Want FREE Credit Reports From The Big Three?
 

Want to check to make sure there isn't any thing funky on your credit report with no strings? I just got done with this myself. It's free once a year and isn't one of those BS pages that wants you to sign up for a 30 day gig and give them a credit card. It's all free! Just click here, it only takes a minutes or so to get the ball rolling. :thumb:

Cheers,

Bwana

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

Did you actually get a score without paying? I looked at my credit history a week or two back and everything is clear. But I am curious as to my score but am not willing to pay (or sign up for something that needs canceled) for it.

I just got free reports from all three of them. Nothing out of right field sprang out, but it's always wise to check. It is also your legal right to check your credit free once a year and this is a great place to do it.


Score....I know I have a very good one so I don't need to know the exact number.

Mine should be pretty high too. The curiosity in me though wonders exactly how high. But then again, you don't get good credit by blowing money to find out how high of a score you have.

I know this, the bank never hesitated for a second to approve us for a loan and the loan officer told us we get A LOT more than what we were asking for. 'Course, we were asking for the most that our monthly budget would allow us to pay at that point so I would hate to see how much we could have gotten loaded down with.

Heh! ROFL I hear ya. If you can't sleep, one of then offered it (Your score) for $7.95 from what I can rememner, but the actual reports are free.

Man, I got a score of 45. Things are looking up!

did that last year and found a bogus $1000 charge from a health club I had never used...they researched it and cleared it....worth the effort to check

Exactly, you never know and for free, there is nothing to lose. Hell the whole thing ony takes a few minutes and you can print it out if you want to.

As a financial education writer and 800+ credit score person ...
 

All you get are the reports -- no credit score. Although, I should note two things:

1. For the past two years, getting one from TransUnion is damn near impossible.

2. The old credit scoring model is being replaced with one that makes sense (based on a 1,000 point scale, rather than the ridiculous one they use now which makes no sense to anyone except the geek who created it).

Still, Bwana's point stands: It's vital that EVERYONE get a copy of their report. You never know what the hell they put on it (I had a bunch of stuff from my sister ... which is not a good thing).

MM
~~:)

I don't understand what is so top secret about credit reports. I think everybody should have the right to know their credit report. Personally, I find it hilarious that people actually have bad credit. I never have bought anything I couldn't afford. I charge EVERYTHING to my credit card since I was 16 years old. My credit card bill usually racks up about 1500 a month and I've NEVER paid interest on it. Just pay it off in time, if you can't, don't buy all that shit you don't need.

I also was paying a loan off on my car under my name, but my dad just paid me for it in hs to up my credit. That was a great idea, if you buy a car for your kids in college, I suggest you do that. Now I have perfect credit but I don't think I'm the person to use it the way most people would. I'm never going to buy a car where I have to pay interest. The next car I buy, I'm going to buy it in cash, and the next one, and the next one. I'm just going to save my money up until I'm 30, and buy a house with cash. I see no point in paying interest on something you can't buy..unless it's student loans. :banghead:

I just got offered a free credit protection. It appears that my former employer of 15 years ago had an employee's laptop in their car that got stolen, and it had some of my personal information on it. Yippee!

i got a bunch of wrong shit off my report and raised it 111 points in 60 days. No shit.

Read about it here. Its crazy.

http://cultivategreatness.com/2006/1...nts-in-60-days

Damn, didn't work. After I entered in all my information, I got this page

What's happening...
We apologize for the inconvenience, but based on the information provided,
we have been unable to confirm your identity.

Bond................James Bond.

Did you get one credit report from all 3 or just one total and sent that 1 to all three agencies? I just refinanced a rental property I have and had 2 bills I've paid off 4-5 years ago still on my report. The guy said it'd probably raise my score by 30+ points if they're off.

Those are the only dings on my reports.
Also, addresse etc on who you wrote.

Anyhelp is REALLY rep worthy.
Thanks in advance.

I just put a check by all three and did one report.

Dial into that link I provided. You can file a dispute on anything on your report right there. You should be able to take care of it right away.

It only gave me one of the three. I'd imagine it's because I moved less than a month ago, though.

I did a report from each... getting TransUnion took forever... they actually had to mail it to me. But, I raised Experian and Equifax 111 and 60+ respectively.

