an upcoming payment, please speak to one of our customer service agents about your options.
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How To Report Your Rent To Credit Bureaus
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A lot of people who dont have much of a credit history do have a history of paying rent on time. But that information doesn’t show up on their credit reports, and doesn’t help their .
You cant report rent payments yourself. But rent-reporting services can get your credit reports to reflect your rent payments fairly easily, at a cost that ranges from free if your landlord pays it to more than $100 a year.
To use a rent-reporting service effectively, youll need to know which credit bureaus it will report your payments to and which credit scores take those payments into account.
It’s also important to understand that this may not be the most cost-effective way for you to build your credit with all three credit bureaus and to understand your alternatives.
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Adding Information Showing Stability
Creditors like to see evidence of stability in your file. If any of the items listed below are missing from your file, consider sending a letter to the credit reporting agencies asking the agency to add that the information. You can use Nolo’s Letter to Request Addition of Information Showing Stability. You can also make your request online.
Include any documentation that verifies the information you’re providing, such as copies of your driver’s license, a canceled check, a bill addressed to you, or a pay stub showing your employer’s name and address. Remember to keep copies of all correspondence.
Contact Your Mortgage Lender And Ask If They Report To Experian
If your mortgage account does not appear on your credit report, the first thing you should do is contact your mortgage company and ask them if they report to Experian. If your lender confirms that they do report to Experian, you can request that they contact their Experian representative for help in determining why the account is not appearing in your report. Ask them to review the identifying information on the account to ensure that the account is being reported under the correct name and Social Security number.
You also can contact Experian and explain the situation so that it can be researched. You can reach Experian by phone at 888-EXPERIAN, or by mail at:
Experian P.O. Box 9701 Allen, TX 75013
Simply explain that you have an account that’s not appearing on your report and that the lender has verified it is in fact being reported. Be sure to include your complete identification number, including your Social Security number, so that Experian can locate your credit information.
Unfortunately, if your lender does not report, you won’t be able to have your account added. When you apply for credit in the future, ask the lender if they report account history to one or more of the national credit reporting companies. If they don’t, you might consider applying elsewhere to ensure your positive account payments help you build a strong credit history.
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