How to Get Free Credit Reports - With Score
by Jeffrey Strain | MainStreet.com

With the economy taking a turn for the worse, your credit report is taking on a bigger significance when you seek to borrow money.

Lending institutions are attempting to reduce their risks and giving more scrutiny to your credit score. Despite this, many people still don’t understand the importance that their credit score plays in many aspects of their financial life.

In an April survey, The Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy asked 1,000 people what were the four most relevant factors in obtaining a mortgage loan. Even though credit score tops this list, nearly seven out of 10 respondents failed to identify it as the most important factor when obtaining a home loan.

Your credit score goes far beyond influencing the rate you receive on a home mortgage. It will help determine the rate you get on a car loan, the interest rate you pay on credit card balances and which type of credit cards you qualify for. It influences the rates you pay for auto, health and homeowners insurance.

It can even influence whether you get a job; people with poor credit can be viewed as more likely to have problems at work. It’s common for apartment managers to run a credit check on prospective tenants, too — so your ability to find a place to live may depend on it.

In all, a good credit score can be worth more than $1 million in savings during your lifetime over someone with poor credit.

Getting your credit report for free has been easy for the last few years through the government-sponsored Web site AnnualCreditReport.com.

The Web site allows you to get a credit report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, the big three credit reporting agencies, at no cost, once a year. While this will give you access to the information that is contained within each of the reports, this credit report won’t give you your actual credit score.

This has spawned an industry offering “free” credit reports, but they usually came with a catch. You are able to obtain your credit score, but in order to do so you are required to enroll for a free 30-day trial of some credit service and required to give your credit card number. If you fail to opt out of the service, you get charged enough to more than cover what a credit-score report would cost.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, people may be entitled to a free credit report and score by contacting Equifax (EFX) (800-685-1111), Experian (888-397-3742) or TransUnion (800-916-8800) in the following situations:

Denial due to score. If your credit was responsible for you being denied credit, insurance, or a job, you are entitled to a free credit score report. When you are denied, the notice should show which of the three credit reporting agencies supplied the report. You can request a free copy of your credit report and score from the agency that supplied the report, as long as this is done within 60 days.

Unemployment. If you don’t have a job, you’re entitled to a free report with credit score from each of the credit reporting agencies. The only stipulation is that you plan to look for a job within 60 days.

Welfare recipients. If you are receiving welfare, you are entitled to get a free credit report and score.

Identity theft victims. If you believe that you may have been a victim of identity theft, you can request a free credit report. With the number of company and government laptops that get stolen with personal information on them and an ever increasing number of online personal data breaches, the possibility that you could be a victim is probably greater than you imagine.

If you do not meet any of these conditions for a free credit score, Credit Karma is a new Web site that gives you your credit score for free without forcing you to sign up for a trial offer or give your credit card number. It offsets the cost of the credit report it purchases for you by offering deals and advertising on its site.

You do have to give your Social Security number in order to access your credit score, which is something you need to decide if you’re comfortable doing. While the site claims to have high security for this information, there is always a risk involved, even if it’s tiny. You also won’t be able to see your credit score from each of the three companies.

Credit Karma currently only offers your score for TransUnion, although it plans to offer credit scores from all three major agencies in the future.

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In this day and age, it is easy to work yourself into debt. Saving seems to be difficult when gas and other prices are on the rise. Regardless of how you got into debt, if you are trying to get yourself out you need to make sure you are trusting in the right people.

The best way to organize things and work through your bad credit is to try and do it yourself. But for several reasons, this doesn’t always work for everyone. A lack of complete understanding as where to start and sometimes a lack of time can both contribute.

The next question then is who to trust?

If you are looking to take out a loan or anything similar, you first want to check out your credit report. According to an article from our partners at TheStreet.com, about 75% of all credit reports contain some type of error. These errors (either small or large) could prevent you from getting the loan you need. Its like those commercials for freecreditreport.com where they don’t check their credit report first and end up in some type of bad/crazy situation!! Make sure to check your credit report in advance so this doesn’t happen to you! Even if you think your report should be pretty close to perfect, it is better to be safe than sorry (as they always say).

Good Guys
Be Careful Who Fixes Your Credit on TheStreet.com helps you sort through the “good guys” vs. the “bad guy” in the credit world. The Credit Repair Organizations (CROs) will do much of the “dirty” work for you such as contacting the credit bureau (but all of this can also be done by yourself).

In the article, Peter McDougall states that a legitimate CRO should provide the following items in any contract you might sign:

Payment terms and services, including their total cost

A detailed description of all of the services that will be performed

A timeline for the performance of these services

Any guarantee the company or organization offers

The company’s name and business address (preferably something more than a post office box)

Make sure that you consider all of your options and understand the conditions before signing any type of contract.

Bad Guys
It isn’t always hard to pick out the bad CROs (or those individuals who are simply trying to scam you out of your money). Make sure you aren’t doing anything illegal. Also, know what you can do on your own for free…you don’t want to get charged for something that you can do by yourself without a fee. Understanding what the legitimate CROs can do for you should be able to help you eliminate those who are doing things illegally.

As always, do your research! It is good to ask for help if you think you need it, but make sure that you are asking the right people!

Having bad credit can be frustrating enough…in the end, fixing it should be a huge relief and weight off your shoulders. Make sure to use all the Geezeo features such as your budget and personal goals to organize your finances and not get yourself into further trouble!

Photo: Kevin Rosseel

Related Articles:
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4 Tips To Control Your Mortgage in Topsy-Turvy Times
Is Your Cash Safe At the Bank?

Here are four tips for your home mortgage during economic “topsy-turvy” times:

1 - Read the fine print. Do you have an adjustable rate mortgage? And are your rates climbing? Time to pull out the paperwork. You may have signed it years ago and now it’s time to review and explore your options. Consider refinancing to a fixed rate.

2 - Raise your credit score. Now is the time to read up on what it takes to raise your score. For example, do not open new lines of credit. Do not close any long-standing credit lines. Pay down your cards. Aim for a score of 700 or above. With a high score you’ll have the best negotiating power and financing alternatives. Request a copy of your score from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. (This step also protects you from identity theft. See: (Did someone buy a Jaguar with your good name?)

3 - Pay off those credit cards. Minimize the stress. If you can’t change your mortgage, turn your attention to what you can control. Work to charge less, pay more, and pay them off.

GEEZ TIP: Load your credit cards up into Geezeo and monitor their balances daily. Click here.

4 - Give your HELOC the heave-ho. A home mortgage loan (pronounced Hee-lock) can be a great tool. But, now is the time to STOP borrowing from it. Many home values are dropping. You don’t want to end up owing more on your home than it is worth.

GEEZ TIP: Bring your mortgage balance into your Geezeo account and monitor it, too. Click here.

Ever wondered if someone could REALLY use your credit report information to go on a shopping spree?

Oh, yes. Unfortunately, this happened to Bill Kirst in the Washington, DC area. Someone stole his identity and bought a used Jaguar. How would you like to pay for a luxury car you don’t own?

Propelled by this incident Bill decided to jump on top of managing his finances in a BIG WAY. That’s how he came to use Geezeo. Read about Bill’s experience in the Washington Post. Bill, thanks for using Geezeo and sharing your story!

Here at Geezeo we make your privacy and data security our number one priority. If you have questions regarding our service please check out our F.A.Q.s or ask us directly.