Why is my Credit Karma score different from the score my lender pulled?

Four differences behind the gap

1. The model. Credit Karma shows VantageScore 3.0. Most mortgage lenders use Classic FICO (FICO Scores 2, 4 and 5). Since September 2026, a lender may use VantageScore 4.0 instead on a loan sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The models weigh the same accounts differently, so they produce different numbers.
2. The bureaus. Credit Karma reads Equifax and TransUnion. A three-bureau mortgage report reads those two and Experian. An account reported only to Experian is in your lender’s file and not in your app.
3. The number that counts. On a three-bureau report your lender receives one score from each bureau and uses the middle one. Credit Karma shows two scores and no middle.
4. The day. A card balance reaches the bureaus when the statement closes, not when you pay it. Your lender’s scores describe your files on the day they were pulled. Your app’s scores describe them on the day it last updated.

If your loan officer started with a one-bureau soft check, the lender’s first number is a single VantageScore from one bureau. The middle score comes once the other bureaus are added.

The two side by side

Compare the factors, not only the numbers

• Read your score disclosure. Your lender has to give you every score it used, the model behind each, and the main factors that held each one down. Those factors name what is moving the number.
• Ask about an outlier. If one bureau’s score is far from the others, ask your loan officer which accounts appear at that bureau and not at the other two.
• Check the balances against their dates. A card balance your app still shows from last month may be the balance your lender’s scores were built on. A payment made since may not have been reported yet.

What to do with the difference

1. Plan on the lender’s number. Your loan is priced on it. The model behind it is your lender’s choice; our guide to which score counts shows the models side by side.
2. If your middle score sits just under a pricing tier, ask why. If a balance or status on the file is out of date, your loan officer can ask for it to be updated at the bureaus. That is a rescore. A lender requests it, and the score is recalculated on current information.
3. If something is wrong, dispute it. An account that is not yours, or a balance that is wrong, is an error you can dispute yourself, free, with the bureau that reports it.

An example, made up to show the pattern

Illustrative example. Invented numbers, not a real file.

A buyer’s app shows 731 at TransUnion and 726 at Equifax. Her lender orders a three-bureau check and receives Classic FICO scores of 709 at Equifax, 698 at Experian and 715 at TransUnion. Her middle score is 709. Neither report is wrong. The two models read her card balances differently, and a store card reported only to Experian carries a balance close to its limit. Her app does not read Experian, so it never showed that card. Her score disclosure lists high balances as a factor, and her loan officer can now ask about that account.