I know consumer reports did an article on this in the last year but i can't find it. I am trying to get my credit reports and fico scores. What are the legitament sites to get them?

Ive heard of some of these.....annualcreditreport.com, transunion, Equifax, myfico.com, experian, truecredit.com, and freecreditreport.com (but i thought that one was sketcy)

12/11/2007 9:03:32 AM

annualcreditreport.com is the website that was created due to the gov't saying consumers had a right to see their reports for free at least once per year...it's very legit

they don't offer the FICOs, though. There's a small fee for your FICO score, which isn't too bad if you're using it for shopping around on loans, etc.

12/11/2007 9:06:32 AM

http://www.truecredit.com - Is the end all be all of this. They give you all three on one page, you can refresh/update it every day if you want. They also e-mail you when something significant happens like a new account is opened, late payment is posted, etc. That way if someone is using your identity you can catch and stop it before it reaches crisis level.

12/11/2007 9:10:57 AM

?topic=380847

12/11/2007 9:12:03 AM

Quote :

"experian - http://www.experian.com/credit_score_basics/credit_scores.html equifax - https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/sitepage.ehtml?forward=elearning_credit11 transunion - http://www.truecredit.com/help/learnCenter/creditBasics/overview.jsp?cb=TransUnion"

^ got it out of the old thread, ill use it today later. Thx

12/11/2007 9:42:53 AM

^^^ yeah, but it's also $15/month....

like Senez said, the government requires each of the 3 credit agencies to provide you with one free report per year, which you can access here - https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
You can stagger them - i have a calendar notice every 4 months to go pull a new free credit report, e.g. January = experian, May = transunion, September = equifax, etc
These only get you your report, not your score. Usually, you can pay $5 extra or something and get your score as well. Your report, though, will tell you if anything fishy is up, and especially if you're not buying a car or a house or something in the next year, it's not essential to know your exact score at all times.

Also, some credit cards offer free credit monitoring and scores. I have a card through Providian/Washington Mutual that gives me my FICO score every month with no additional charge.

[Edited on December 11, 2007 at 9:58 AM. Reason : .]

12/11/2007 9:46:47 AM

when you use annualcreditreport.com is it mailed to you or do you have to print it offline?

12/11/2007 10:16:06 AM

online

12/11/2007 10:20:43 AM

I use truecredit.com, and I watch that shit like a hawk, and update it monthly.

It is, quite simply, the bomb.

12/12/2007 4:20:12 AM

use myannualcreditreport.com

unless you are buying a house you should just run one of the three brands every 4 months.

http://www.myfico.com for you beacon score

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 8:56 AM. Reason : .]

12/12/2007 8:56:09 AM

is there any real benefit to knowing your credit score if youve used a card for years and have never missed a payment? and also gotten lots of big electronics (thus opened accounts through the store) and made payments. i guess im out of the loop on understanding the hype unless its mainly for security reasons or something

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 10:55 AM. Reason : ]

12/12/2007 10:49:18 AM

security reasons... i.e. if somebody has opened an account in your name (identity thief) the sooner you know about it the better, and the only way you're probably going to find out about it reasonably quickly is if you're checking your credit report

also it's nice to know when you're about to borrow large sums of money for a mortgage or car, etc.

12/12/2007 11:00:50 AM

Yeah, you def want to know it before shopping around for lending rates

12/12/2007 11:14:16 AM

word. just did it for the first time out of curiosity. guess it could be something to keep up with periodically

12/12/2007 11:19:08 AM

Case & Point

http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell/mortgages/20071204-simon.html

Quote :

"One common assumption about the subprime mortgage crisis is that it revolves around borrowers with sketchy credit who couldn't have bought a home without paying punitively high interest rates. But it turns out that plenty of people with seemingly good credit are also caught in the subprime trap."

Quote :

"In 2005, the peak year of the subprime boom, the study says that borrowers with such credit scores got more than half -- 55% -- of all subprime mortgages that were ultimately packaged into securities for sale to investors, as most subprime loans are. The study by First American LoanPerformance, a San Francisco research firm, says the proportion rose even higher by the end of 2006, to 61%. The figure was just 41% in 2000, according to the study. Even a significant number of borrowers with top-notch credit signed up for expensive subprime loans, the firm's analysis found."

Mortgage lenders and brokers do not represent you at all. If you go in to get a mortgage and do not know what your scores are they may get the impression that they can fatten the rate up and give themselves a better yield.

