Free Credit Report

[Michael]

You're entitled to view your credit report free once per year. I just looked at mine and thought I'd mention it. It's a good idea to look it over and make sure everything looks ok.

https://www.annualcreditreport.com

[elibrown]

Ooo neat! Hey it says I have no negative account history. Now that can't be right...

[WonderRandy]

I was just looking for this. thanx! :up:

[evilvegan]

Isn't this just a bit fishy? What if our identities get stolen?

Not that many would want them.

[Michael]

It's good to be skeptical, this one (and only this one) should be fine. This one is a joint effort between each of the three major credit reporting agencies, you access your report directly through their website(s). The FTC website has more information...


The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.


Only one website is authorized to fill orders for the free annual credit report you are entitled to under law – annualcreditreport.com. Other websites that claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring” are not part of the legally mandated free annual credit report program. In some cases, the “free” product comes with strings attached. For example, some sites sign you up for a supposedly “free” service that converts to one you have to pay for after a trial period. If you don’t cancel during the trial period, you may be unwittingly agreeing to let the company start charging fees to your credit card.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm

[janie]

Suze Orman advocates that site. It's safe.

[Thalia]

Ooo neat! Hey it says I have no negative account history. Now that can't be right...
Well only certain accounts report and only if it's more than 30 days late. Even then, many don't report until 60 days.

I just got mine and I was disappointed, but it motivated me to make some serious changes and pay down some accounts.

[crystalteacup]

Like many others, I have no history. I checked this out a while ago with my banks recommendation.

[remilard]

That's supposed to be the only valid website to get them at.

Although I don't see details on much else, one of the perks of one of my credit cards is to see my credit score at any time. I think its 718 right now. Ooh. Aah.

That sucks, isn't the score that gets the best mortgages 720, or 740?

Mine is a bit lower than yours.

[SeaSiren]

<rant>
Can tell me why is it that NO ONE can do their freaking job?????

I am in dispute with 4 companies currently for THEIR mistakes and pull up my credit history which is full of typos, wrong addresses and wrong employment information. So now off to dispute with these 3.....and yes they all have different information, not one report looks like the other.

Is it possible to find just one person who actually does their job?
</rant>

Michael thank you for the link. :)

[Thalia]

Nope, 640 according to the salesguy who sold me my car. 850 is the highest.
Mine fluctuates a LOT. After I got my car and I financed my laser hair removal, mine dropped to like 660.It's interesting to see what kinds of things can cause it to drop. I know for me it dropped because I opened another account (2 or 3 revolving accounts is best) and increased my balances on my credit cars. Plus, my bank gave me overdraft protection which counts as another revolving account. There are lots of things other than late payments that affect it. Cancelling a credit card that has been open a long time can make it drop because that will decrease your average account age.

I'm not applying for any loans soon, so it isn't so bad. However, my score may affect my ability to get my current cards to lower their rates for me.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducation/CreditScores.aspx

[remilard]

Yeah, people think if you cancel an account it'll help. But it just drops your account age, and it also raises your percentage of debt (based on credit limits.) I'm sure someone else knows what I'm talking about, and can word that better. Apparently the older I get, and the farther away from school I get, the smaller my vocabulary. Ugh.

I think you are pretty close. The average age of your accounts is important and should be as high as possible. Closing a card you got 6 months ago won't hurt, closing one you have had for 10 years or so is a big mistake. Closing a card also increases your ratio of debt to credit which should also be low. I've heard that you want the percentage of debt to available credit to be about 10.

[WonderRandy]

wow... I just got my credit report (for the first time in nearly 40 years! I know other people have run my report - I have it all in writing now - but I've never actually LOOKED at one) and I'm blown away. I knew my credit was bad, but didn't have a clear idea of which accounts were doing the real damage, and which accounts I should leave alone for now.

I'm still not ready to contact the old debtors, for fear that I'll potentially create more recent negative activity if I can't fullfil a payment agreement. I need to process this stuff and do more research first...

[Tame]

Nope, 640 according to the salesguy who sold me my car. 850 is the highest.
Mine fluctuates a LOT. After I got my car and I financed my laser hair removal, mine dropped to like 660.


The 3 major bureaus are starting to report the Vantage score, which has a high of 990. Not sure why, or it will be replacing the FICO score altogether.
I came out at a 930 average from the 3 last time I checked. Not bad, and the negatives are things that I don't plan to change. :lol:

[WonderRandy]

I came out at a 930 average from the 3 last time I checked. Not bad, and the negatives are things that I don't plan to change. :lol:

Is it just me, or did it get a bit hotter in here?
:smoke:

[Tame]

You take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have Tame's credit score. Tame's Credit Score!


They're "starting" it, as in going to start it; Or they've just started it? Is it replacing or are they phasing out the FICO? I just wondered cuz I haven't heard anything about it, and everything still shows FICO.

I just did my credit score with Experian and Equifax and both reported the Vantage score.
I am not sure what is going on with Vantage vs. FICO. I assumed the new one was replacing FICO, but that doesn't seem to the be the case.

Also, anyone concerned about using the Free Credit Report link, keep in mind you can always do your free credit check directly through the 3 major credit bureaus.

[Tame]

Is it just me, or did it get a bit hotter in here?
:smoke:


Call me "Sunshine" and I'm yours! :D

[SeaSiren]

Call me "Sunshine" and I'm yours! :D

Hey Sunshine, can I borrow your Visa? :trick: :lol:

[Tame]

:tame:

[kpickell]

Do you always have to pay to see your credit score?

[Tame]

AFAIK, yes.
The credit report is free, the credit score costs.

[kpickell]

Ah well, my curiousity got the best of me so I paid the $6.

Your VantageScore is: 858 on a scale of 501-990.
Your Risk Grade is: B
Your Credit Category is: Prime Plus
Percentile: Your credit rating ranks higher than 76.05% of U.S. consumers.

Not bad.