Hey all,
So there doesn’t seem to be a way to get a free FICO score (unlike the once-a-year freebie scores from the 3 credit union.) Which isn’t really the issue; I don’t really mind paying for it, BUT… it seems to be very hard to find an option that only involves paying ONCE for a ONE time access to that particular score. Everything seems to involve signing up for a monthly service, which I don’t want to do right now-- and it seems like there just has to be something other than the"signing up for it and then having to cancel instantly’ sneaky option. :rolleyes:
Basically, is there anyone, anywhere, that allows a one time payment for a one time look at your FICO score??
BEFORE you ask any financial org to pull your credit, ask if the inquiry will register as a ‘hard’ inquiry.
‘hard’ inquiries (which are what most bank inquiries are) count against your score - they assume it was pulled because you were looking for credit.
If you pull it for yourself, it is a '‘soft’ inquiry, which does not ding your score.
Go to the agency’s own site and start looking.
TransUnion
Equifax
Experian
are the 3 sites.
Yes, they much prefer to sell a subscription, but keep trying.
The legally-mandated site (Annual Credit Report.com - Home Page) used to give you the option of adding the FICO to the report (the credit report does NOT contain the FICO) for a few dollars.
Get a no-annual-fee Discover Card and never use it. You get an updated FICO score every month.
But know that you don’t have one FICO score, or even just three, you actually have dozens, all calculated using different criteria based on what it’s going to be used for. Chances are high they are all going to be similar, like give or take 10 points, but just FYI.
It is your Transunion score which isn’t fake but it isn’t exhaustive either. However, none of them are by themselves. There are three major credit bureaus, some minor ones and lots of different types of scores calculated for different purposes.
A Credit Karma score works fine as a general indicator and will correlate very highly with your other scores unless there is something really screwy going on. Credit Karma is perfectly reputable and will give you a valid approximation of your FICO score(s) for free either once or every week from now on. They won’t SPAM you either. They make their money by trying to match you up with credit card offers and loans on the site itself but that is fairly unobtrusive and sometimes useful if you really are looking for a good credit card or loan.
Several free credit cards also give you your FICO score. I know Barclaycard is one because I have one of their free ones but there are others as well. Mint.com is a very useful personal finance site in general and it also gives it to you free.
BTW, it is generally fairly easy to clean up your own credit reports if your score is lower than you want or need. You don’t need a service for it either. All you generally have to do is order your three free reports online from Equifax, Experian and Transunion through www.annualcreditreport.com.
They won’t tell your your actual score but they will list everything that is affecting it negatively. All you have to do from there is go to each of the credit bureaus web sites and file a dispute on every negative entry. In my experience, the chances are outstanding that those negative entries will be dropped from your report very quickly and permanently. There are strong consumer protection laws in place that address fair credit reporting and they are a pain in the ass for both the credit bureaus and the company that reported it to justify after the dispute has been filed so they usually just don’t bother at all so the entry is gone forever within 48 hours and usually less. I have never had a dispute denied even when I thought that it might be legitimate.
It sounds complicated but it isn’t. You can file the disputes online very quickly and they have to either prove it really is yours in a reasonable time or drop it forever. It takes less than 5 minutes to file one.
If you don’t mind spending money, you can buy a one-time set of scores from MyFico, even though they push a monthly program. Just go to “compare our products” at the top of the page and click on the “one-time reports and scores” and select the product of your choice ( either one or all 3 major reporters ).
While we’re getting into advanced credit reporting practices:
The 3 agencies all use the same info and usually evaluate the same way.
To maximize the benefit of “one per year from each of the 3”:
In Jan, pull TransUnion
In May, pull Equifax
Sept, pull Experian
You now get a report every 4 months, not just every 12.
Yes, if you want to clean up a report, open disputes and challenge every negative item.
Note: This worked MUCH better before every damned record was backed up to 500 different databases, all of which are readily available to the agencies.
I was once sent hard copies of every charge slip (don’t ask) going back 11 years.
Amazing - especially since the Statute of Limitations had expired years earlier.
Always wondered how long the person who actually pulled that worthless stack of paper lasted at that job.
As others have said, go to any of the three credit reporting bureaus and buy a one-time report. Note that, typically, you cannot just pay to see your score; you usually have to buy the credit report and score together.
