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Free Credit Report

16 years ago

I was wondering if any of the online "Free Credit Report" offers are legitimate and if so, which ones? I'm reluctant to give the personal info needed to get the report if this is a scam. If these aren't on the up and up how would I go about getting my report?

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Comments (5)

myfask
16 years ago
mare
The one we use is
www.annualcreditreport.com

This is also the one many of the experts recommend
The credit reports are free, if you want your scores it is a few dollars.
If you don't know or haven't check your score in the last 2 years it might be a good idea to spend the few dollars.

I know a few folks that said "I pay my bills on time so I have a good score" imagine their surprise when it was low.

knowing your score can help if you are looking for a loan you can tell the lender "based on this score what would the rate be?"
Chemocurl zn5b/6a Indiana
16 years ago
below is a link to some great info too. It also includes the link to get the reports.

Here is a link that might be useful: Federal Trade Commission-Facts for Consumers
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more importantly is does the NEW card number show the original open date or teh date that you got the new card? for example, i had my wallet stolen several years ago. i reported all my cards stolen and got new ones. Discover and First USA both reported the old numbers as lost/stolen and teh new ones with a open date of when i got the cards. this decreased my FICO instatnly because i lost several YEARS of age on my TL. if you wish to see you current score, the ONLY place to get the real score is to go to MYFICO.com and pay for it. remember, if it does not SPECIFICALLY say this is a FICO score, then it is an inhouse score for whatever service you are using and may differ greatly to teh good or to the bad from you rreal scores that lenders look at.
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Here is my 'guess' and it is just that...a guess. Concerning 2 and 3. refinanced my mortgage early in 2005 to a very good rate. This now shows as a 'new' loan, and it has not been paid down much in one year, by their way of thinking. I have about $160K in untapped equity (no HELOC or anything), in what remains If I understand you correctly, you have equity in your home, but have not applied for a HELOC on it. Right? They don't have any idea really then that you have that equity...right? Now this is just a 'thought' but you might want to pay off the car loan with some of that equity in your home, and then concentrate all your efforts toward paying off the HELOC. I imagine there will be some who will say 'NO' to doing that though. I applied and was approved for a HELOC a few years ago, but have never tapped into it. I 'thought' I might want/need it to get the driveway paved, but found another way that was interest free for a year and that was all I needed. I might add that I have no loans 'open' at this time and no revolving credit 'owed', as CC are paid off each month. My guess is that once the car loan is paid, that your score will improve significantly. In the meantime your score is a high B, which is still miles above the norm. Sue
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Credit Report Cleanup Questions.
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Comments (3)
Start with a sheet of paper, or photo copy the report and using pencils correct each error and then send it back. Is it the same on all the credit agencies? You need to get copies from each agency, Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian and compare each. I would clarify the mistakes, but I don't know if you can remove addresses. One of the companies you can call, and this might help. If you never worked for a company, you can put in a disbute. On the credit report you received, it should tell you what to do to change/disbute the information. As to the married question, talk to your tax person or a lawyer about that. I too am in the process of clarifing some information on my reports. Good luck and you can get help by just typing in credit score information.
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myFICO.com confused
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Comments (3)
Don't give your personal information and pay a third-party site when you can get your credit score directly from the three credit reporting agencies. Experian Equifax TransUnion Those companies also created and sponsor Annual Credit Report. You can request your score through that site too. I'd stay away from those other copycat sites that exist only to make a buck off of you and possibly misuse your personal information. Federal Trade Commission consumer credit information
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moonshadow
16 years ago
I use annualcreditreport.com as well. No gimmicks there.

If you want to monitor your credit several times a year you can do it there for free.

Example: get a report from Equifax now. Free.
Get a report from TransUnion in 4 months (still free because you're entitled to 1 free report per year from each of the 3 credit bureaus.
4 months later get a report from Experian.
4 months later you are starting year #2. Repeat the cycle starting with Equifax again because by now it has been 1 year since you got your 1st report from Equifax so it's free again. ;)
dave_donhoff
16 years ago
Hi Mare,

Checking your credit on a scheduled regularity is just as important to your safety & wealth as having dental & physical checkups is to your health.

You can get your basic account reports for free directly from each of the three major bureaus (Transperian, Equifax and Experian.)

You'll want to get a full tri-merge report that includes your actual credit scores (3 total per person, one from each bureau,) and the 'reason codes' (4 per score) that detail why each score is calculated as far below the perfect 850 as it is. These are basically only available through a mortgage loan officer (usually a broker,) so having a good relationship there is a healthy/wealthy idea.

Luck!
Dave Donhoff
Strategic Equity & Mortgage Planner
mare_wbpa
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks to all of you for the excellent information and advice. I sincerely appreciate it.

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