Consumer Car Buying Advice Blog

The best things in life may not always be free but there is such a thing as a free credit score courtesy of the Fair Credit Reporting Act

What else you need to know

For the last 20 years, the people at Auto Credit Express have been working with consumers who have bad credit and helping these individuals reestablish their auto credit by filling out our online bad credit car loan application and financing a vehicle with a bad credit car loan. During this time, we’ve tried to provide our applicants with the information they need in order to understand the differences with this type of loan as well as the loan process itself, since a poor decision can trap them in a loan they can’t afford which could result in a repossession that could lower their credit scores. This is because unlike tote the note dealers, our second chance car loans originate with lenders that report this payment history to the credit bureaus, which can result in either raising or lowering a credit score.

Speaking of credit reports, if you’ve spent any time at all on the internet you have probably been besieged by various ads 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.

The information 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, TransUnion and Experian. This type of credit is known as “applied for” credit (meaning that you requested to borrow money from the reporting 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 on time, you will not have “not applied for” credit entries listed in your credit report.

Reasons to view 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, web sites such as Auto Credit Express can help you find a dealer that can arrange car financing after filling out a bad credit auto loan application in the comfort and privacy of your home.

Getting it for 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 three bureaus 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 scores aren’t part of the free package).

How to get your report

There are three ways to receive your report. You can call the toll-free numbers of the 3 credit bureaus, you can write the three bureaus 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. Once you have done this, you can view and download the report immediately.

More bells and whistles

A number of companies, including the web site freescore360.com, will, for a fee, furnish you with a credit report from each of the bureaus plus a credit score from each. Credit monitoring services are also available that will help you guard against identity theft.

For more information

For more information on these services, as well as information regarding bad credit auto loans, please visit our web site.

At Auto Credit Express we have helped thousands of people with bad, blemished, bruised, and tarnished credit buy cars and reestablish their auto credit at the same time. Our nationwide network of affiliate dealers specializes in bad credit car loans. So if you are serious about getting your credit back on track, you can begin the process right now by filling out our secure online bad credit car loan application.

For more information, feel free to visit www.autocreditexpress.com to see what we can do for you.

Tags: auto loan, Bad Credit, bad credit auto loan, bad credit car loan, car loan, credit, credit report, credit score, fico, FICO score, free credit score

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