Annual Credit Reports - Getting Your Credit Score Free

Posted: Jan 25, 2011 |Comments: 0 |

Getting your annual credit report is free. Getting your credit score is not. It costs money unless you sign up for a credit monitoring service. If you want to get it for free, sign up for a credit monitoring service. After you have your free report and score, cancel the credit monitoring service.

The FICO Score

Assuming you don't sign up for credit monitoring, you will have to pay for your credit score. The most commonly used credit score is the FICO score, developed by the Fair Isaac Company. Equifax, one of the largest three credit bureaus, bought the rights to the FICO score.

Other Scores

Experian and TransUnion, the other two of the three largest credit bureaus, also offer credit scores at a cost. Their scores, however, are not the FICO score. They are variations of the FICO that are very similar, but not identical. The Experian and TransUnion scores were also developed by the Fair Isaac Company.

Another score that is often talked about is the Vantage Score. The Vantage Score was developed in 2006 by a joint venture between the three largest credit bureaus mentioned above. The joint venture is named VantageScore LLC.

Which Score Do Lenders Use?

The answer to the above question is; it depends. You should always access your credit report and score before applying for a loan or mortgage, applying for a job, renting an apartment, buying insurance, or even getting married. This is because you want to make sure your report and score are correct to avoid an unpleasant surprise.

When getting your score to prepare for any of the aforementioned events, first contact the lender or individual (landlord, insurance agent, etc.) to see which credit score they use. After they tell you, you can then purchase that score.

Once you have your score you can use it, along with your report, to determine if it is correct or suffers from inaccurate information. If it is accurate, then you are good to go. If it is not, write a letter of dispute and send it to the credit bureaus that reported the incorrect information.

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