What Is a FICO Score vs. a Credit Score and Which One Do Mortgage Lenders Use?

FICO Score vs. Credit Score: What Is the Difference?

Many buyers are confused when they check their credit score through a bank app or free monitoring service and then discover their mortgage lender uses a different — often lower — score. Understanding the distinction between generic credit scores and the FICO scores used in mortgage underwriting helps set accurate expectations.

What Is a FICO Score?

FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) is the company that created the most widely used credit scoring models in the United States. FICO scores range from 300 to 850, with higher scores indicating lower risk. There are dozens of different FICO models — including FICO 8, FICO 9, FICO Auto, FICO Bankcard — each optimized for different lending decisions.

Which FICO Version Do Mortgage Lenders Use?

• Mortgage lenders in the U.S. currently use older FICO models: FICO 2 (Experian), FICO 4 (TransUnion), and FICO 5 (Equifax)
• These older models are sometimes called Classic FICO or Mortgage FICO scores
• Lenders pull all three bureau scores and use the middle score (not the highest or lowest) for qualification
• The middle score is then used throughout the underwriting process

Why Your App Score Is Usually Higher

Free credit monitoring services typically use FICO 8, FICO 9, or similar newer models that are generally more favorable to consumers. These models handle medical debt, paid collections, and other factors differently than the older mortgage FICO models. This is why a buyer might see a 750 on their monitoring app but receive a mortgage qualification score of 720.

What to Do About Score Discrepancies

When preparing to buy in San Diego, ask your lender to pull your actual mortgage credit scores from all three bureaus. This is the number that matters for qualification and rate determination. If your mortgage FICO scores differ significantly from your monitoring app scores, work with your lender to understand why and what actions would improve the mortgage-specific scores most effectively.

Related Reading on RiederHomes.com:

→ Blog #17: Credit Score Requirements

→ Blog #18: Improve Your Credit Score

→ Blog #2: Mortgage Pre-Approval

→ Blog #3: Types of Home Loans

— Mance Rieder, Broker Associate | Rieder Homes Group | REAL Broker | riederhomes.com | 858-295-0556