Checking Credit Score?

[audiobliss]

I've decided it's time I check my credit score. What's the best method of doing that? Are there good, secure, easy, cheap ways to do it online? Should I go to a bank? The bank I have accounts with doesn't have any branches around here.

[ryanjoachim]

It'll cost you to check your actual score. But if you want to get a report, now is the time to do it. You can get a free report from each of the 3 major companies (Experian...I think...and a couple others).

[Demiurge]

This is the best place to get your free yearly credit report:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

(It's on Dave Ramsey's site, who is a trustworthy source of info)

That will let you know if there are any issues.

You will need to pay for your score, though, and if you're planning on buying a house or car you'll definitely want to know what your score is because it's almost always going to determine the kind of rate you can get.

I'm a big advocate of paying the money for your score. I have always had excellent credit, but knowing exactly where I stood I was able to bump it up even higher to where I am now at 820 with Equifax.

[Jstas]

It'll cost you to check your actual score. But if you want to get a report, now is the time to do it. You can get a free report from each of the 3 major companies (Experian...I think...and a couple others).

What? Lies!

The site Demiurge posted is 100% free. It's run by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and it is absolutely free. Hell, it'd better be, the FTC is supported by tax dollars. The site will give you a credit score but the score isn't nearly as important as what is in your report. Check your report for errors and notice the age of your bad history as well as your debt to income ratio. Get those three items straightened out and your credit score will be good whether you know the actual number or not.

[reeltrouble1]

credit scores should be required by law to be free, some banks will tell you your score if you apply for credit with them some will not, consumers have an inherent right to know all factors used to determine life issues involving them, of course the money mongers disagree. It was very ingenious for the credit reporting companies to devise a system charging both creditor and creditee, capitalism at its best and gone wild, in effect your mandated by law free credit report is nearly worthless beyond identifying disputable material which takes far too long to get corrected when data can be added without due process instantly.

If you go to Equifax's site for your free report you will be bombarded with repeated attempts to get you to pay for your score with sneaky default keys, watch what you clicking on.

I get all the credit I could want and have never known this score (its a rather recent thing as far as credit giving histories) and at this point in life I don't give a hoot, I got mine maybe someone still trying to get their's might be interested in spending cash for this number.

john you better back up you mispoke something you never do...........waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

RT1

[Pauly]

My ex ruined mine so i need not bother



Pauly

[audiobliss]

Granted I'm supposed to be studying for a test, so I haven't searched these sites exhaustively, but every reference I find about a credit score (often called 'VantageScore'), it's accompanied by a $7.95 fee.

There are no negatives listed on my reports, though, so that's nice. Of course, I didn't expect anything negative. I just really wanted to see if I've built up enough credit to have a good credit score.

[Demiurge]

Granted I'm supposed to be studying for a test, so I haven't searched these sites exhaustively, but every reference I find about a credit score (often called 'VantageScore'), it's accompanied by a $7.95 fee.

Do you want your credit report or your score? I know you said in your opening post you wanted your score, but your report is really the most important thing and this is without a doubt the best and most secure place to get that information:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Whatever is in your report will effect what your score is. Most people are curious what their score is (that's the hook) and you'll have to pay for it. I haven't heard of banks giving your score to you, but if that's true that would be a better option than paying for it.

[Demiurge]

Seeing your edit, just go here for your score:

http://www.equifax.com/home/en_us

...and pay for it if you can't get it free from a bank.

Be warned, they are sneaky and will try to suck you into a monthly fee based credit monitoring program and your credit card will get billed every month. Read what you're clicking and you'll be fine.

[Jstas]

john you better back up you mispoke something you never do...........waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

RT1

I have yet to pay for a credit score. I have not checked recently but the anualcreditreport site used to have various links to sites where you can get your credit score free. Also, my bank will get my credit report and calculate my score for me for free. You don't HAVE to pay for it, you just gotta look farther than your nose.

[audiobliss]

Do you want your credit report or your score? I know you said in your opening post you wanted your score, but your report is really the most important thing and this is without a doubt the best and most secure place to get that information:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Whatever is in your report will effect what your score is. Most people are curious what their score is (that's the hook) and you'll have to pay for it. I haven't heard of banks giving your score to you, but if that's true that would be a better option than paying for it.

