Posts Tagged Fico Score

Don’t Pay For Your Free Personal Credit Report

Tim Parker asked:




All over the Internet, advertised on TV and radio, and saturating magazines are reports for services that will help you obtain your free personal credit report. Here’s the bottom line: Although I don’t have personal experience with these services, if they are charging you fees, they are banking on the fact that you don’t know that you can get it for free.

As you probably know, you are entitled to view your free personal credit report from the three reporting agencies for free once every 12 months. Notice that I said, FOR FREE three times. You don’t have to pay anything if you view it online. It’s extremely easy to obtain but you don’t do it by going to one of those advertised sites. Instead you go to a site that isn’t advertised. It’s the official site to get your free credit report called Annualcreditreport.com.

The process is very easy. Go to the above site, select your state and answer the questions. Select all three credit reporting agencies and get each report. Make sure to print each report and go over it with a fine tooth comb. If you see any errors, go to each reporting agency’s website and follow the instructions to dispute the misinformation.

While you may be tempted to close out your unused credit cards that have been sitting idle, the credit experts recommend not closing these accounts. Apparently it is better for your credit score to keep these accounts open By closing your cards, it decreases the amount of credit available to you which increases your debt load. Also, keep track of your FICO score. Your FICO score is what qualifies you for a loan and sometimes a job.

The most important thing to take from this article is this: Do not pay for your FREE personal credit reports. It’s quick, it’s painless, and it’s free when you go to the site that is set up by the government.

Philip

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Absolutely Free Credit Scores – Credit Score Range – Good Bad Credit Scores

adsamxdr67 asked:


www.absolutelyfreecreditscores.org – Get your free Experian, Equifax, and Transunion credit scores online instantly. Learn what makes for a good or bad credit score. See what the FICO credit score range is. Learn how to increase your credit scores. www.absolutelyfreecreditscores.org

Glenda

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Your Personal Credit Rating Explained

Francine Denson asked:




Your personal credit rating is considered any time you are seeking a loan or line of credit. This is what ultimately determines if you get the loan or not and if so what interest rate you will pay. For this reason, your credit rating is one of the most important numbers in your life. Having a good score can save you money while having a poor credit score will cost you dearly.

Learning your personal credit rating is not difficult. There are many services online that offer a free credit report, and some that also offer a credit score. Be aware that these are two different things. A credit report is a look at your credit history and accounts where as a credit score (also known as a FICO score) is a numerical representation of the risk you represent to a lender.

It is a good idea to keep tabs on your credit especially if you are looking to buy a home, car or even if you are seeking a job as employers are looking at this data these days as well. Another good reason to mind your credit is that you will be able to detect fraud and identity theft before it destroys your credit. Unfortunately, identity theft is becoming more and more common and it is costing innocent people countless sums of money and time.

So what can you do? Your first step is to order a free credit report with credit scores. Its very important that you choose a provider that offers the ability to see your scores and not just your report. Your scores are what lenders are mostly interested in, so you should know those as well. Some free credit report services offer this and some don’t. Your best bet is to use a comparison tool like the one linked below to find out which services offer the scores as well.

Maintaining and improving your personal credit rating is easier if you use a credit monitoring service. These are often offered as free trials when you request your credit report, so you will get a chance to see how it works before they bill you and you can decide if it’s something you want to keep or not. Overall, they are incredibly useful because they watch your credit for you and alert you to changes on your reports. This is good for those who are actively repairing their credit and also good for detecting identity theft early on before the damage sinks in.

As you can see, learning more about your credit rating is as simple as taking a look at your current credit report and credit scores. This information is available for free from a number of services and it will give you great insight in to your current borrowing power.

Fernando

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Do Credit Inquires Hurt Your Credit Score?

Mike Clover asked:




A credit inquiry is an item on your credit report that shows with permission a creditor requested your free credit score report.

Not all credit inquiries affect your credit score:

You may notice when you pull your credit report there are inquiries on there from a business you are not familiar with. The only inquiry that affects your credit score is the one where you are applying for credit. This is considered a hard pull on your report.

Inquiries that affect your credit score:

There is only one type of inquiry that affects your score. This type of inquiry is applications for a mortgage, auto loan and other credit, by you authorizing these creditors to access your credit report. This type of inquiry prompted by your own actions ends up on your personal credit report and affects your score.

An inquiry that does not affect your credit score: Checking your own personal credit report or any business that offers goods and services that requests your report. A business that you already have a account with that requests a check. A potential employer that does credit checks. Some of these types of inquiries might show up on your report but do not affect your credit score.

