Check Your Credit Score for Free

Posted in Credit Cards by Johns Wu
October 4, 2007 12:56 AM - 37 Comments

In the United States, a credit score is a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person’s credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person, which is the likelihood that the person will pay his or her debts. Whether or not this is actually true is debatable, but your credit score is still important nonetheless. Your credit score determines a good portion of what you can and can’t do in life and it pays to be informed.

In 2003, an amendment was made to FACTA, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which now forces the three nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a copy of your credit report free of charge. Upon request, each of the three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) must by law give you a copy of your credit report once every twelve months.

In order to maximize efficiency, it’s recommended that you stagger your credit reports, requesting one every four months. This allows you to maintain a general idea of where your credit score stands while keeping an eye out for any mistakes on your record. Most people don’t realize the importance of tracking your own credit scores. Credit bureaus make mistakes too and an easy fix now can save you alot of trouble in the future. Keep in mind, though, that each credit bureau uses a slightly different method for tabulating your credit score so the numbers may vary slightly. If your looking to make a big purchase, you might want to request all three credit reports beforehand as a precaution.

The “official” site for getting your credit report is AnnualCreditReport.com, but in all honesty, it sucks. While trying to obtain my free credit report, I was bombarded with useless information and offers, neither of which I wanted, and worst of all, THEY DO NOT GIVE YOU YOUR FICO SCORE!

Instead, goto GoFreeCredit to get your TransUnion credit score for free.

Comments (37)

(8 votes, average: 3.88 out of 5)

Loading ...

37 Existing Comments

Add New Comment

Amadeus said:
on July 27th at 06:19 pm

The annual free report doesn’t give you an actual FICO score for any of the reporting institutions and will charge extra for it. It’s definitely worth paying the fee (less than $10) to find out what your score is though, both to have an idea of where you sit currently and for bench marking over time.

Standard good financial practice is to check your reports at least once a year and pay very close attention to every credit history entry listed. Their reporting methods are far from perfect, and can easily penalize you for non-existent late payments or other negative marks. It’s actually fairly common for entire credit accounts to be reported as yours when in fact they are someone else’s entirely.

Don’t be afraid to challenge these! In fact, don’t be afraid to challenge anything that’s even remotely questionable on your score. If they don’t investigate your claim within an alloted amount of time you are given the benefit of the doubt by default. Often times they will get backed up and won’t have time to get to your claim fast enough, whether it was legitimate or not.
James said:
on July 28th at 03:40 am

It is always a good idea to review your credit score. It’s also a good idea to keep your credit score up to date. According to the Motley Fool site ( http://www.fool.com/ccc/check/check02.htm?terms=credit+score&vstest=search_042607_linkdefault ) there are five things that make up your credit score. Past payment history (35%), Amounts currently owed (30%), how long you’ve been using credit (30%), how much credit you’ve applied for recently (10%) and finally whether you have a large proportion of your credit on unsecured loans (10%).
KJones said:
on July 28th at 09:48 am

I used the free annual credit report service online. They allow you to access the BIG 3 credit bureaus and obtain a report.

I agree there was some unnecessary red tape that you had to go through to complete the process, but I was not disappointed in the end results of the transaction.

The most valuable lesson I learned from receiving the credit scores was finding out how each company differed in their ratings and data they had listed regarding my payment history. For instance, Equifax had details of a charge off from many years ago that I thought my ex husband paid off after we were divorced.

Also, I had a little bit of fun going through their verification process and selecting specific information that related to me or did NOT relate to me. They ask you questions about addresses and purchases in your past and you have to identify what seems familiar, and you have to answer by way of multiple choice.

After you have requested your credit report, be prepared to be contacted by any past creditors that you owe money to . Credit report inquiries do show up in your credit history along with the information you submitted, such as your most recent address and phone number, and the place you applied for credit, if applicable.

After I received my information, I discovered invalid information on my credit history. I filed a dispute regarding a purchase from a mail order company that I did not make. The balance due had been turned over to a collection agency. After I ran my report, I received a letter in my mailbox indicating they wanted to settle the account. It took me three months to get this false information cleared up.

It’s a two way street. If you are trying to hide from your creditors, I don’t recommend drawing the extra attention to yourself. If you are curious about what may be lurking on your credit report, such as false information, I urge you to go now and get your report.
ciscogrove said:
on August 1st at 01:25 pm

The title of the post would be more accurate if it had said how to get your credit report (not score) for free. But that doesn’t detract from the gist of the message: Get your darned credit report every year and check it over.