I just marked beside the incorrect data with a red pen and sent that report to the proper agency... within 45 days on each one, they had amended their report.

Transunion took 120 days, cuz they suck monkey ass.

I went the www.csccredit.com method. Mailing supporting evidence tonight. Hopefully I'll have all 3 well above 700 now.

Bump for the day crew in the event you would like to get a report.

BTW, for people's info.

I'd recommend choosing the Equifax report, since it is the only one you can print off instantly.

2nd, don't do this too much, multiple credit report requests could actually affect your FICO score.

3rd, disputing anything wrong with one of the agencies means that they have to report it to the other two as well.

Bob Dole printed all 3 instantly...

Is this worth doing if your credit score is already good?

Actually, by law they have to fix or remove any negative information on your report that cannot be verified as negative. Can't remember the actual time frame, though.

No one uses those cockmonkeys anyway. Equifax is the most used, followed by Experian.

For the record, I ask for mine separately because, from my experience, each one has at least one thing completely different than the others.

Actually, that depends on whether it's a "soft" or "hard" inquiry (insert finance-related Viagra pun here), and any time a consumer requests his or her own report, it's considered a "soft" inquiry and does not affect your score.

Or at least it didn't used to.

In a word: YES! Get a copy of all three at least once a year.

MM
~~:thumb:

It's that time of year again.

I pay them for the cerdit monitering. I have a DOD "Secret" clearance. 90% of all clearances get denied because of poor credit.

Someone starts to use a credit card, start an identity theft I'll know about it.

This isn't one of those things where you actually get a free report and then later are charged $15/mo out of nowhere is it?

This is wrong. You can check your own score as much as you like. It's when you authorize others to do it that impacts the score.

Also, another way to get a free report is to apply for something that you know your credit will not be good enough for. Then when you are declined, they will give you an address to write to and by law they have to give you a free report. You can do this even if you have used up annualcreditreport.com's freebie for the year. (Note: applying for the loan you can't get may give your scor a small ding)

I pay for Lifelock and Free Credit Report.com (which really isn't free) for piece of mind

i heard life lock effed up on personal security, there was some article on it i saw doing a google search

Thanks guys. This is a very important thing to do.

6 years ago it took me about a year to clear up some crap that got thrown on my credit. Two people (with very bad credit) some how ended up on my report. It was a ****ing nightmare, and it happened to be when I was trying to buy the bar. Luckily the banks I deal with know me good and knew it wasn't me, and went through with the loan.

Just imagine if I would have never found out.

It says I have nine credit card accounts. Only one of which that I use. How do I cancel these things? Or would it be against my best interests to leave them open and not use them?

No one buys a house in cash...that's just reeruned. Makes NO sense.

no, it is federal law...you get one free viewing of your credit record per year...I've done it twice now and both times found items that were removed after investigation....and the investigations are free too...you can dispute any item on your record......

I see..guess ill have to get my free cr now hehe.

yes

Free credit report is free if you cancel within the first 30 days. I pull mine once a year using www.freecreditreport.com It shows your credit report and your score. After I check it over I immediately cancel it. The whole process takes about 10 minutes. Totally Free.

I have heard that a better way to track your credit history is to do this about every 4 months. What you do is just pull one of the three so you are pulling their individual report annually but you can keep closer track of any potential issues throughout the year.

I might not call it "reeruned", but in general I agree if the person applying for the mortgage can get a decent rate.

Debt is not evil, it is a useful tool just like a knife is a useful tool. You can cut yourself badly with a knife, but that doesnt mean we should ban all knives.

If you are in a high tax bracket and could get... oh, lets say 5.5%, then that loan is actually costing you about 4 1/8%. If you cant beat that through investments theres something wrong with you.

I have a student loan at some silly low interest rate of 3 1/8%. After the tax deduction it only costs me a little under 2.5%. I have a payment plan on it stretching out to the next 20 years, but I'd be an idiot to pay that off 1 second early. I dont know which idiot thought it was a good idea to give me this cheap money, but I intend to take advantage of them.