I checked out the reports from the three 'bureaus'. As I was linked to each of their sites from annualcreditreport, I had to answer questions to verify who I was, and apparently I am linked to my parents in some way and couldn't answer the questions for the first one. But I still looked through (and printed off) my reports from Experian and TransUnion. I know not having any negatives is good, and I'm glad to see that; that's accurate. I just haven't had a ton of credit history, and the highest balance I've ever had on my credit card is listed at $644. I was just curious as to how high a credit score I could manage with a history like that.

I won't really worry with the score. I might drop by a bank and inquire about it, and I may also call CitiCard and ask them about it; I know they can send me a report (perhaps with my score?) by signing up for a monitoring program that I can cancel within the first month. I did that last time, so it might work well again.

Thanks so much for all the input; it is appreciated!

[PhantomOG]

https://www.quizzle.com/

I believe it gives you the Experian score.

Fatwallet thread with lots of info here.

[superjunior]

Seeing your edit, just go here for your score:

http://www.equifax.com/home/en_us

...and pay for it if you can't get it free from a bank.

Be warned, they are sneaky and will try to suck you into a monthly fee based credit monitoring program and your credit card will get billed every month. Read what you're clicking and you'll be fine.

got to agree with Demiurge, best and fastest way to raise your score is go to annualcreditreport.com and get all 3 of your reports free. you can do this once a year as required by law and is the only place to get your actual FICO score. the score you will get from equifax or others will be their variation of your credit score and not your actual fico. start a disput with anything that is questionable, more often than not someone elses info will be on your report also. variations of your name, things that have already lapsed in time, you name it. by doing this alone you can raise your score dramatically.

[superjunior]

oops, I was typing before I saw your last post audiobliss :p
good luck

[audiobliss]

No problems, I still appreciate any input. I've read/learned very little about this, so anything I come across to research is good for me.

I just filled out my info at quizzle.com; it gave me a credit score of 694, and it appears as though that number's from Experian.

Is that at least decent? :(

[cstmar01]

I work for a bank and agree with Demi. Most National banks will NOT give you a credit score or report for free as it costs us money to do it each time, times that by the number of people that would do it= large amount of money for us. Even when you go for a car loan it does cost the bank money to pull it, granted its not a long but it still does cost something.
Normally the SCORE is not free, you will have to pay to see that, the report you can go every year to the site he recommended and get that for free.
Also just checking it by going in for a loan and then not taking it does put a mark on your credit, and do it enough times will affect it. Thats why places like lending tree, ect where they shoot out your app to a bunch of different places is that great because it will affect your credit due to the # of times its run.

[PhantomOG]

Don't stress about your credit score unless you are about to make a major purchase which require credit (mortgage/auto loan). Definitely clean up any errors in your report. As far as improving your score, don't apply for credit/credit cards as inquiries hurt your score, try to lower your debt to limit ratio, and always pay your bills on time.

[cstmar01]

No problems, I still appreciate any input. I've read/learned very little about this, so anything I come across to research is good for me.

I just filled out my info at quizzle.com; it gave me a credit score of 694, and it appears as though that number's from Experian.

Is that at least decent? :(

depends. You could do an FHA loan with 3.5% down and low rate, but it depends on what your going for. At a lot of banks they have tighten the credit ratings and approvals so you would need to check for each thing you are going for.
To be honest for the bank I work for that rating is on the lower end if you are going for a car loan and you would have to pay more down in a down payment.

[audiobliss]

I actually hadn't considered this while I was looking at the reports/score, which is really stupid, but I will be looking for student loans here soon. Possibly very soon if I decide to stay here over the summer and take classes; if not, at least for this fall.

I guess my random inquiry about credit score might actually have an affect on my upcoming decisions.

[superjunior]

No problems, I still appreciate any input. I've read/learned very little about this, so anything I come across to research is good for me.

I just filled out my info at quizzle.com; it gave me a credit score of 694, and it appears as though that number's from Experian.

