Credit Score

[nygal2626]

So if my score is a little over 700... do you guys think that I will be ok in terms of getting a loan for school w/o a cosigner?

[InVinoVeritas]

you should be fine.  700+ is low risk for lenders.

[ormachea]

If only knowing that I could get a free report on June 1 could somehow assuage my curiosity that I'm too cheap to pay $14 to satisfy.

[Oneof2]

That was my problem too!  Curiosity got the best of me though. 

[ormachea]

Just watch me cave on May 29th. The waiting will get worse the closer I get to the date.

[JeffB]

First of all, Access Group does not only use Equifax.  They base which of the three agencies they use on the first three digits of your zip code.  Mine is 919 and they use Experian.

Secondly, I pulled a copy of my credit report last night and I have a 705.  I applied for a loan at Access Group and was denied for bad credit.  I called them today and they said that the report that they got today from Experian is different from the report that I got last night (I promise that between the hours of 10:00 pm and 8:00 am I did not default on any loans).  They said that my score was not a 705. 

They told me to fax them a copy of my report from Experian to clear up matters.  Needless to say, I was quite troubled today.

[St. Shaun]

Thanks for the credit check advise.  I checked my credit and realized
that I had an incorrect report on it (the store I bought my wife's
engagement ring at goofed up the financing and ended up not correctly
giving me the 0 payments and interest they promised.  It was cleared
up later, or so I thought).

It sucks that it will take 30 days for my credit score to be corrected.

[Boston24]

First of all, Access Group does not only use Equifax.  They base which of the three agencies they use on the first three digits of your zip code.  Mine is 919 and they use Experian.

Secondly, I pulled a copy of my credit report last night and I have a 705.  I applied for a loan at Access Group and was denied for bad credit.  I called them today and they said that the report that they got today from Experian is different from the report that I got last night (I promise that between the hours of 10:00 pm and 8:00 am I did not default on any loans).  They said that my score was not a 705. 

They told me to fax them a copy of my report from Experian to clear up matters.  Needless to say, I was quite troubled today.

This is all making me very nervous.  Did they tell you which company your zip code made them use?  Or is that info available somewhere?

[JGB]

Just because your credit score is 705, that does not mean that you are a low risk consumer.

Yes, a 705 is a very strong credit score. The lender is going to look further than your credit score. Do you have rental history? Mortgage history? Do you have multiple tradelines? How old are your tradelines? Are they 6 months old? 2 years? 5 years? Do you only have a credit card? Are you diverse with a few credit card and an auto payment? Do you have good job history? Have you never worked?

Also, how many people have pulled your credit in the past 6 months? a year? Inquiries ding your score. Revolving balances above 50% of the limit ding your score. There is so much that is involved.

Also, a 650 on transunion is the same as a 650 on experian. If I pull a report and see a 650...it is a 650. I do not know about consumer credit for student loans, but mortgages pull all the repositories, and use the middle score.

[yowser]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/money/217619_singletary26.html

it's confusing...when you order a credit score, it isn't your FICO score they give to the bank...they scores they sell you are based on different models and are not necessarily apples to apples.

a 650 on transunion and a 650 on experian are only related if they are the actual FICO score, which you can't get unless you're a bank.

EDIT: I agree with JGB, however, that with a 705, the reason you were denied is most likely an income or income history thing, not based on your payment/credit history.  Lenders are as confusing and hard to read as Admission Committees!