I’ve been having a run-around about my credit report recently. When I applied for a new credit card they found an old bill incorrectly listed as past due with a collection agency.
So I call the company and they fix it - no big deal.
But when I go back to my bank and ask them to verify that it has been removed from my credit report, I was told they had better not check because this would affect my credit. I repeat - them checking my credit would adversely affect my credit. Seems darn close to Orwellian to me.
So I researched ways of getting a “free” credit report, and by all accounts the companies don’t make it easy.
Who stands to profit by throwing hurdles up in the credit reporting process?
I wasn’t sure where to post this, so I chose the Opinion forum. Mods, feel free to move.
I have heard of people who get approval on a loan and then get rejected from other lenders because “someone” had filed hundreds of credit checks and reduced their credit rating and they are stuck with the first guy they went to. I don’t get the rationale either, if it is supposed to be a surrogate for debt you intend to incurr in the near future, you would think they would at least TRY to distinguish between a Nordstrom’s card and a home mortgage.
Yes, a hard inquery on your CR will adversly affect it. You should be able to go to any CR agency and request a free credit report becuase of incorrect information on it though. Yes, they do make it a PITA to get a free report, why, because they’d much rather you bought one. Not only do they get the money from that, but they will also try very hard to upsell you on a lot of other stuff as well.
Equifax , it seems you have to call to request it. That might be what you have to do with all of them now. In this case they’ll probably send it to you in the mail, and it’ll probably take a while.
My suggestion is Truecredit.com. I pay them $9.95/mo and I can check my credit report all I want, as well as scores.
Oh, and checking your own CR doesn’t count against you.
Yep, that’s the one I use. However, you can only use it once a year as stated. And while it does give you a full report from the big 3 , you do have to pay extra for an actual “score”.
Getting your credit reports isn’t hard at all. You just have to know the numbers to call. An automated system at each of the three agencies will have them delivered to your mailbox in ten days or so. No problem at all. The website **Frank{/b] listed above may be better however. I started checking mine before this internet fad really caught on.
Just to clear that up, you get one credit report, per year, from each of the CRAs. So one thing that makes sense is to stagger them. Get, say, Transunion in January, Equifax in April, and Experian in August. That way you can spot inaccuracies within four months rather then a year.
A company re-pulling a report (Inquiry) does not affect the score. The scoring model will ignore the repeat.
Also, say you go marathon car shopping, hammering out all these deals in search of the killer deal. You then change minds and decide to buy a luxury car instead of the sports car you wanted earlier and shopped and negotiated for. You find yourself with 12 inquiries in one day on your credit report. The scoring models will see the similar activity from various aute financers and only consider one inquiry.
Answering anticipated question: The reason an inquiry from a lender even affects your score is because the inquiry reflects that your are seeking – and might have been approved for – some unknown amount of credit (DEBT). Eventually, if you did secure some am’t of debt, the tradeline from Jaguar auto finance will eventually find its way to your report, and the am’t of debt and terms will then be clear. In lieu of that tradeline, scoring models have to err on the safe side for others who might have to consider extending your debt, so your score is lowered accordingly when an inquiry from a lender pops up.