I used annualcreditreport and was a bit disappointed with their service. They make you believe you will get all your report from each of the three CRAs. Not so. I could getonly 2 online and had to snail mail for the third.

The one I had to snail mail said some discrepancy popped up and it wouldn’t let me proceed. This, as it turns out, is a valuable point to put on the table.

Since the 3 CRAs are competitors, what is on one report may not be on the other two. Hence, discrepancies.

I don’t intend to beat the CRAs to death but according to estimates, 80% of their records contain at least three errors. So, check your report at least once a year.

BTW, if you want to know your credit score for free, apply for a loan. In most states the requesting agency (lender) has to tell you your score. You are not obligated to apply after you know your score. Some lenders charge a credit report fee so shop around for one that doesn’t.

How do I know? I used to be a lender.
gkr said:
on August 4th at 11:47 am

There is another site where you can find your free credit report online. This is the website Free Credit Report. Here you can get information about how to understand your credit report. It may be better than the Annual Credit Report. Give it a try. It is better to have multiple credit reports to remove errors.

When you check your credit score it may happen that you may find some negative remarks. This could be either because the credit report is not correct or you have thought that you never did late payments when in fact you might have done. This latter one can happen if you have neglected any instructions for using your credit money. All the terms and conditions, instructions must be known before making any purchases and then can pay on time.
gkr said:
on August 4th at 11:52 am

There is another site where you can find your free credit report online. This is the website http://www.freecreditreport.com/. Here you can get information about how to understand your credit report. It may be better than the http://www.annualcreditreport.com. Give it a try. It is better to have multiple credit reports to remove errors.

When you check your credit score it may happen that you may find some negative remarks. This could be either because the credit report is not correct or you have thought that you never did late payments when in fact you might have done. This latter one can happen if you have neglected any instructions for using your credit money. All the terms and conditions, instructions must be known before making any purchases and then can pay on time.
gkr said:
on August 6th at 01:08 pm

There is another site where you can find your free credit report online. This is the website .freecreditreport.com. Here you can get information about how to understand your credit report. It may be better than the annualcreditreport.com. Give it a try. It is better to have multiple credit reports to remove errors.

When you check your credit score it may happen that you may find some negative remarks. This could be either because the credit report is not correct or you have thought that you never did late payments when in fact you might have done. This latter one can happen if you have neglected any instructions for using your credit money. All the terms and conditions, instructions must be known before making any purchases and then can pay on time.
FCR_Victim said:
on August 8th at 04:55 pm

I suggest you ignore gkr’s advice… it’s probably a spam post. Freecreditreport.com is a scam and ripoff. Whenever I see that smug pitch guy on TV, I want to punch him in the face.

In August 2005, Experian (CIC TripleAdvantage/FreeCreditReport.com) was ordered by the FTC to pay $950,000 in refunds of thousands of consumer’s enrollment fees as a result of a class action lawsuit. Radio, television and Internet advertising was promising a “free credit report in seconds…” and “30 FREE days of the Credit Check Monitoring Service at no obligation.” However, the Internet sites did not adequately explain that failing to cancel before the end of the 30 day trial period would lead to an $80 charge for a year of credit monitoring. In February 2007, Experian was fined an additional $300,000 for failing to comply with the terms of the settlement.

Today, instead of giving you the free credit report that is promised by the FTC, FreeCreditReport.com actually requires you to sign up for a program called Triple Advantage, a credit monitoring program that costs $12.95 a month. This service merely emails you if there is a change to your credit report at a very hefty cost, particularly when the government gives you a credit report for free every year. Don’t like that option? Well, you could instead just pay Experian $14.95 to give you your credit report instead … or, even better, pay $40 and get your report from all three credit agencies.

If you just want to see your credit report, don’t visit FreeCreditReport.com unless you want to pay for something that the FTC has already guaranteed you for free.

