Creditors report to only 1 or 2 bureaus, so your 3 credit files tell different stories

There is no legal requirement for creditors to report to all three major credit bureaus, so many lenders, credit unions, and fintech companies report to only one or two. A consumer can have an 780 at Experian and a 710 at TransUnion simply because a well-managed credit card only appears on one report. Whether you get approved for a mortgage depends on which bureau the lender happens to pull, turning a supposedly objective financial profile into a lottery. Mortgage lenders pull all three and use the middle score, but auto lenders, landlords, and credit card issuers typically pull just one, and consumers have no way to know which one in advance. This persists because reporting is voluntary, bureaus compete for furnisher business rather than mandating comprehensive reporting, and no regulation requires furnishers to report symmetrically.