Banks used to be entities that could be respected. In the present financial situation many small ones are being gobbled up by the big ones that got us here. They are doing any thing they can get away with to make bucks. Some of the things they do are illegal but get under the radar till a class action contest brings them to light. The commercials you see for credit reports may have very small print disclaimers saying that you are signing up for a daily, weekly or monthly report that will cost on a regular basis. That is why the bad "rock" band is no longer blaring at is. Check to see if there is a fine print agreement to consistently charge for regular credit reports. I think looking for a small local bank or a credit union is the best move to make at this time. Why use the ones that messed up the economy?

Hi breenthumb, Rumour has it that there are other insurance companies. Granted, there are fewer than there used to be, as they, like most corporations, hate competition on their own level and will go to great lengths to get rid of competitors. Some time ago I had a personal tax-deferred retirement account with a stockbrokerage, which had incurred no administration cost for years, as it had been grandfathered that way when that company took over another company. When I came to the age where I had to reverse it from an account into which I paid in, into one into which I could no longer pay in, but must withdraw a certain percentage annually, which increases from about 7% at age 71 to 20% at age 90 and beyond, a problem arose. They said that there would be an annual administration fee, and my claim that it was a continuation/reversal of a fee-free account that I'd had with them for years fell on quite deaf ears. So ... I did some checking with some other agencies, and came back to report that, since such and such a company and so and so company would agree to carry my account without an administration fee, I was considereing transferring my account ... they seemed to have a change of heart, for it appeared that they, too, could carry that account without an admin. fee. Which they've done for about 10 years, now: nice to have a little skill and effort save one well over $1,000., on occasion, right? I didn't feel it necessary to include in my report the fact that I would be somewhat less inclined to use the other companies than the one that I had been with for years ... as Grandma used to say, "One should tell the truth ... but there's no reason that one should blab and tell all that one knows". So ... ... if you don't, or haven't owed money for several recent years in several locations/circumstances ... ... they figure that your trustworthiness is suspect, do they? As I've lived in over 20 locations in my 79 years (as I discovered when they asked over on KT in how many places one had lived), I've never owned a home ... ... so never had a mortgage. As I live fairly frugally, I've had few loans. Which situation is aided by the fact that I tend to buy old cars and drive them into the ground, which usually takes 5 - 7 years ... which enables me to buy them for cash (having added a bit to emergency funds from time to time, and drawing on it to make those smallish purchases). When I have substantial debt and must pay quite a lot of interest every month, it seems to me that, since much of our debt is usually non-deductible, if I have to pay $100. monthly in interest, and make $10.00 per hour, after-tax income ... that means that I work 10 hours/month for someone else, the holder of my loan(s). I'd rather wait until I can afford to pay cash ... and pay myself, instead. Learning how money works is an interesting hobby ... that pays well ... and I hope that you're developing increasing shrewdness at managiong your income and assets effectively: to benefit you rather than the other guys (with the exception of worthy charities). Hope you're part way into a happy weekend. One nice thing about retirement is ... that every day is weekend. A nice benefit of learning skillful management of money may well be/quite likely will be ... early retirement (at your choice, not because your company downsizes when you're about 50 ... leaving you out in the cold). ole joyful P.S. I could qualify, as I've had a Line of Credit, usually unused, for about 10 years, and have had a credit (actually "debt") card for several years, which I use infrequently. I recently took on another, which offered 1.9% on transferred balances for most of this year, figuring that I'd buy some stock using the original card, then transfer the balance, as the bank, which had usually charged me bank prime on my loans (fully secured), they recently said that prime was 3.5% ... but they needed a 1.5% surcharge, to total 5%. Now, however, they say that the interest on my Line of Credit will be 2.25% ... so I'll take that, instead of jockeying on credit cards - not a good idea to shift from one horse to another while crossing a stream, I figure. Most cards charge full rate (often 18% on mainline cards: 28% or so on store-issued cards) from the date of the advance until it is paid in full, and I'd not be sure how long it would take to transfer to the second card. o j

"It just looks weird for the report to say "too many inquiries," "debt too high," and so on as the reason for our credit rating being lowered when those things have nothing to do with how we handle debt. " Huh? Of course those things matter - on average. That is what credit scores are - the average risk of people who display certain behaviors. People who apply for a lot of credit in a short period of time are bigger risks to lend to on average. People who use a lot of their credit lines are obviously bigger risks than people who only use a little - on average. Sure, you may intend to pay it off every month, but if you suddenly lose your job, the credit companies are a lot safer if you only have a small balance outstanding then if you had a large balance. If you want to manipulate the credit scoring system, it really isn't that hard. Just adopt the patterns of people who they judge to be the lowest risks. If your score is currently good enough to get everything you need, why bother though?

Get your free annual credit reports from https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ But DON'T pay any attention to the credit scores! They are fakos (just a guesstimate and can be off by as much as 100 points!) And yes, you should pull your credit reports from all three bureaus! Click on the links and it will basically walk you through it. Be prepared to answer verification questions about loans, payments and such. If you enter the wrong info, you will have to then get them by mail, possibly. To pull all three credit reports after getting the freebies, you can go with either http://www.truecredit.com for 14.95 per month (you are allowed to update reports every 24hrs and 1min). Another place to get them with your real fico scores are http://www.myfico.com I'm on the free forums there at myfico and absolutely love it!