Is that at least decent? :(

thats not bad. another easy way to raise your score (and perhaps not the most ethical) is look at any old accounts on your reports. a couple years or older. file an inquiry with the credit reporting agencies whos report they're on, sometimes they're not on all 3. by law the creditors have 30 days to report back to the credit reporting agencies about the inquiry. in most cases the information is so burried they almost never report back in time and it gets erased from your reports forever. this is perfectly legal to do. I use to have a score in the low 500s and in less than 2 years its almost 800 now by just following a few easy steps

[Demiurge]

No problems, I still appreciate any input. I've read/learned very little about this, so anything I come across to research is good for me.

I just filled out my info at quizzle.com; it gave me a credit score of 694, and it appears as though that number's from Experian.

Is that at least decent? :(

That score puts you in the 'very good' category, if I recall correctly, but you'll want to hit 750+ to get the best rates (keep in mind some credit bureaus use different scoring systems). It may not mean as much now since interest rates are still ridiculously low, but even a fractionally better rate over a 30 year fixed home loan is a large sum of money.

You sound pretty responsible, so the reason your score isn't better than it is (and it is good) probably has to do with the length of your credit history. If you're responsible with credit cards you might want to buy more of your stuff with one and just keep paying off the balance every month.

An advantage to just breaking down and paying for the one-time full report & score through a place like Equifax is it will tell you exactly how to improve your score and what's hurting/helping it currently.

[squeeb]

Finally a topic I know something about. I just did a seminar for 20 people on ID Theft and credit. Some great information about both topics at www.ftc.gov/idtheft
annualcreditreport.com is the place to view your credit. You can also request your score from two of the three (trans union, equifax, and experian) bureaus - there is a charge of about $7 for the score.
I don't think the score is as important as verifying your credit is correct. Like it was stated earlier, some use the score to "predict" different things. Some use it as a bankruptcy predictor - high unsecured debt, unsecured debt available, finance company usage (includes 12-month free financing), length or absence of secured (home, auto) loans, etc.
Others use it as a payment predictor - or odds of repayment. Looking less at what kind of debt but length and payment history.
Without seeing your credit file, my guess is your limiters are high credit and length of credit. Probably puts your score around 700 (min is 350, max is 850). It is difficult to get close to or above 800 without a long, good payment history with a mortgage. But most financial institutions consider 720 and above "A" credit - where you get the best rates.

[Danny Tse]

"60 Minutes" just did a report on the credit reporting bureaus. Quite an eye opener. Of course, they declined to be interviewed. Here's the "60 Minutes" segment....

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140748n

[codyc1ark]

"60 Minutes" just did a report on the credit reporting bureaus. Quite an eye opener. Of course, they declined to be interviewed. Here's the "60 Minutes" segment....

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50140748n

I saw that tonight. Agreed, eye opener.

[Polkersince85]

Some advisors recommend just getting one free report every four months from just one of the agencies. Rotate the agency every four months. That way you have an ongoing reference thoughout the year. This could help spot ID Fraud quicker than doing all three at one time once per year. Or better yet, freeze your credit.

[decal]

Become a burden on society by getting on public assistance, then you won't have to worry about credit scores and other such nonsense.

[cfrizz]

Don't stress about your credit score unless you are about to make a major purchase which require credit (mortgage/auto loan). Definitely clean up any errors in your report. As far as improving your score, don't apply for credit/credit cards as inquiries hurt your score, try to lower your debt to limit ratio, and always pay your bills on time.

This^. I didn't know what my credit score was until 2008 when I started looking at condos and wanted to get an idea what kind of loan I could get. One loan officer told me I had the highest score he had ever seen which I think was 838.

I had never taken out a loan, all I did was make sure that I paid all my bills on time and in full. 2010 was the first time I have ever had a loan and that was for going back to school once I was laid off. The loan was over $10k I paid it off last April since I can't stand paying anyone interest.

So if you know you've been paying your bills/debts on time you will be in good shape if not, clean up your act and live within your means and your credit will take care of itself.

[decal]

live within your means and your credit will take care of itself.

Exactly.

[mystik610]

check out credit karma. used this site extensively when I bought my house last year. it's free, and it can track your credit score and credit history daily.

[madmax]

I think its a good thing to get a score every now and then. That way you will have a reference to know if it is going up or down.