Over half of the people who got sub prime mortgages before everything went to shit qualified for market rate home loans. If they had gone in with reports and scores in hand the lenders probably would not have jerked them around as much. A lender may have to eat a smaller commission if you get a better rate, but they dont get jack shit when you take your business to a competitor.

12/12/2007 12:20:34 PM

makes sense. definitely something to keep in mind as i look at the possibility of a house in less than 2 years.

12/12/2007 12:46:39 PM

Quote :

"is there any real benefit to knowing your credit score if youve used a card for years and have never missed a payment? "

this was partially answered, but not fully i think.

1) knowing or tracking your credit score alone will not necessarily help with security. Your score is simply a number, and it can change up or down for any number of reasons, and you have no way of knowing how a certain action will affect your score, and conversely, if your score changed, you have know way of knowing exactly why it changed. Therefore, your score will not help with security. Your score is most useful to you when you need to take out a loan for a car or house, so you should be aware of your score before you apply for loan. If you plan ahead, you should look into your score well before you apply, and if it's low try some of the suggested actions (provided by the credit unions) to raise it

2) viewing or tracking your credit report will help with security, because you can view new accounts or balances on accounts that don't seem right or any unusual activity that you don't recognize. Although, you should realize that your credit report doesn't go into too much detail about each credit account. At the most basic level, for each account you will see:
- name and account number
- condition (open, closed, fully paid)
- balance
- type of account (credit card, home equity, student loan)
- status (up to date/current, overdue)
- a 2 year payment history, showing month by month if your payment was on time or how late each payment was

It doesn't show individual transactions for each account. So if someone gets ahold of your credit card number and starts buying shit or going up to your credit limit, you'll see it on your monthly credit card statement a long time before it shows up on your credit report or score.


short answer is - your score and report in conjunction will tell you most of what you need to know about the security of your credit history and how well you will qualify for loans.

12/12/2007 1:14:47 PM

Quote :

"legitament"

Forget it. I don't feel like being mean. I guess.

[Edited on December 12, 2007 at 1:25 PM. Reason : sss]

12/12/2007 1:24:27 PM

word. i appreciate you taking the time to write that. i did check my report and then score today so i kind of got the gist of it through that, but that is definitely useful information

i guess its hard to say how good your score is, because everything i read has different scoring ranges. based on google results for 'good credit scores', the score transunion gave me fell in the excellent/highest categories. But the transunion 'grade' that was displayed with the same score was only a C.

12/12/2007 1:30:34 PM

your FICO Score is the only one that really matters. Each of the 3 agencies can and do calculate FICO. It seems like each of them also tries to make up their own version of the score as well, but FICO is the important one, and I think the one that is given to banks.

I just signed up for truecredit.com too, and on their Credit Score section, for each of the 3 agencies it shows you your FICO score (from 300-850), how your FICO compares to others from that agency (from 0-100%), and "how lenders view you" (from very poor to very good)

12/12/2007 1:41:57 PM

All I can say is: DON'T GO TO http://www.freecreditreport.com !!!

They were one of the more popular sites, but now they have tons of BBB reports against them. I cancelled my free membership, but they kept charging me. Had to contact the bank and halt the withdrawls. Wachovia hates them because they're constantly dealing with issues from them.

12/12/2007 3:08:09 PM

http://www.annualcreditreport.com is your site.

needed to be said again.

12/12/2007 6:09:25 PM

freeeeeeeee credit report DOT commmmmmmmmm

12/13/2007 12:49:47 AM

You must be the only person on the planet who has parity between credit score and IQ score.

12/13/2007 12:56:59 AM

my credit score is $china

12/13/2007 12:59:51 AM

is there a way to view my credit report and score without becoming a member to these sites? I dont want a free monthly membership I'll have to cancel.

12/13/2007 6:14:27 AM

https://www.annualcreditreport.com
https://www.annualcreditreport.com
https://www.annualcreditreport.com
https://www.annualcreditreport.com
https://www.annualcreditreport.com

via https://www.annualcreditreport.com you might have to create accounts at transunion/experien/equifax, but it won't charge you anything. just a free account

12/13/2007 7:02:36 AM

On a related note-
What the heck is up with transunion wanting 5 billion pieces of data to certify you? Tried to register online got told to call, and because i couldn't give the lady exact dates and payments of everything in the past 5 years practically, they wouldnt let me have the report.

Got the experian one just fine, got equifax last year.

12/13/2007 2:54:54 PM

^^yeah but does that give me my score?

