Best Place to Get Credit Report

[KennySoward]

Normally, I get my 3-in-1 from Equifax. Of course, now they have included advanced plans that help with credit monitoring and alerts. It is been awhile since my last report and I'm thinking about getting another one.

Is it worth it to upgrade? It just sucks that now there is a business built on protecting you from online thieves

Thoughts?

[disneysteve]

The ONLY place to get your free credit report is annualcreditreport.com. You can get one free report per year from each bureau so what many people do is pull one every 4 months rotating through the 3 companies.

[Nightfly]

Dsteve is right - also try CreditSesame.com or CreditKarma.com for free estimates on your credit scores.

[photo]

Just get one free report every 4 months from annualcreditreport.com.

[KennySoward]

Easy enough! Thanks!

[Eric80]

a good place to start for this is by going to your citizens advice bureau where they will be able to guide you as to where you need to go - if not then someone like Experian is a good company to go with.

[ez1]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

Dsteve is right - also try CreditSesame.com or CreditKarma.com for free estimates on your credit scores.

Nightfly, do you have any sense for how accurate those estimates of the credit scores are?

[JoshuaHeckathorn]

Originally Posted by ez1

Nightfly, do you have any sense for how accurate those estimates of the credit scores are?

CreditKarma pulls data from your TransUnion report while CreditSesame pulls from your Experian report. The credit score estimates are based on a scale similar to FICO, and in most cases should give you a general idea of where your true FICO scores might stand. My point is they're pretty good, but they're still "FAKO" scores. Don't rely on them for anything other than informational purposes

[BMEPhDinCO]

As mentioned, there are sites you can pull the report for free (like CreditKarma) so between those and the three free ones, you should be able to pull 5 a year for free....I would pull every 2 months, then once a year, buy the report and score from myfico.com to check on your real score...

Unless you've been a recent victim of identity theft, there's no reason to pay for credit report monitoring.

[orenwach]

I use credit sesame but I am not sure how accurate it is. They say they get their score from Experian and mine was 790 but then I opened a card and Amex told me that they got their score from Experian to decide whether I should get the card and the number they said was 720. So, use credit sesame and credit karma because they are free but beware that they might be a little off.

[khriscoslay]

The best places to get a credit report are those that are free and provide reporting from all three major credit bureaus.

(simplest and safest, because it's U.S. government guaranteed)

By law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) now 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. For more information, read “Facts for Consumers: Your Access to Free Credit Reports” at FTC.gov.

[feh]

Originally Posted by orenwach

I use credit sesame but I am not sure how accurate it is. They say they get their score from Experian and mine was 790 but then I opened a card and Amex told me that they got their score from Experian to decide whether I should get the card and the number they said was 720. So, use credit sesame and credit karma because they are free but beware that they might be a little off.

I've been viewing our credit report from annualcreditreport.com for a few years, just to make sure everything is accurate, but they don't provide your FICO score.

I just went to creditkarma.com for the first time and was surprised to see our (estimated) credit score is only 722. I drilled down into the data to see why it was so low, and it turns out we get an 'F' for only having 2 open credit accounts.

I find that interesting; we have a fairly high family income, own our house outright and own our cars outright (paid cash for a car a few months ago). Our credit report is spotless (no late payments, low credit usage percentage).

[bjl584]

Originally Posted by feh

I've been viewing our credit report from annualcreditreport.com for a few years, just to make sure everything is accurate, but they don't provide your FICO score.

I just went to creditkarma.com for the first time and was surprised to see our (estimated) credit score is only 722. I drilled down into the data to see why it was so low, and it turns out we get an 'F' for only having 2 open credit accounts.

I find that interesting; we have a fairly high family income, own our house outright and own our cars outright (paid cash for a car a few months ago). Our credit report is spotless (no late payments, low credit usage percentage).

A friend of mine is in the car business. A few years ago a gentleman came in to buy a car for his daughter. He was like you. High income, no debt. He was denied for a car loan. The reason was that his credit history was lacking, history for a lack of a better word. Apparently, it had been years since he took out any loans. It raised red flags with the dealership's credit screening. It's amazing that people that live responsibly can be punished.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by feh

I just went to creditkarma.com for the first time and was surprised to see our (estimated) credit score is only 722. I drilled down into the data to see why it was so low, and it turns out we get an 'F' for only having 2 open credit accounts.

I find that interesting; we have a fairly high family income, own our house outright and own our cars outright (paid cash for a car a few months ago). Our credit report is spotless (no late payments, low credit usage percentage).

This is something people often don't understand. Your credit score has absolutely nothing to do with your financial status. It says nothing about how successful you are, how much money you have, how high your income is, what percentage of income you are saving or anything else like that. It strictly measures your relationship with debt. If you carry debt and make your payments on time, you'll have a good score. You might only earn 20K/year and be living paycheck to paycheck but you may have a higher FICO than someone earning 200K/year and carrying zero debt.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by bjl584

A friend of mine is in the car business. A few years ago a gentleman came in to buy a car for his daughter. He was like you. High income, no debt. He was denied for a car loan.

Why did someone with high income and no debt need a car loan?

[feh]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

Why did someone with high income and no debt need a car loan?

I could see wanting to do that, if the auto loan had a lower rate than what you could earn with another investment.

Especially when really low rates are offered, sometimes 0%.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by feh

I could see wanting to do that, if the auto loan had a lower rate than what you could earn with another investment.

Especially when really low rates are offered, sometimes 0%.

I know. I was just being difficult.

However, sometimes the dealers are really out of hand. My brother-in-law went to buy a car and planned to pay cash. The dealer still insisted on pulling a credit report. He refused and went elsewhere to buy the car. Why do you need a credit report when there is no credit involved in the transaction?

Last time we bought a car, also for cash, they did pull our credit just so we could drive the car off the lot that day even though we hadn't yet paid for it (we were waiting for an insurance check). When the salesman came back, he joked and asked if we were sure we didn't want 2 or 3 cars since our credit was so good (both of our scores are over 800). He said he almost never sees that.

[PetMom]

DisneySteve if you don't mind sharing did you have a strategy to get such high scores?

A deliberate debt taken on and paid?

Isn't the report wiped clean every 7 years that reflect those who had paid off their home in full years earlier.

I also agree the score just reflects how you handle or don't handle debt.

But to go in debt to raise the score (as I have read about some people doing) sounds drastic.

And congratulations on such a high score!

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by PetMom

DisneySteve if you don't mind sharing did you have a strategy to get such high scores?

I certainly never took on any debt intentionally just to raise my score. That would be nuts.

We've just handled what debt we have had over the years very responsibly. Car loans, student loans, home equity loan, mortgage. At this point, all that is left is the mortgage and we're prepaying that. I'm curious what will happen to our scores when we are completely debt free.

[photo]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

My brother-in-law went to buy a car and planned to pay cash. The dealer still insisted on pulling a credit report. He refused and went elsewhere to buy the car.

They asked him if they could pull a credit report?