More info: http://tinyurl.com/yovb3x
J said:
on August 23rd at 02:12 am

OWNED
B said:
on August 23rd at 02:39 am

this is a really good article! i learned a ton!
Lori said:
on September 19th at 03:44 pm

I haven’t found a site yet that didn’t have some sort of catch. I check my FICO score on this site:
http://www.experian.com/consumer_online_products/vantage_score.html

for $5.95 with no other strings attached. Not that bad. Would like to know if there is a site that really lets you get anything for free.
1 said:
on October 9th at 07:08 am

‘ WAITFOR DELAY ‘00:00:20′ –
carol said:
on October 9th at 01:32 pm

The link in the above post brought me right back here to this “How to get your credit score free” page – which doesnt.
The only way I know to get a FREE credit score is apply for an insurance policy, homeowners for sure and maybe auto through your local agent or someone you know. THey get the credit score and can tell you what it is.
Fix credit score help said:
on November 14th at 06:35 pm

there was a delay for me and took years but works
Mike Clover said:
on December 27th at 10:05 pm

I just came across your blog about Free Credit Score Reports and wanted to drop you a note telling you how impressed I was with the information you have posted here. I also have a web site & blog about Free Credit Score Reports I know what I’m talking about when I say your site is top-notch! Keep up the great work, you are providing a great resource on the Internet here!” Visit my website as well http://www.my720fico.com
Hari Iyer said:
on February 20th at 09:09 am

The best way to check your Credit score is to sign up for a 30 day trial offer with Citi’s Identity Monitor program. I dont work with them and I am not advertising for them. All you have to do is be careful that you and cancel it within the 30 days period and they will not charge you anything. It is only for people who can do this diligently. What you get is your credit score. Sometimes they allow you to view the score from all 3 credit rating agencies. Enjoy while it lasts.
Hari Iyer said:
on February 20th at 09:09 am

The best way to check your Credit score is to sign up for a 30 day trial offer with Citi’s Identity Monitor program. I dont work with them and I am not advertising for them. All you have to do is be careful that you and cancel it within the 30 days period and they will not charge you anything. It is only for people who can do this diligently. What you get is your credit score. Sometimes they allow you to view the score from all 3 credit rating agencies. Enjoy while it lasts.
http://www.identitymonitor.citi.com/
The Importance Of Your Credit Rating said:
on March 3rd at 08:22 am

One of the intriguing things I learnt was seeing how each company differed with their ratings and data they listed for my payment history.
customer equifax said:
on March 18th at 08:52 pm

alberta equifax report equifax
Art said:
on March 27th at 07:02 am

Hari Iyer’s postseems like SPAM as well. Bank of America offers the exact same thing. My advice is to get a card with Washington Mutual, where you can see your FICO score and how it changes monthly with no additional fees to do so. They’re a lousy company to deal with, so it’s not my primarycard, but the free credit score is a great feature.
Jeff said:
on April 10th at 01:15 pm

I had a Providian CC and they have all sorts of tools to see how different senerio’s would affect your FICO score. Such as paying off debt, Balance transfers, or X # on time payments. Also gives you free access to Monthly FICO score. Pretty cool, I closed my acct. before realizing how difficult it was to get free access to this info.
That Guy said:
on May 18th at 02:47 pm

I’m theeeenking of a number between 450 and 850. Do you know what it is? It’s my credit score, and it haappens to be 470. The higher my credit score blah blah balrgghaahhahahhrgggg.

♫♪ Freeee credit report dot com! ♫♪♫

freecreditreportofferapplieswithenrollmentintripleadvantage
Tony Roberts said:
on June 3rd at 10:59 am

Coulee Bank ( http://www.couleebank.net ) offers an incredible 6.01% APY with their Rewards Checking account. The rate is easy to earn. All you have to do is make 10 check card transactions a month, use e-statements, and do 1 automatic payment a month (they call it ACH). Coulee Bank pays 6.01% on the first $25,000 and 1.01% on anything above that. The best thing about this account besides the rate is it is FREE, you can apply online, and it is from a great bank with real people that answer the phone. And as they like to say, Banking Green has its Rewards. The Rewards Checking account saves paper and preserves our natural resources. No wonder I feel good about recommending this to everyone I know. Check it out. I guarantee you will love it.
shilsan said:
on July 25th at 01:26 pm

You can get a FREE copy of credit report at http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com or call 877-322-8228. Here you can order free credit report and there are no hidden offers or services which you need to signup.
Also, there is this website http://www.GetUrScore.com that provides the links to various other providers of Free Credit Reports and Credit Scores. This also gives comparisons on the offers from different providers.
Jake said:
on August 21st at 10:39 am