On the other hand, if your talking about a non-deductible 6% car loan, or if your credit sucks and you can only get a 7-8% mortgage, thats starting to get expensive enough that you cant reliably make very much money on the spread safely, so it makes sense to pay it off or not take out the loan at all and pay cash.

Nope, 100% FREE..............no strings.

yep, annualcreditreport.com was set up by the government to enforce their required annual free credit reports.

Some other company decided to try to take advantage of the situation and created confusion by setting up freecreditreport.com. A lot of people thought "oh yeah, I heard that the government gets us a free credit report every year, so this is probably where I go to get it!", so they just blindly provide whatever information is asked for, clicking yes to everything without looking around closely. They find out a month later that they signed up for some credit monitoring service, and by the time they cancel, the company got some free money out of them. (Unless of course you want that credit monitoring service)

People DO pay cash for houses. If you listen to the Dave Ramsey show or read his books you would know this.

In Dave's book "The Total money Makeover" Dave tells the story of a young married couple that lived in an very small apartment over a rich ladies garage. She only charged them $250 a month. He was making $50,000 a year and his wife $30,000. His granfather had preached to him to never borrow money. For 3 years they lived on nothing and did nothing extra that cost money. After 3 years they had saved $150,000 and paid cash for their first home.

Paying cash for a house is possible, very possible (I also work with someone who paid cash for their house). What's hard is to find people willing to pay the price in sacraficed lifestyle.

How much more wealth could you build if you didn't have a house payment? Look at all the stress off the marriage without a huge house payment.

reeruned??? Are you kidding me?

Aww, don't waste your time and consider who the poster was making the statement. :holdman: The guy likely couldn't couldn't run down the funds for a six pack of Old Mill and a pack of gum, much less a house.

I'm sure Dave Ramsey is a good man and doesnt beat his wife and all that.

When it comes to financial advice, his ideas are pretty stupid for people who are disciplined enough to manage their debts and investments wisely.

His advice is kind of like dealing with an alchoholic. With a normal person its fine to have an occasional drink or two, but with a recovering alchoholic, you need to have zero tolerance. They cant have a drop or they will just fall right back into the gutter. Dave Ramsey's advice is good for debtaholics, people who are too immature or foolish to manage their impulses to buy and borrow unwisely.

For everyone else with good credit and discipline, paying cash instead of borrowing at under 4.5% after-tax interest is equivalent to throwing money down a rathole. If you take the upfront cash or the extra principle payments you would have made and invested it instead in a broadly-diversified portfolio of funds over the long haul, when the mortgage is finally paid off you will be wealthier than the guy who paid it off earlier.

Dave Ramsey also believes that you should never use credit cards at all, which is just plain stupid. Again, if you are mature and disciplined enough to pay the balance off every month, its not hard to find credit card companies willing to pay you free money and airline miles for giving their card the action and processing fee that the merchant has to pay them. Its pretty simple: whether I write a check or use my card and pay the balance, I have a certain amount of money I have to spend every month to live. I can either write the check/use cash, or I can charge it all and pay the balance off. Same money is spent either way, except my credit card company is willing to give me a 1% kickback for giving their card some action and processing fees received from the stores.

By dealing only in cash and not having credit cards, over time your credit will return a "no-hit" or a "no-score", which is basically about as bad as having bad credit, preventing you from ever being able to borrow at good rates if you need the money.

1. All 3 can be printed instantly
2. Your own pulls have ZERO affect on your credit rating
3. You must send notice to ALL three agencies if they all show a problem. Not all problems may even show on the 3 reports, thats why it's important to get all 3.

It depends. Having too high of a credit line can be a liability. How long have the accounts been open? The older accounts are helping your score by showing longevity. My advice would be take a look at the nine. Close all but the 3 or 4 longest held accounts, assuming they are years old and have decent limits.

and that's pretty much my point...

Why would anyone with enough money to buy a house up front, in full, actually do it?! Hire a freaking financial adviser and invest for the future...

Hard to miss a payment when you're daddy's makin em.

reeruned? Maybe not. Bad financial practice, absolutely. Interest on a house is going to be at most 6.5%, then you get to deduct those interest payments on your income taxes. Meanwhile it is pretty easy to invest and make a 10% dividend per year, so paying cash for a house is a bad financial strategy.

