Just applied for a loan yesterday and told I had zero credit but when I looked earlier at it I had a 587 on my experian and a 546 on trans union. I have a boat I am looking at but got a different score when they ran credit. Need a loan and have %20 to put down on the boat. Please I need help!

Credit score that low is pretty much why they said you have zero credit. With 20% down someone should pick you up.

Down payment helps but does not make anything automatic to get a loan. GENERALLY SPEAKING, scores in the mid 500's mean there are open issues or items currently late on in collection. If that is the case, having $14K down on a $15K purchase price will still not get it done. Once items are close, there are lenders that will look but not while the open issues linger. The difference in scores is very normal. Three bureaus used and all three will have different scores. We have seen up to 100 point swings. Let us know if we can help. thanks, Ken

There is such a thing as a "no score". If a person has not had any instalment type loans or even young guys can be what is called a ghost. Sometimes we see people who have made years of payments to small credit unions that do not report to the bureau. In that case, you can make years of payments and get zero bureau points. thanks, Ken

Thx

That kind of difference in scores is perfectly normal. Each credit bureau uses a proprietary credit scoring model such as FICO or Beacon, and quite often major banks will have their own scoring methods as well.

The credit score you get will also vary depending on the reason it was pulled. If Bank of America's mortgage department pulls your Equifax report, the score they generate will be different than if Chase auto loans pulls the same report from Equifax for a car loan. The reason is that the scoring models used for mortgage risk are different than for auto loan risk.

The only time you might be concerned is if theres an 80+ point difference between two of your scores. That might indicate a negative item being reported on one, but not the other.

What is the free internet site you can get the info from report and score? I forgot it, its free like 1 time a year or so. I had mine ran by my bank -Chase- in June for a vehicle purchase, it was in the 800's and I usually check it every Jan but cant find the site. They all want you to join or want to charge.

it's https://www.annualcreditreport.com/, I just looked at mine today. but i had to pay for the actual scoress.

Ken is right about the ghost credit score deal. That happened to me with fmc of all people.

One more thing... Banks are stupid. We dealt with one bank for 11 years never late payed loans off early never ever a problem. Went to get a loan with both scores over 700. Got told we can loan you money because you don't meet our current criteria and Im retired so I don't have a job.. Hello Im retired you don't work when your retired. So all of a sudden our money isn't any good with you after 11 plus years. So we went to the very large bank company thats owns our mortgage. 5 minutes after faxing the app back they called and said how much how long & these are the fixed interest. Just a straight up simple 1 year loan.

If you have an old debt (Credit card) does it improve your score very much if you pay it? I know it still shows as a late payment. It comes off in two years anyway.
Pat

Please clarify what you mean by 'old debt'? You mean something that went to collections and remained unpaid?

Patfatdaddy, I'm not a credit expert but I helped a family member fix theres so they could buy a house. If it is in collections, then yes it helps because it will say account closed/settled for whatever amount you settled for, and there will be no open collections on your credit but it may take up to 6 months to show up and raise your score. Just be sure they send you a settlement letter.But be warned. If you have other open collections on your credit the other collections people will most likely come after you. Why? Because they monitor your credit report and if they see you have paid another collection agency they will most likely come after you for there money. I don't know if this applies to you. But my sister was sued by a credit card collection agency 2 months before statue of limitations was up. She went to court & settled with them out of court on the court date, but there attorney told her that they base on who they sue on what you have on your credit report. In her case if she wouldn't had bought a new car then they wouldn't had sued her because they feel like if you can pay for a new car then you can pay us.