PoLaK

iTrader: (1)

I was wondering how to go about getting a credit report and score form a credit reporting agency. I live in New Jersey so im entitled to get 1 free report a year who would I contact to go about getting it?

RotorBoy

See this link..

Clark's Rolodex: Credit cards / Credit reports

There is some excellent info. on that site. In case you do not know Clark Howard is like the poster child for consumer rights etc. He has a daily talk radio show based out of Atlanta, GA on WSB AM750.

highspeed8

Check out www.creditexpert.com I check my credit rating with them weekly and it helps me out quite a bit. Lots of nice tools and calculators too. (no I'm not affiliated with them, just like the service :D ) I think they even have a free trial going on...

DonG35Miata

The only credit scorre worth having is the FICO score. It is the one the lenders actually use; the scores at creditexpert (Experian) and Trans Union are meaningless.

Go to www.myfico.com.

Anything above 600 you should be OK to get a loan. 700 and up is best. The higher the score, the lower the interest rate. This also varies on income, debt load, etc.

Prowla

Ok, in other words... only order the copy of the credit report from Equifax? Why would the other two credit bureaus be meaningless? These may sound like dumb questions... but there's no such thing as dumb questions, just dumb people.

I may have a bad credit rating because I was unable to come up with payments for a car about 7 months ago, thus having it repossessed.

Chadr

I can tell you that at the Audi/VW/Porsche dealer we used the Trans Union score for rating people. I think honestly that scores from any of them are going to be comparable now.

Prowla - if you had a car repo'd you most assuredly have a low credit score. Those are the things that really trash the score so I would expect yours to be in the 500 - 550 range at best. It is worthwhile to check it and see what you can do to increase your score but expect to be "high risk" for awhile. I would figured a good 2 - 3 years from the repo time to rebuild to a 700+ score.

DonG35Miata

It's not the bureau, it's the scoring algorhythm they use. Experian and TU don't want to pay Fair Isaac (FICO) royalties, so they just came up with their own rating system which has absolutely no relation to the way FICO scores you. There could be a 50 point swing between them.

Check out www.creditscroing.com.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you had a repo in the oast twelve months, you are going to have some problems. Aren't you a little cautious now that you have been through a repo, why buy a $30,000 car now? Why not wait and get on your feet? I don't know your situation, but a repo is the kiss of death when it comes to getting a car financed. (At least at a realistic rate.)

Prowla

Thanks, that was my understanding that having the car repossessed would really damage my credit rating. (Well, that's obvious.) The sad thing is, the jobs I had BEFORE and AFTER the repo were with credit card companies. Of course, the thing is... if a problem arises where it would require finding info from the credit bureau, they didn't handle the problem.

ie: Why was my account cancelled?
rep: Well, it shows here that you have a low credit bureau rating and want to make sure that you don't run up our card and not be able to make payments
cust: what do u mean?
rep: call your credit bureau for the info...

I couldn't stand that ****. It just made me feel like an *******, which I'm very from being. The companies train you on everything you need to know, but the co-workers are the real trainers. Screw Customer Service. (sorry to rant)

Prowla

Ah, it makes more sense now. As of for the next few years anyhow, I'm not looking to get a loan on a car. Right now, I'm just looking to get back to working and saving up some money to move in together with my girlfriend sometime in December-January. Ever since the repo, I've also been getting credit card offers in the mail, which I rip up because I know I'll get denied (I've tried twice just to see if they would approve my application). For now, let's just say that the whole issue I went through is definitely a lesson learned. Thanks for the information.

MadRonin

Highspeed8 --

Having your credit checked frequently can actually have an adverse effect on your credit rating. Inquiries lower your score a small amount each time; and financial institutions such as banks, mortgage companies, credit card companies, etc, can and will turn a person down if they have too many inquiries. They look at it as if you are over-extending yourself by trying to open multiple lines of credit. In their mind(s) you would not have inquiries if you were not trying to get money.

Just some friendly advice.

-- Anthony

highspeed8

You are right MadRonin, but creditexpert allows you to monitor your credit activity continously without that activity being reported. You're not actually making inquiries into your credit like applying for a loan, just watching activity. A while back I found a bogus account this way almost immediately and it saved quite some aggrivation.

I did PeopleFirst for loan pre-approval for the RX8 and was able to watch my credit score drop by 4 points just for having them check my credit.

DonG35Miata

Checking your own credit does not affect your score. The score only drops when your credit is checked by an outside source such as a bank, when you apply for credit. Promotional inquiries do not affect your credit either.

DonG35Miata

For what it is worth, in my opinion this whole "credit score" system really acts to the detriment of consumers. More than a few consumer advocates think so, too.

MadRonin

Highspeed8 --

Thanks for the info. I'll have to pass this on to my wife. She's in the mortgage business and runs into this sort of thing all the time.

-- Anthony

MadRonin

That is true Don, but one should always use caution when using a service vs doing it through the credit agency yourself. A lot of times companies make offers to check the activity on your behalf and they end up running inquiries. A lot of people don't realize this and then the damage, albeit temporary, is done.

-- Anthony

DonG35Miata

Good advice. I think the way to do it is through the bureaus themselves, as they will know it is you.

ELX13

hmmmm...according to this page on the FICO site, each reporting agency (experian, equifax, and transunion) uses FICO scores. i saw nothing referring to a "purely FICO" score as your post seems to indicate. matter of fact, the score they pay attention to is the transunion one. (Quote from that page: The credit score lenders use to measure your credit risk. Your FICO score analysis delivers your FICO score based on your TransUnion Credit Profile)

seems to me that as long as u get all three you should have a good idea. i received all 3 of my scores last night and averaged them to get my ballpark.

FYI, i went thru www.qspace.com

DonG35Miata

The agencies use FICO scores, but only myfico.com sells you one. Creditexpert has their own algorhythm, as does the TU site. If you order a score from creditexpert and one from myfico, both using Experian, they will be different.

Been there, done that :-)

RotorMotor

Ok, just to clear up a few things since I've recently bought a condo, got a loan for my car, and did some serious credit research about a year ago:

There are 3 credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and Transunion. All 3 maintain their own records on your credit and frequently have very different information. It's also true that their algorithms used to calculate your score vary quite a bit. These are not governmental agencies, they're out there to make money just like any other company and the make tons of mistakes (often more than any other company )

People checking your credit, the can go to any of the 3 bureaus to obtain your score. That's why it's extremely important that you know what's on all 3 records and that they're all in sync. Even then, you may see a 15-20 point difference in your credit score between the 3 agencies. Different creditors go through different companies for a number of reasons (convenience, discounts on lookups, etc).

To get a FREE copy of your credit report without having to sign up for any services that you have to remember to cancel, you generally have to write the credit bureaus directly. Many states grant you 1 free check a year. Also, anytime you are turned down for credit, you can request a copy of your report. Once a year, however, is probably not frequently enough for you to be checking your credit. Most companies will recommend that you check it every 3-6 months if for no other reason than to insure that a debt something wasn't mistakingly assigned to you (For example, my friend had trouble buying his house because of a dept. store account that was open on his credit that was actually his dad's account FROM BEFORE HE WAS BORN!)

Personally, I check mine every 2 or 3 months. It costs you 60 bucks to sign up for a year and be able to check it monthly through Experian. Also, be wary of "3 in 1" reports. They generally are not an actual representation of what's on each credit bureau's file. It's better to get it straight from the horse's mouth....