Checking your credit report does not affect your score:

Checking your credit report on a regular basis to ensure it is accurate and error free is recommended by Fair Isaac the inventor of the FICO Score. Maintaining a error free report is part of credit management which will improve your credit rating over time. Ordering your credit report at CreditScoreQuick.com does not hurt your credit score.

How credit inquiries are factored in your Credit Score:

There are five types of information used to calculate your credit score. Each category accounts towards a percentage of your score.

Payment History – 35%

Amounts Owed – 30%

Length of Credit History – 15%

Types of Credit in use – 10%

New Credit – 10%

Don’t let inquires scare you. There is nothing wrong with shopping for a better rate, or better terms on a loan. As you can see in the about chart, payment history is the biggest factor in calculation process of your credit score. The second biggest factor is how much of your approved credit limits are charged up. But of course you don’t want to go out and start applying for every credit offer out there either. Be responsible and have a good mix of credit, but stay away from too much credit as well You really on need 3 lines of credit reporting on your report.

Example:

1. credit card

2. car note

3. installment loan

This type of credit mix accounts for 10% of your score.

Alvin

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Your Credit Report Addresses Are Probably Wrong

Tanya Caliban asked:




Credit report addresses and other personal information is commonly incorrect and should be fixed. The stats are shocking and credit report addresses, are just the beginning of the common errors contained in your report that could be causing you to have a lower FICO than you should.

Your credit is reported by the three bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, and most consumers assume that the information contained in their credit score is correct. The truth is that it is very common for your report to contain a number of inconsistencies, wrongly associated accounts, and incorrect addresses and names.

The most common errors that are contained in your credit score and should be fixed are:
Incorrect credit report addresses Wrongly associated account information or credit lines that are not yours Incorrect information regarding your credit lines, or balances that are inaccurate Credit items or delinquencies that are still affecting your credit beyond the regulated period that they are by law supposed to no longer remain

These are only a few of the inconsistencies that are typically found on your credit and there can be a number of items that are dragging down your FICO score that if corrected can improve your credit score quickly.

If you get your free credit report and find that there are a number of errors, that your credit report addresses are incorrect or you have credit lines that you are not responsible for, you will need to write a dispute letter to the reporting bureau to ask for it to be removed. They are regulated by law to respond or remove incorrect information and removing negative items that are incorrect will give your credit score a boost.

Dolores

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A Quick Primer on Online Credit Reports

Richard Larkin asked:




When you access your online credit report, you should have an idea of what you are looking at. Many individuals spend their hard earned dollars to see their online credit score, but it doesn’t help them because they are either confused by some of the terms or they aren’t looking at the correct report. In short, there are a few things you should be on the lookout for when accessing your credit rating report.

Things you should know before obtaining your credit report:

Be careful, as there are many fraudulent reports online that are misleading and have been known to fool many people. Always look for the official FICO score on the bottom of your credit report, especially since you are paying good money to obtain that report.

You want an official FICO credit report when you get a copy of your report. The name of this report varies, based upon which credit reporting agency you use.

You will be receiving the Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Model credit report when you get a free instant credit report from Experian. Equifax calls their reports “Beacon Score Reports.” Trans Union does it a bit differently, having different names for each of their three credit reports.

It will either be called the Empiria Report, FICO Risk Score report, or the Classic. If you choose to go with merged credit reports from all three of these companies, then you can sometimes miss out on having all of these scores at your disposal.

Watch out for Special Offers

These offers made by companies for their online credit reports often are trying to get you involved into another type offer which will cost you more. By agreeing to sign up for their credit monitoring service, these companies provide free access for your online business credit report and your personal credit report.

While it may sound like a temptingly good deal to begin with, in the long run credit monitoring can be expensive. Checking your online credit report on occasion is a much more cost effective way to prevent any problems before they happen, and it is an effective way to monitor your credit.

Scams are Almost Everywhere

Each and every month, more scams pop up in which people try to use your sensitive personal information for fraudulent purposes. Be aware of companies out there that are posing as credit repair companies or a credit counseling agency. If they make promises that seem a little bit out of the ordinary to you, then there is a good chance they are pulling a scam.

Avoid suspicious emails and websites. Exercise caution when considering who to give your personal information to. Unwary people are lured by the promise of inexpensive credit reports.

MyFICO.com

Try Myfico.com for a trustworthy site where you can access your personal credit report. The vital information you will be looking for is included in the online credit reports provided by them.

You will have a chance to view your official FICO score from each of the credit reporting agencies, as well as all of the current information that each of the three bureaus has on you. You have access to all of that for about $45.

Leon

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