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Earth_First

(14,910 posts)
Mon Feb 27, 2012, 04:19 PM Feb 2012

Is there one credit report/credit check that is more reliable than the other...

Looking to run my credit report, mostly for security purposes; but haven't done a decent report/check in years...

I know there are a lot of 'free' reports out there, mostly offering a minimum of information; most times with no FICO/PLUS score.

Is there one (that I'm willing to pay for if necessary...) where I can get a report from all three reporting agencies *with* a FICO score that is better than most?

Thanks for the assistance!

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ret5hd

(20,486 posts)
1. once a year you can get a free report from each of the 3. i forget the govt website that details...
Mon Feb 27, 2012, 04:27 PM
Feb 2012

this, but i'm sure someone here will remember.

ret5hd

(20,486 posts)
11. my apologies, melm00se...you are correct.
Mon Feb 27, 2012, 09:23 PM
Feb 2012

the ftc site points us right to your link (www.annualcreditreport.com)

Yo_Mama

(8,303 posts)
8. The FTC site others have given points to annual credit report
Mon Feb 27, 2012, 08:28 PM
Feb 2012
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

FTC site:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm

The quickest way is to go through the website or call the phone number:

A: The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up a central website, a toll-free telephone number, and a mailing address through which you can order your free annual report.

To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is on the back of this brochure; or you can print it from ftc.gov/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

You may order your reports from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies at the same time, or you can order your report from each of the companies one at a time. The law allows you to order one free copy of your report from each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies every 12 months.


By law the companies must each provide one free credit report a year so you should get these reports - that's how to get accurate info. Don't use any other resources other than the ones given at the FTC website - all the others are trying to make money off you one way or another.

jsmirman

(4,507 posts)
9. Yep
Mon Feb 27, 2012, 08:31 PM
Feb 2012

ret5hd is confused.

Annualcreditreport.com is the ftc's site.

But you only get your report, not a score (this is true for each of the three available credit agencies).

zorahopkins

(1,320 posts)
3. All Any Of Them Do.....
Mon Feb 27, 2012, 05:02 PM
Feb 2012

All any of them do is suck your money from you.

I suggest you write to your congresscritter and demand that s/he do something.

nobodyspecial

(2,286 posts)
13. I use this
Tue Feb 28, 2012, 12:46 AM
Feb 2012

Very good. Some ads and marketing but worth it. I like the graphs that allow you to track your progress. Never had a problem or been bombarded with spam. Definitely would recommend.

high density

(13,397 posts)
10. I buy my FICO score using my Equifax data from myfico.com for about $20
Mon Feb 27, 2012, 08:34 PM
Feb 2012

All three credit reporting companies usually have the same information for me, so I see no reason to buy the score three times. Experian doesn't allow consumers to purchase a FICO score any more utilizing Experian data, though they do sell their own credit score product which seems quite similar.

The annual credit report site that others have mentioned will give you free access to your reports once a year, but it doesn't provide a credit score.

Sgent

(5,857 posts)
12. For security purposes
Tue Feb 28, 2012, 12:24 AM
Feb 2012

and to check accuracy the free credit reports from https://www.annualcreditreport.com (a FCC portal) is perfectly good.

Scoring however is more problematic. www.myfico.com is the only one that gives you your fico score which is the score most commonly used by lenders. None of the other publicly available scores are used by lenders.

However, lenders can score your reports using different methods, so the fico score may not be applicable in all situations. This is especially used in insurance underwriting which uses their only scoring algorithms.

dionysus

(26,467 posts)
15. fico, transunion, and experian are pretty much the same.. but slightly different scoring formulas...
Tue Feb 28, 2012, 01:10 AM
Feb 2012

you are entitled to one free report a year...

winstars

(4,219 posts)
18. Your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion reports can be very different...
Tue Feb 28, 2012, 04:43 PM
Feb 2012

Believe me, you need to get all three reports to see where you are really at. Different lenders use different credit reporting agencies, sometimes it can even depend on what state you reside in as to what report might be pulled by a particular lender. It is inaccurate to think they are generally the same, they can sometimes be but depending on your plans, i.e. mortgage, car loan or credit card app, you need to get all three to really know where you stand...

What can happen say is that you can pull your TransUnion report and have a look and say OK, not bad, blah blah blah.... And then you apply for an AMEX card, who essentially only pull Experian, and your Experian report has baddies on it that the TransUnion did not contain. You then get denied for the card and now have an even lower Experian score since you have a additional inquiry added to it from AMEX...

DotGone

(182 posts)
16. Places to get free scores & reports
Tue Feb 28, 2012, 01:34 AM
Feb 2012

Annualcreditreport.com allows you to get 1 free report every 365 days from the 3 major credit agencies.

Creditkarma.com gives you your Transunion scores which can be updated anytime.

Creditsesame.com will you give your Experian score and updates once a month.

Quizzle.com gives you your Experian score and report once every 6 months.

You can get your FICO score by signing up for a free trial at myfico.com and cancelling afterwards.

No place I know of to get your Equifax score. Each agency score is usually within 50 points of your FICO score so you can estimate your FICO score from the agency scores.

winstars

(4,219 posts)
17. Experian is the FICO score you cannot buy...
Tue Feb 28, 2012, 04:30 AM
Feb 2012

You actually can buy your Equifax report and FICO score from their site but its tricky to find the link on their deliberately confusing and slow website. They try to get you to buy their monthly service subscription which actually gives you a FAKO score, which is useless, a random number generated by the people selling it to you for a tidy profit. The reports themselves are real, the scores are not. All FAKO scores are dismissed by most people who are working on their credit or doing credit repair. The whole "score thing" is a waste of your money. Spend it on stamps or paper and envelopes to do some good by writing letters.

You can buy your TransUnion and Equifax reports and FICO score at http://www.myfico.com.

You cannot buy your Experian FICO score anywhere since they pulled it from the above mentioned myfico.com, in 2009 I believe.

If you join a credit union in PA called PSECU, you actually can get your Experian FICO score each month. You now must be a PA resident to join, up until June 2011 you could join a local Parks and Recreation Association as a way in to the CU as a non-resident of PA.

If you have a type of WalMart credit card, you can get your TransUnion FICO scores monthly I believe.

Both Quizzle and Creditkarma, and any scores that Experian, TransUnion, and except for the EQ report and score noted above, Equifax are FAKO scores and aren't anything that CC companies or any other lenders use, ever. Only FICO scores and their many versions (there's a TU98, a TU04 and a TU08 I believe) are what the vast majority of lenders will use. Creditsesame.com can be close to your real Experian FICO score, but it can also definitely be 60-80 points different. Thats the problem with FAKO scores, but creditsesame.com can be sorta close if your reports are very clean... There are many Auto enhanced reports and scores that car dealerships use, there are Mortgage enhanced reports and scores that lenders use, credit card companies use their own formulas for the scores off the reports they use. You cannot estimate your FICO scores by your FAKO score, its like the first rule in raising your credit or in credit repair...

Scores aren't what you should really concern yourself with. It's what is contained in your reports that matters. If your reports are clean, you will have a great/good score. A couple of baddies, a medium score and then basically with more than 2 baddies, you will have a NOT so good score. Pull your reports from http://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp which is actually run by the three credit reporting agencies due to Federal law ordering them to. Get your reports and see if you need to work to clean them up either by getting baddies off and/or increasing the positive aspects of what is actually contained on the three different reports. You need to get all three reports since they don't always contain the same information.

Myfico.com has some boards that contain a wealth of information on this subject. Another website called http://www.creditboards.com is a lively board that also has tons of real information for everyone.

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