How's your FICO Score?

Since we live in an computer-driven society, it's not surprising that your ability to repay your mortgage comes down to a single number. The years of paying your various bills: your mortgage, vehicle payments, and credit card bills can be analyzed, sliced, diced, spindled and mutilated into a single indicator of whether you're likely to meet your future obligations.

All three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) use a slightly different system to arrive at a 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 factors to build a score:

• Credit History - Have you had credit for years, or for just a short time?
• Late Payments - Do you have a history of late payments?
• Your Credit Card Balances - How many accounts do you have, and how much do you owe?
• Inquiries on Your Credit - How many times have you had your credit checked for a loan?

These factors are assigned weights based on the formula being used. The result is a single number: your credit score. FICO scores can be as low as 300 and as high as 800. Higher is better. Most home buyers in the current environment have a score above 620.

FICO makes a difference in interest rates

Did you know? FICO scores affect more than your ability to get a loan. They also affect your interest rate. Higher scores indicate you are a better credit risk, and thus may qualify for a better mortgage rate.

Raising your credit score

What can you do to improve your FICO score? Very little in the short term. Some companies promise quick fixes, but they can't do anything different than what you can do — for free. 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.

How do I find out my FICO score?

Before you can improve your FICO score, you must get your score and be sure that the credit reports from each agency are correct. Fair Isaac, the corporation that offered the first FICO score, offers FICO scores on myFICO.com. It's inexpensive, fast, and easy to get your credit score along with credit reports from all three agencies. Also available are 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 every year from the three major agencies when you visit AnnualCreditReport.com. While this report does not include a free credit score, the cost to "upgrade" your report to include a credit score is very reasonable.

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

Curious about your credit score? Give us a call at (707) 252-2700.