How to Get Free Credit Scores
Posted in Finance on 09/28/2010 01:31 am by
Adam Tijerina asked:
Due to the recent credit crisis and housing collapse leading rules have changed dramatically. Despite historically low mortgage rates, most people cannot qualify for them without a really good credit score. This is why it is very important to get your free credit scores and know where you stand and know where you have to improve to get the lowest mortgage rate.
So where can you get free credit scores?
Several sites now offer free “credit scores” which are based off of scoring formulas similar to the national credit bureau formulas at TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. The accuracy of these scores is debatable. Comments on a recent Wall Street Journal article stated these scores are not reliable when it comes to mortgages and refinancing.
These sites are credit.com, creditkarma.com and quizzle.com. They can provide you with an estimated score range instead of an exact score and you can expect loads of advertisements all over the site with many offers you are encouraged to sign up for.
Why doesn’t the government provide free credit scores in addition to free credit reports?
The easy answer is they were not part of the arrangements with the credit reporting agencies who are now required by law to provide them for free. They are only required to provide your free credit reports and that’s just what they do. They can still make money selling you the credit scores and that’s just what they do.
You can expect to pay around $8-$10 for each credit score so that’s around $24-$30 each time you want to check your scores. And then the experts tell you to check them every few months so you can easily spend over hundred dollars over the course of a year.
So where does that leave you?
You can go to sites that you see advertised on TV and sign up to get your free credit reports and scores from all three credit reporting agencies.
Doing this will allow you to monitor your credit score on an ongoing basis so you can check your credit worthiness in less than a minute instead of having to sift through 20 to 30 pages of your credit reports trying to decode all the abbreviations.
Getting your free credit scores this way does not lower your score because it is a soft inquiry instead of a hard inquiry which can lower your score. And you will be able to keep track of any suspicious activity in your credit report that could affect your score or result in identity theft.
Courtney
Due to the recent credit crisis and housing collapse leading rules have changed dramatically. Despite historically low mortgage rates, most people cannot qualify for them without a really good credit score. This is why it is very important to get your free credit scores and know where you stand and know where you have to improve to get the lowest mortgage rate.
So where can you get free credit scores?
Several sites now offer free “credit scores” which are based off of scoring formulas similar to the national credit bureau formulas at TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. The accuracy of these scores is debatable. Comments on a recent Wall Street Journal article stated these scores are not reliable when it comes to mortgages and refinancing.
These sites are credit.com, creditkarma.com and quizzle.com. They can provide you with an estimated score range instead of an exact score and you can expect loads of advertisements all over the site with many offers you are encouraged to sign up for.
Why doesn’t the government provide free credit scores in addition to free credit reports?
The easy answer is they were not part of the arrangements with the credit reporting agencies who are now required by law to provide them for free. They are only required to provide your free credit reports and that’s just what they do. They can still make money selling you the credit scores and that’s just what they do.
You can expect to pay around $8-$10 for each credit score so that’s around $24-$30 each time you want to check your scores. And then the experts tell you to check them every few months so you can easily spend over hundred dollars over the course of a year.
So where does that leave you?
You can go to sites that you see advertised on TV and sign up to get your free credit reports and scores from all three credit reporting agencies.
Doing this will allow you to monitor your credit score on an ongoing basis so you can check your credit worthiness in less than a minute instead of having to sift through 20 to 30 pages of your credit reports trying to decode all the abbreviations.
Getting your free credit scores this way does not lower your score because it is a soft inquiry instead of a hard inquiry which can lower your score. And you will be able to keep track of any suspicious activity in your credit report that could affect your score or result in identity theft.
Courtney
