Free Credit Reports are Not Always Free
How Can You Get a Copy of Your FREE Credit Report?
You’ve probably already heard by now that you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies. Locating a genuinely free credit report can take a bit of effort, as you’ll see below.
When Free Isn't Really Free
On many websites where consumers are offered free credit reports, they are also simultaneously signing up for monthly credit monitoring services. After the first month, if the consumer doesn’t want to continue with the service he or she will have to cancel or continue to be billed.
The problem is that many consumer know that they are guaranteed a free credit report with no strings attached, but they fail to read the fine print after stumbling on a website that offers a free credit report in conjunction with signing up for a service that company offers.
You Have a Friend In The FTC
The Federal Trade Commission website is at www.ftc.gov. On their website, the FTC lists information about how consumers can obtain a copy of their free credit report. Annualcreditreport.com is a website that the FTC directs consumers to in order to get a free copy of their credit reports.
Consumers can only get one copy of their credit report from each of the three agencies per year. Ultimately if you are ordering a free credit report from a website make sure you thoroughly read the terms and conditions before going any further to make sure that you aren’t signing up for some service that you don’t want.
Your Report Is Not Your Score
You may notice this free credit report is deficient of the well-known FICO score. The FICO score is a proprietary number calculated using formulas to determine your credit worthiness. The exact formulas are not available to the public.
We live in the world of automation, and your FICO is used to determine everything about your credit history. For example, when you apply for a department store credit card, you get an instant credit decision on your credit. This instanteous decision is based upon on a quick look at your FICO score.
To get your FICO score, you need to pay money on a website like www.myfico.com. However, your free credit report will in most cases be good enough. Instead of paying money to find your exact FICO score, just use your free credit report to view or repair your credit.
A General Clue
Although the exact FICO recipe is hidden from the public, looking at your free credit report will give you a rough estimate of your score. FICO score improve over time with established credit and no delinquencies of 30 days. Deliquence of 60 days or greater cause even more damage. Too many high balances relative to your credit limit causes your score to drop. Order a copy of your free credit report and take a closer look at your credit history to see where you can make improvements.