The only reason I can think of is if you are in a low tax bracket and your credit is so terrible (or you have no credit since you only deal in cash) that you have to take out an 8% mortgage. In that case... eh, for someone who is very nervous and faint-hearted about the market, paying it off is kind of like buying an 8% guaranteed CD, which isnt too bad.

If you have the ability to get a 5-5.5% mortgage and you are in the 25% or higher tax bracket, then paying it off early is just stupid. I wouldnt get a warm fuzzy feeling from paying off the mortgage so that I can be land-rich and cash-poor later on thinking about a reverse mortgage to get half of it back. I'm only interested in making as much money for my retirement as possible. A home is just a structure built on a patch of dirt where I can sleep without freezing or getting rained on.

absolutely. The only reason to pay cash for a house is if you're a multi-multi-multi millionaire, and don't care about the tax and financial advantages.

Well, at least you're getting more creative with your names Marlboro...

It's that time of year again.

I thought that perhaps this was a new thread warning people that the "Freecreditreport.com" site is, in fact, ran by one of the bureaus (I want to say TransUnion, but it may be Experian) and is a total ripoff.

As someone who writes articles on personal finance for a living, I've read numerous horror stories about all the sites claiming to give free reports. All but annualcreditreport.com will sign you up for a monthly service costing from $9 - $20 a month, often without really letting you know they're doing so.

So yeah ... everyone get their ass over to annualcreditreport.com and get your copies today. Just be forewarned that getting one from TransUnion is nearly impossible.

MM
~~:thumb:

Is it true that bad credit marks disappear in 7 yrs??

It depends on what you mean by "bad credit marks" and "disappear."

Bankruptcies are listed on your report for 7 - 13 years, depending on which chapter you file. After that, the notice is removed.

A missed payment won't actually "disappear" -- it will be listed as a red square amongst a bunch of green ones (or hopefully a bunch of green ones) in your payment history to the creditor in question.

But overall, yes, the records on your report usually only go back about 7 years or so. Your credit score, however, is cumulative and will reflect your entire credit history.

Hope that helps.

MM
~~:)

Why do we have credit, why cant they just take my ****ing word on it?

Also, how much do student loans affect your credit, and the credit of a cosigner?

If it helps, $32,000, soon to be ~$39,000 in loans.

My sister has some old CC bills that are 6 yrs old. Are they going to be gone from her credit report soon.

She's thinking about filing bankruptcy, and I'm trying to figure out if it would be best for her to just wait it out.

She should have contacted the CC companies and asked them to be removed long ago.

I about 6 years ago, I had a few instances where my payment posted a couple of days late and it ended up on my credit report. I contacted those companies and they were removed in 30 days or less.

My credit score is currently 789.

As for filing bankruptcy, I'd highly recommend against it, if at all possible. She should be able to contact the individual companies and ask for a reduced rate in order to pay off her bills. The trade off is that she won't be able to use the cards during that time. But that's a far better alternative to bankruptcy, which will follow her around for a minimum of 10 years (it's no longer 7).

Good luck.

Dude ... have you read some of the posts around here? Would you trust some these clowns to tell you the truth about their financial history?

;)

Short version:

As long as you make payments on time, you should be fine.

The only issue you may have is when it comes time for the monthly payments. This is because many lenders use "Debt ratio" as one of the ways to determine your payment risk. So if you don't make much money, but have a large monthly payment, that will hurt your chances of getting credit, and/or will make the rates higher.

Long version:

The following is some info from an article I wrote last summer on the new FICO 08 credit scoring model (sorry for the length).

Last year, Fair Issac and Co. (the company that developed the credit scoring models used by Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) tweaked the way your credit score is determined. And while it's still super-duper secret, most folks agree that the following are involved:

But financial experts agree that there are certain things that impact your score (listed in order of importance):

• Payment history
• Amount owed
• Length of credit history
• New credit
• Types of credit

In the old model, each of these factors was weighted differently, with payment history being the most important (around 35 percent of the determination), and the types of new accounts and credit used both considered less important (around 10 percent or so).

There were also other actions that could raise or lower a score that most people never considered. For example, the old formula put an emphasis on "hard inquiries," which occur when a lender looked at your report when you applied for a line of credit. Even if you were not approved for the loan—or turned it down—that hard inquiry could lower your score.