I recently came upon this website – http://www.freebiecreditreport.com – claiming that you can get a credit report 100% free. Ha ha! Yeah as long as you remember to cancel the 7 day trial. Consumer beware, sign up for these services if you must, but remember to cancel before trial ends or be billed up to $30/month.
Liz said:
on September 15th at 12:58 pm

Freecreditreport.com actually is free…but only for the first time you check your score. If you dont want to contine on their $9 or $14 plans per month, you have to call within a week to ensure no charges are made to you. So, it is free…but only once. Hope that helps…
Jon said:
on December 1st at 05:40 pm

I recommend that you DO NOT use freecreditreport.com,
I canceled my membership immediately after getting the first report and they still charged me months later…all non-refundable even if you do not use the services.
Don Tonner said:
on December 11th at 09:48 pm

This original comment!
Dun Tonner said:
on December 11th at 09:49 pm

#
KJones said:
on July 28th at 09:48 am

I used the free annual credit report service online. They allow you to access the BIG 3 credit bureaus and obtain a report.

I agree there was some unnecessary red tape that you had to go through to complete the process, but I was not disappointed in the end results of the transaction.

The most valuable lesson I learned from receiving the credit scores was finding out how each company differed in their ratings and data they had listed regarding my payment history. For instance, Equifax had details of a charge off from many years ago that I thought my ex husband paid off after we were divorced.

Also, I had a little bit of fun going through their verification process and selecting specific information that related to me or did NOT relate to me. They ask you questions about addresses and purchases in your past and you have to identify what seems familiar, and you have to answer by way of multiple choice.

After you have requested your credit report, be prepared to be contacted by any past creditors that you owe money to . Credit report inquiries do show up in your credit history along with the information you submitted, such as your most recent address and phone number, and the place you applied for credit, if applicable.

After I received my information, I discovered invalid information on my credit history. I filed a dispute regarding a purchase from a mail order company that I did not make. The balance due had been turned over to a collection agency. After I ran my report, I received a letter in my mailbox indicating they wanted to settle the account. It took me three months to get this false information cleared up.

It’s a two way street. If you are trying to hide from your creditors, I don’t recommend drawing the extra attention to yourself. If you are curious about what may be lurking on your credit report, such as false information, I urge you to go now and get your report.
Karel Zeman | Real Estate Portal said:
on December 21st at 07:58 am

Improving your credit score is important, and the first step to take is to know your credit score. You could always get an annual credit report, or you could get your score for free at anytime with Thrive (a free online financial advisory), which can also help you to improve it as well.

There are scams out there that say they’re free but have hidden costs so it’s important to do some research – starting with maybe sending them an email to find out more. Don’t let scams discourage you from using some resources that are genuinely meant to help with finances!
Avery said:
on October 9th at 10:04 am

It is so strange,you post the article with title “check your credit score for free”,and then you just tell people that all free credit score providers are sucks.

It is good to know your score,in that case,you will never feel surprised when your lender refused to lend money to you,just track your score,it is very important,no matter who you are going to stay with.
dave said:
on October 29th at 02:35 pm

I wish they would quit using the word “free” to describe these credit reports and and credit scores for free. As my dad used to say “Nothing is for free”. You always have to try out their product to get what they say they are giving you for free. Think i’m griping too much? Why don’t they mention it in their ad when they run the comercial on tv or radio?
bankrate said:
on October 30th at 09:08 am

While it’s true that companies that advertise “free credit reports” on TV are lying, you can get free credit reports. Actually, you have the right to get free credit reports once a year from the three major credit reporting bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.

Go to: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow”>AnnualCreditReport.com and get your reports in minutes.

These reports do not contain your FICO score, which you do have to pay for by going to http://www.myfico.com/Products/FICOOne/Description.aspx” target=”_blank” MyFICO.com. You can buy your score, which is included in the standard package, for $15.95.
DealMaven said:
on October 30th at 09:10 am

While it’s true that companies that advertise “free credit reports” on TV are lying, you can get free credit reports. Actually, you have the right to get free credit reports once a year from the three major credit reporting bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax.

Go to: AnnualCreditReport.com and get your reports in minutes.

These reports do not contain your FICO score, which you do have to pay for by going to MyFICO.com. You can buy your score, which is included in the standard package, for $15.95.

Popular Deals

Categories

Check Your Credit Score for Free

Related Posts:

Add New Comment

Trackbacks

Popular Articles

Recent Posts

Savings Accounts

CD Rates

Credit Card Offers