Getting a Credit Report

[HLAuburn]

My question is two part:

Is there an easy (free/cheap) way to check your credit with all 3 of the main agencies? I think it's almost criminal that your credit score dictates so much about you and yet they make it so hard to find out what it is! I really don't want to pay $30 for them to tell me information they gathered on me, but your sort of left with no choice.

I did sign up with experian.com and paid the $1 for the report and then called to cancel the monthyly subscripion they automatically sign you up for. I was surprised that they had my birth year off by 15 years and I also saw an address in TX that I never lived at. It makes me a little concerned what's on the other ones.

Also, what do you consider a 'good' credit score and what would you say is 'excellent'? Just curious.

Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

My question is two part:

Is there an easy (free/cheap) way to check your credit with all 3 of the main agencies? I think it's almost criminal that your credit score dictates so much about you and yet they make it so hard to find out what it is! I really don't want to pay $30 for them to tell me information they gathered on me, but your sort of left with no choice.

I did sign up with experian.com and paid the $1 for the report and then called to cancel the monthyly subscripion they automatically sign you up for. I was surprised that they had my birth year off by 15 years and I also saw an address in TX that I never lived at. It makes me a little concerned what's on the other ones.

Also, what do you consider a 'good' credit score and what would you say is 'excellent'? Just curious.

Thanks!

Read about getting free credit reports from all 2 agencies here:
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/ccc/reporting.html

You're entitled to a free report every year.

A "good" credit score would be over 700. Excellent credit, IMO, would be above 760.

 

[HLAuburn]

Read about getting free credit reports from all 2 agencies here:
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/ccc/reporting.html

You're entitled to a free report every year.

A "good" credit score would be over 700. Excellent credit, IMO, would be above 760.

Thanks! I was able to see my TransUnion report too, but you have to PAY to see the actual score. Experian gave me my score, so hopefully all the scores are pretty similar.

 

[epsmith921]

You can get your reports from annualcreditreport.com for free from all 3 bureaus annually as the PP stated. No sign-ons or subscriptions needed. Takes maybe 10 minutes to do all three.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

Read about getting free credit reports from all 2 agencies here:
http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/ccc/reporting.html

You're entitled to a free report every year.

A "good" credit score would be over 700. Excellent credit, IMO, would be above 760.

There are three companies. I try to look at one every other month. One month my name, two month wife's name two months later different reporting agency.

You do not get a FICO score with these free reports.

 

[Ginny Favers]

I check my credit annually at the 3 major credit agencies at annualcreditreport.com for free. You have to pay more for the score, but as long as my credit is in order, I don't worry.

And I believe you are excellent over 760. The FICO scale goes up to 850, while the scale for auto lenders goes up to 900. I did not realize this until I had my credit run for a new car purchase and I had a score of over 850! I thought I'd beaten the system.

 

[Neesy228]

My question is two part:

Is there an easy (free/cheap) way to check your credit with all 3 of the main agencies? I think it's almost criminal that your credit score dictates so much about you and yet they make it so hard to find out what it is! I really don't want to pay $30 for them to tell me information they gathered on me, but your sort of left with no choice.

I did sign up with experian.com and paid the $1 for the report and then called to cancel the monthyly subscripion they automatically sign you up for. I was surprised that they had my birth year off by 15 years and I also saw an address in TX that I never lived at. It makes me a little concerned what's on the other ones.

Also, what do you consider a 'good' credit score and what would you say is 'excellent'? Just curious.

Thanks!

You can check your credit reports for free at all three one time per year, but you won't get your score with that report, you have to pay to get your score. Annualcreditreport.com I believe is the main site to get the reports.


I think a good score is 700 and excellent is probably 750 and up. Youll get the best rates above 720. Most companies will give you their ranges if you ask them.

 

[automaticsoap]

You can get your credit score for free from www.creditkarma.com -- I read many reviews on a various websites reviewing it to make sure it was legitimate before I signed up.

 

[StephMK]

You can get your credit score for free from www.creditkarma.com -- I read many reviews on a various websites reviewing it to make sure it was legitimate before I signed up.

I was cautious also but have used creditkarma.com for a year and haven't had any issues. I also get our reports from annualcreditreport to check the accuracy with each company.

 

[wiigirl]

You can get your reports from annualcreditreport.com for free from all 3 bureaus annually as the PP stated. No sign-ons or subscriptions needed. Takes maybe 10 minutes to do all three.

 

[HLAuburn]

You can get your credit score for free from www.creditkarma.com -- I read many reviews on a various websites reviewing it to make sure it was legitimate before I signed up.

Thanks!

 

[dmaxphil]

Just keep in mind that most scores online, including karma and freecreditreport.com are fake scores. There are only a couple of places that provide real fico scores. Myfico, and I think one of Equifax's services provide a real fico.

If you don't need a score, but just want to look at your report, you can do this easily for free by going through the dispute process at the transunion, equifax and experian web sites. Just google search for the bureau name followed by "dispute" and the correct page should pop up.

You don't actually have to dispute anything once your report displays.

 

[bumbershoot]

Since there were wrong things on the report you got, make sure you do the process to correct those things.

 

[HLAuburn]

Just keep in mind that most scores online, including karma and freecreditreport.com are fake scores. There are only a couple of places that provide real fico scores. Myfico, and I think one of Equifax's services provide a real fico.

What do you mean by "fake scores"? I looked mine up on creditkarma, and although it was about 10 points lower than the score Experian gave me, they said it was TransUnion's score, so I though that might explain the difference.

Since there were wrong things on the report you got, make sure you do the process to correct those things.

Thanks - I disputed them online. They changed the birthdate, but wouldn't remove the address. It just said a creditor had submitted it and I'd have to send more verification. How do you prove you DIDN'T live somewhere?!

 

[MissDaisyofTexas]

I use Credit Sesame, which gives you a free FICO score from Experian every month.

 

[dmaxphil]

What do you mean by "fake scores"? I looked mine up on creditkarma, and although it was about 10 points lower than the score Experian gave me, they said it was TransUnion's score, so I though that might explain the difference.

They are not real fico scores that a bank/lender would pull. They are calculated using a different algorithm than the credit reports the lenders use.

Even lenders can pull different versions of the same bureau, but they are all Fico. FYI, if you have a Walmart credit card, I believe the transunion score they provide monthly is a real Fico.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

They are not real fico scores that a bank/lender would pull. They are calculated using a different algorithm than the credit reports the lenders use.

Even lenders can pull different versions of the same bureau, but they are all Fico. FYI, if you have a Walmart credit card, I believe the transunion score they provide monthly is a real Fico.

I have a Walmart card & the Trans Union score is exactly the same as my Credit Karma one fwiw. Trans Union scores also seem to be lower than Experian & Equifax in my experience.

 

[sookie]

I believe that myFico is a real fico score.

 

[palmbeachmom]

We've used MyFico in the past when we were buying a house, and found all of the 3 scores (Equifax, TransUnion and Experian) were exactly what was pulled my our mortgage lender. I was wild to me though, that there was about a 100 point difference in the hi/lows, crazy!

To check you reports though, annualcreditreport.com is the best and FREE, and you get to print off your report or save it to your computer. As an FYI, if you do have to dispute anything, don't assume that once it falls off, it won't pop up again, especially if it is an old collection account. My ex-husband used my identity in the early 90's and ruined my credit, and 20 years later, I still get old crap coming up as collections that have been re-aged over and over again, every time some collection agency buys up ancient debt. It's such a pain, but I have to do disputes about every 6 months to keep my credit clean. I can't understand for the life of me why this is allowed to happen in this day and age where your entire being seems to depend on your credit score