FICO 08 (the new model) is designed to put less emphasis on these hard inquiries, and will also change the impact of other items on your report:

• More emphasis on:
• Having a wider variety of credit accounts (positive)
• Having high balances on your credit cards (negative)
  Less emphasis on:
• Actively using the credit accounts you have (positive)
• Applying for new credit accounts (negative)

Fair Isaac has told reporters and finance experts that most consumers will actually see an increase in their score thanks to the new formula, but some may see a slight drop. The company also states that part of their goal is to more accurately judge who is and who is not a good credit risk, and to treat those with a troubled or short credit history more fairly.

They're also looking to minimize what is called "piggybacking" someone else's score. This is when someone with a good credit score adds someone with a poor score on a credit account (usually a credit card) as an "authorized user." Doing so imports the positive payment history of the account into the credit report of the person with a checkered credit history and, thus, raises that person's credit score.

This loophole came to light in 2007, when credit-repair companies started adding customer's information to the credit accounts of complete strangers with good scores. FICO 08 works around this by ignoring "authorized users" on an account and focusing on the actual account holders, including joint accounts.

The final big change in FICO 08 is that it takes into account modern economic reality: more people use credit more often than in the past. Because of this, actively seeking new lines of credit will not impact a score nearly as much as it used to (the "hard inquiry" issue noted earlier).

So just having a bunch of student loan debt won't kill your score. Missing payments on it, or having a monthly payment that increases your debt ratio, will hurt.

MM
~~:shrug:

This.

Oh, and thanks for the correction on the bankruptcy term -- forgot they changed that in that abortion of a bankruptcy bill passed a few years ago.

Talk about shitty legislation ... sheesh.

MM
~~:shake:

Although Dane did a great job, it just occurred to me to ask something:

Was the CC debt paid six years ago, or is she still paying on CC bills from six years ago?

That makes a large difference in advice.

If it's the former, then Dane nailed it.

If it's the latter, she needs to consider a debt consolidation loan over bankruptcy. Get settlements from the CCs first (they'll usually take less at once, than the full amount over a long period of time), add them up, and then see if she can get a loan (credit unions may be a better bet). Just have her totally, 100% avoid payday lenders and other such swindlers.

She should not, however, declare bankruptcy. Not over a few CC bills.

MM
~~:shake:

I was ****ing with you on this one.

Thanks for the rest though. It makes me feel a little better about my future, but it is still going to suck.

The only problem I have is that I have a pretty large credit card bill due to the fact that a tuition rate hike forced my loan to be short so I have to put a 3 hour class, and $641 in text books on my credit card to start the semester. So that, and other credit card stuff, like electric and gas bills, my CC is up to around $3000 right now. I realize that isnt high for most on here, but for me, a college student with no job currently (laid off :() it really blows. I am going to get my next student loan for about $2000 extra so that I can pay off my school and 2/3 of my credit card, then I am going to cut the ****er in half and pay off the bill by this summer and then never use it, unless it is an emergency or I have a good job. My CC is through Citibank and my rates went way up recently, so that is where a lot of the trouble has come from too. I am basically just paying the interest now, so there is no decline in the debt.

Oh ... well, I haven't read tons of your posts, so without a smilie I can never tell who's being smartassed and who's not.

My fault. :D

Ouch ... using CCs for basic bills is such a horrific idea, but better than a payday or car title or refund anticipation loan (all of which everyone should avoid -- always).

At this point, you've got the right idea. Get some extra student loan $$ and pay off the CC in full (or as much as you can). You're also smart to cut it up, yet keep it open -- that will increase the amount of credit you have used compared to what you have available and, thus, increase your score.

In the future, even when you get that kickass job ( ;) ) only charge what you can pay in full each month. That will send your score through the roof.

Don't worry -- you've obviously got a lot of life in front of you. Just get the card paid down, watch your spending and make a budget -- even without a job. Heck, it's even more important when you're unemployed to know where every dollar goes, so do that ASAP!

Then, just be smart, use credit wisely, and you'll be all good.

MM
~~:thumb:

P.S. For those wondering, I had horrific credit in college (like 450). I now have a score of 800+. Granted, it's been several years of work on that, but it can be done.