12/13/2007 6:37:17 PM

it can for a 1 time 7 dollar charge. which is what i did

12/13/2007 6:49:20 PM

right. annualcreditreport just gives you links to the three agencies who each have to provide you with one report per year. once you get your report from any of those agencies, they will each offer you an opportunity to pay to see your score, either once for $5 or $10 or so, or on an ongoing basis.
Either way, you will have to create accounts for each agency in order to just get your annual report.

12/13/2007 7:25:08 PM

just looking for some other opinions on this, since ive gotten somewhat conflicting stories from people ive asked.

I have 2 credit cards. One i pretty much never use anymore with a 4.5k limit on it. But since there is no annual charge, I figure there is no reason to change it. The other has a 6k limit (a citi card) and I put about 2k on it every month and pay it off every time on time. Those of you that use citi know that you can click on the link that lets you immediately request a credit increase, and offers me an increase to 7500.

Speaking in terms of credit score, is there any reason for me NOT to do this, knowing that I wont use it, but it would just increase my debt/credit ratio?

2/10/2008 6:05:03 PM

^ no there is no penalty and also don't close the card you never use

2/10/2008 6:10:55 PM

thanks for the heads up. i did mean to say since there is no annual change, I figure there is no reason to 'close' it instead of 'change', but i appreciate the tip anyways. confirms what i had been thinking about the unused card as well

[Edited on February 10, 2008 at 6:15 PM. Reason : ]

2/10/2008 6:15:09 PM

apply for a loan and ask what your credit score was!

2/10/2008 8:41:47 PM

freecreditreport.com is NOT FREE

they sign you up automatically for some bullshit and keep charging you every month for access to their site

i called their customer service and told them that i checked the box that said i wasn't interested in the service and the woman told me i still had to call to cancel it, which is crap because why should i call to cancel something i didn't sign up for?

i bitched but they wouldn't budge on giving me my money back.

annualcreditreport seems to be legit i would use them instead (even the woman at freecreditreport.com recommended i use them next time)




does anyone know the site you can go to to quit getting stupid preapproved credit cards in the mail????

[Edited on February 10, 2008 at 11:25 PM. Reason : .]

2/10/2008 11:24:39 PM

^ yeah we establised that ages ago...

every credit card application (the junk mail) is suppose to have an opt out for pre-approved credit offers. You basically call a number and type in the opt out number and you no longer receive offers from random companies (takes a couple months). However, companies you already have cards with are allowed to still send card offers out to you, but most respect your opt out wish. The only one I get is to upgrade my gold Amex.

freecreditreport.com was lucky and got the name before the govt required the 3 agencies to give you one free look a year.... free credit suckers you in with the name and the ability to see your score and reports for 30 days free, then they automatically enroll you in their protection program unless you call.

annualcreditreport.com is govt operated and you can see all 3 reports once a year (the best suggestion is to look up one agency every 4 months). To see your score ranges from 5.99 to 9.99 depending on the company. Expedian (one of the agencies) is 5.99 and gives you a detailed report of your score and the +'s and -'s that caused it to be that score (I check that just once a year).

[Edited on February 10, 2008 at 11:35 PM. Reason : .]

2/10/2008 11:30:36 PM

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/ most certainly is legit - it was the official one set up in response to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

i think this is the official site to opt out of credit offers - https://www.optoutprescreen.com

2/10/2008 11:31:49 PM

Quote :

"i guess its hard to say how good your score is, because everything i read has different scoring ranges. based on google results for 'good credit scores', the score transunion gave me fell in the excellent/highest categories. But the transunion 'grade' that was displayed with the same score was only a C. "

When you googled "good credit scores" it probably gave you a scale based on a FICO score which ranges from 300 to 850. However, the score that transunion gave you was probably a VantageScore which is basically like a FICO score, but it is different. Their range is from 501 and runs to 990. I don't have the link, but I think to get a rough idea of what your FICO score would be based on your VantageScore is to take your VantageScore and multiply it by .86 (850/990). This is probably why your VantageScore was a C but it would appear high if you were comparing it to the scale of the FICO scores.

2/11/2008 2:01:46 PM

i recommend http://www.freecreditreport.com

they have all of them packaged well into once easy interface, and only one charge

if you go with annualreport.com you will be charged 3 times for each company and it will take alot of time

2/11/2008 2:54:44 PM

annualcreditreport.com will not charge you. They will give you your credit reports, one per agency per year, as mandated by the government.

freecreditreport.com is not government mandated. It is just a 3rd party service that you pay for that scrapes the same data you could get for free or cheaper in one place, but makes it hard to get out of and might hit you with undisclosed fees

truecredit.com is a service offered by one of the credit agencies, TransUnion, that can get you report and score data from all 3 agencies

2/11/2008 3:33:22 PM

Quote :

"Case & Point "

case in point

2/12/2008 1:50:57 AM

Quote :

"freecreditreport.com is not government mandated. It is just a 3rd party service that you pay for that scrapes the same data you could get for free or cheaper in one place, but makes it hard to get out of and might hit you with undisclosed fees"

I haven't been balancing my checking account and this month I found out since I signed up back in november they've been taking out 12 bucks a month for credit monitoring services. I'll call and bitch them out this week, but the best case scenario is one month refunded. I'm usually really good about these types of hidden scam/fees/programs, but I let this one slip through.

