You checked the app, saw a number you liked, then the lender came back lower. Nothing went wrong. The two numbers come from different formulas, and once you know which one a lender pulls, you can see it before you apply.
Net-30 is a loan with an invoice attached. Here's when a credit check is worth doing, what to look at for sole proprietors and small companies, how to turn a score into a credit limit, and the paperwork that keeps it clean.
Your app says 724. The lender says 691. Nobody made a mistake. FICO and VantageScore read the same kind of data with different rules, and once you know where they split, the gap stops being a mystery.
Your credit report is the record. Your credit score is one model's verdict on that record. Here's what's in each, why they disagree so often, and which one matters for the decision in front of you.
FICO Score 4 is the TransUnion version of the Classic FICO scores mortgage lenders use. Most people have never seen theirs, and it can sit a long way from the number their app shows.
Both kinds of credit check read the same file. What changes is why it was opened, who can see that it happened, and whether the score moves. Plus the rate-shopping rule that trips up most mortgage borrowers.
One phone number goes in. A name, a current address, phone details and a real FICO Score 4 come out. Here's what happens in the ten seconds between, and what the results actually mean.
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Name, current address and real FICO® Score 4 from TransUnion data. Results in seconds. As low as $9.99.
