Is There Really a Free Credit Score?
by Steve Cypher on Monday, July 7th, 2008If you’ve spent any time at all on the internet, you have probably been besieged by various ads and popups offering you a free credit score. But do you really need this kind of service and, more importantly, how can these companies afford to advertise it if it really is free? Although many of the ads are simply a come-on to induce you to pay for additional services, there is one site that will allow you to view and print your report from all three agencies without paying a dime.
What information is found in a Credit Report?
A credit report is simply a record of your borrowing and repayment history. Banks, credit card companies and many other places that extend you credit report your payment history to one, two or all three of the major credit reporting agencies in the United States – Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. This type of credit is known as “applied for” credit (meaning that you requested to borrow money from the lender). Your credit report may also contain “not applied for” credit entries. These entries include items such as bad checks, medical bills and any tax liens or civil judgments (bills that are not a result of a credit application). If you pay all your bills, you will not have “not applied for” credit entries in your credit report.
Why you need to see your credit report
Viewing your credit report will let you know if there is anything contained in the information from the three credit bureaus that is inaccurate. If there is, much of this wrong information can lower your credit score. If you plan on buying a car, knowing your FICO score and credit history will tell you whether or not you qualify for a regular car loan or if you need to find a dealer that specializes in bad credit car loans. If you find that you fall into the bad credit car loan category, the people here at Auto Credit Express can help you find a dealer that can arrange car financing. Simply go to our website at www.autocreditexpress.com to fill out the bad credit car loan application in the privacy of your home.
Is the score really free?
The saying goes that “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. But in this case, there actually is a way that you can get a credit score from each of the companies for free! Back in 1970, The United States Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act that, among other things, ensured that consumers would have access to the information in their credit files. The law was amended in 1996 and in 2003 a new law (the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act or FACTA) amended the act to require credit reporting agencies to furnish consumers with one free credit score per year per agency – as well as access to their FICO scores for a reasonable fee (meaning that the FICO scores aren’t part of the free package).
How to get your Free Credit Score
There are three ways to receive your free credit score. You can call the toll-free numbers of the 3 agencies, you can write the three agencies or you can go to this website: www.annualcreditreport.com. Once there, you will be asked to furnish them with information that establishes your identity. When you have entered this information, you can view and download the report immediately.
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