Google CIC TripleAdvantage and you'll see what i mean

2/12/2008 7:23:25 AM

Why not just avoid the hassle of credit by not using it? I'm 27 and I've never had a credit card or borrowed money; hence I owe nothing and all money after living expenses & taxes is mine. Here's how it can be done:

-If there's something you NEED to buy (a car, a computer, etc.), try selling some stuff you don't need, or use it as collateral to borrow from a friend or relative (preferably one who won't sell it for crack money). Or do without luxuries until you save enough to buy it.
-NEVER borrow money to buy a car. It's just plain stupid to owe interest on a depreciating asset. Take public transportation if you have to until you can save up for a cheap used car.
-Don't use credit cards, use cash. This is better for monitoring your expenditures and budgeting, as it's hard to keep track of what you've bought on credit and you get a shocking bill at the end of the month.
-Don't buy a house; rent a house or an apartment. Take the money you save on mortgage payments/interest and invest it in something else with a higher return. I realize some housing markets make it better to buy than rent, depending on the size of your down payment, this is a generalization.
-Buy airline tickets and book hotels through a travel agent like AAA, pay with cash or check. More expensive and less convenient, but it keeps you from using credit.
-Utility accounts can be opened without a credit check if you pay a deposit up front (you may have to whine until they agree), which is refunded after a year of timely payments or when you cancel service.
-Some landlords will waive a credit check if you pay a few months' rent in advance (again, requires saving up). Dress and act nicely when you discuss this with a landlord.

As for student loans, just pay it off as quickly as possible and never borrow again, or work part-time and go to school part-time if possible to pay your tuition & living expenses.

Some jobs require credit checks, but why is good credit considered a measure of responsibility or trustworthiness? I think it's more responsible to take care of your own financial needs without having to borrow from strangers. I'm on my third job that didn't require a credit check.

2/15/2008 3:17:44 PM

^ when the time comes that you need credit, you're going to be screwed.

there's nothing wrong with credit as long as you don't abuse it.

credit cards are awesome. a company gives me an interest-free loan to buy all my stuff, which allows me to keep my money for a whole month, earning interest in my investments. plus if it gets stolen, i'm not responsible for purchases made. if i carry only cash, then im' screwed if my wallet gets stolen. plus, i actually get money and free airline tickets for using a credit card.

2/15/2008 3:21:59 PM

^^ Wow, that really is all horrible advice. Just like having credit isn't evil, having some debt for things like a house or a car isn't evil either. But there will always be people who think you should pay off everything as soon as possible, I suppose.

2/15/2008 3:25:45 PM

^I'll agree that using credit requires as much responsibility as living on a cash economy. It's just easier to mess up with credit.

I don't foresee a time when I'll actually need credit. Buying a house is most people's first objection to credit-free living, but a hundred years ago only the wealthy bought houses, everyone else rented or lived in homes that had been in the family for years. I'd say it's reasonable that in a couple decades, with prudent saving & investing, one could buy a decent house outright. Then you can get a federal land patent and avoid state property taxes!

Plus, owning a house ties you down; it's a lot easier to move on a moment's notice if you rent.

2/15/2008 3:35:51 PM

so you'd rather blow money on rent the rest of your life than go in debt and in 20 years own a house and not have to pay another dime to live there? smart move.. you should live on the street really, screw paying rent

2/15/2008 3:40:15 PM

Agreed. Plus, you can get a car loan at 6%. You advocate not buying a house so you can invest money yet you want to use your spare cash to buy a car when you could get a loan for cheap? Also, my mortgage is about what I was paying for rent after deductions, so while I'm building up principle with hopefully some appreciation, you are wasting money on rent.

Quote :

"More expensive and less convenient, but it keeps you from using credit."

So, you would prefer to pay more for less convenience. Interesting.....

2/15/2008 3:44:12 PM

wow that IS really horrible advice

its actually a little tin-foil-hatty too imo

2/15/2008 3:46:15 PM