Thanks a lot again, man!

Yeah, I know I shouldnt use it for basic bills, and I hadnt until this year. That came about because I had a lazy roommate who was at his home in Chicago not turning on the power/gas/water like I was, so I had to use my CC to start all the accounts. So now they all are direct payment due to that, and I cant get his ass to change at least one of them over to his name (he is loaded by the way). I have his parents on my side though, so they may force him to do it because they know he is a lazy slob that I relutantly had to live with to cheapen my rent. Plus side for me is that now that is parents love me his dad said he will get me a great job. He has a ton of connections in everyplace and the mother used to eat at the whitehouse with Nixon because her parents were life long friends of his.... I dont like her quite as much, she seems to socialite-ish too me, but the dad is cool and owned a cheese company for 30 years and just sold it to the french -- If you buy those little cheese wheels in the red bags, I think LeBelle Cheese, that is the one.

They love me because there son up and left his apt. last summer and left all his shit there when he left to work in Milwauke and live with friends there. So being too nice as I always am with friends, I agreed Id help his parents clean out his apt and load it all into a moving truck and then into a storage garage. Once I stopped by his apt. and checked it out (****ing filthy) I called his parents back and told them not to come from Chicago to help me. They are 65+ and did not need to help me move everything out in 100+ heat. Of course I had to do this on the final day of his lease as well, since he hadnt forwarned any of us, and it happened to be 106 that day with the humidity. After a friend helped me get the heavy stuff, I spent 9 more hours straight boxing and packing and moving everything down the stairs and into the moving truck. NO A/C and no help=living hell. Not to mention I have a bad back and had to move out of my 3rd floor apt the following day. Basically, I ended up passing out the next day around 3pm bc I had not slept in 48 hours and was physically exhausted. He owes me huge, of course he has forgot by now, but thankfully his rich ass parents have not! Sorry, way off topic with my rant!

Thanks for the help guys. I was trying my best to convince her not to file bankruptcy. This will help.

I'll tell you this, I am going to start reading more of the bullshit paperwork the credit card boys send out in the small print. I just looked at one of my credit card bills (Advanta Business) and about messed myself when I caught the fact that I was paying a, get this shit.....37.18 APR rate on purchases!! I was like What the ****?? Keep in mind, my credit score is over well over 800 and I have never been late on a bill. I called them up and asked them "what kind of a rat soup, Mickey Mouse, fly by night, chicken shit, loan shark outfit are you running over there?" The old hide on the other end said she could lower it to 24.99%, what a ****ing deal huh? I said, don't bother and told her to listen carefully. I then took the Advanta card and ran it through my heavy duty paper shredder. I said "did you her that?" she asked what it was and I told her "that was the sound of your credit card running through my shredder, you just lost a customer." Within 15 minutes, I had a different "low interest rate card" and had the balance transfered. Advanta can kiss my country ass.

Yeah, they tend to **** everybody over with the APR rates, especially when you sign up, you really need to check/inspect all texts on a paper. It could be a very small font, somewhere in the back, and most people tend to miss it big time.

See what I mean?

You must look easy.

I am easy, but we are talking credit cards here. :doh!:

That was as pissed off as I have been in well over a year. Fuggen rinkey-dink outfit.

725 - Equifax

Is it just me, or did this website used to give you your credit score for free?

I ran a check a few days ago and saw that I have to pay $5 to my credit score now, which is really the only thing I care about.

How did they do Credit checks pre-wide spread use of the internet?

I get American Express. They give you the option of paying off all of your bills in one month w/o any interest attached. If you don't pay it all off, then that's when your interest catches on.

Personally, I use my AE and buy on what I can pay it off within a month from my bank account.

It's that time of the year again.

I pay them $15 a month to track my reported financial info. But, my job depends on having good credit so I want to know immeditely if something shows up that shouldn't be there.

We don't borrow money. I don't like filling out forms. Plus I like it when I buy a car or something and they ask about financing and I just say, "What, won't you take my personal check?" I'm pretty sure my credit rating is probably crap since we don't do debt. Eh, big deal, I'm not getting any other jobs or borrowing any money so who cares?...