Obtaining copies of your credit reports from the three major credit reporting bureaus is a must for all American consumers. If you order your copies directly from each bureau, you can get yours for free [once per year per bureau]. That is the law. There is, however, one piece of information not included with your credit reports and that is your FICO score. Your FICO score can determine several things, including what interest rate mortgage lenders will charge you and the rate you will pay for your credit cards. For just a small fee you can order your FICO score and get a hold of a piece of information that is critical to you fully understanding and improving your credit rating.
FICO, or Fair Isaac Corporation, is a score that helps determine what interest rate creditors will charge you. The higher your score, the lower your interest rate will be resulting in lower mortgage payments and more money for you. Indeed, when you apply for a new cell phone account, purchase a car, or make just about any type of credit application, your FICO score is obtained by creditors. Unfortunately, you typically do not know what that score is unless you get the information yourself. Donít count on creditors sharing that information with you!
Your FICO score is based on five determining factors. According to the Fair Isaac Corporation, these five factors are weighted differently and each one is assigned a percentage figure based on their importance. Specifically, they are:
1. Payment History - 35%
2. Outstanding Balances - 30%
3. Length of Credit History -15%
4. New Credit - 10%
5. Types of Credit Used - 10%
Obviously, if you have made several late payments and owe a large amount of money to your creditors, your FICO score will be much lower than the person who pays what they owe on time, has a manageable level of debt, and possesses a solid credit history.
Coupled with your credit report, your FICO score can help you determine the plan of attack you need to take to improve your credit standing. This is very important step to take especially if you anticipate making any sort of credit application within the next year. If there are errors in your credit report than these will lower your FICO score. Make certain that the three credit reporting bureaus correct each error now and, once amended, run your FICO score again to determine if it has been adjusted upwards.
Remember, the higher your FICO score, the lower your monthly payments will be on virtually everything you finance through a creditor. Order your free credit report today and pay a little extra to obtain your FICO score.
Showing posts with label FICO SCORE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FICO SCORE. Show all posts
Monday, April 23, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
3 Ways to Get a Free Credit Report
Yes, you can now get your credit report without paying a dime. And unlike before, now it is truly free.
No longer do you have to sign up for a "free" credit report by signing up for "credit monitoring protection service" for a low annual fee of $79 a year! The days of dodging the annoying charges and service fees for a free credit report are over.
Under the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, you have the right to a free copy of your credit report within a 12 month period from the big three credit report bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion).
The goal of this new government act is to ensure that Americans have the right to stay informed about what these three credit reporting bureaus say about you without having to pay for it. Since identity theft, fraud and errors are quite common today, why should you have to pay for a copy of a report to fight back against these problems?
Here are the 3 ways to get your free annual credit report: The three credit reporting agencies have created a website to request your annual credit report.
1) Go to www.annualcreditreport.com
2) Call (877) 322-8228 to request your free credit report.
3) Complete a form from the Federal Trade Comission, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/include/requestformfinal.pdf and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
If you go directly to the three agencies or use any other type of service you may end up having to pay or sign up for the subscription services I mentioned above! Make sure you use one of the 3 methods I have listed to get your annual free credit report.
You can get the reports from all 3 agencies at once or stagger the reports from each one during the course of 1 year. The advantage of staggering the reports that you receive is to keep track of how any major changes in your financial picture affect what is on your credit report.
For example, if you plan on getting a second mortgage over the coming year, or applying for student loans, ect. it might be wise to get a report before and after these major events! This Act does not supplant the other methods you can take advantage of to receive a free credit report.
If you are applying for unemployment or been denied a loan, or need a credit report in order to get a job, you still have the right to obtain a free credit report.
Take advantage of this government regulation and make sure all of the information listed by all three credit reporting agencies are correct. Any errors or omissions can reduce your credit score and end up costing you a lot of money when you apply for any type of credit.
No longer do you have to sign up for a "free" credit report by signing up for "credit monitoring protection service" for a low annual fee of $79 a year! The days of dodging the annoying charges and service fees for a free credit report are over.
Under the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, you have the right to a free copy of your credit report within a 12 month period from the big three credit report bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion).
The goal of this new government act is to ensure that Americans have the right to stay informed about what these three credit reporting bureaus say about you without having to pay for it. Since identity theft, fraud and errors are quite common today, why should you have to pay for a copy of a report to fight back against these problems?
Here are the 3 ways to get your free annual credit report: The three credit reporting agencies have created a website to request your annual credit report.
1) Go to www.annualcreditreport.com
2) Call (877) 322-8228 to request your free credit report.
3) Complete a form from the Federal Trade Comission, http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/include/requestformfinal.pdf and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
If you go directly to the three agencies or use any other type of service you may end up having to pay or sign up for the subscription services I mentioned above! Make sure you use one of the 3 methods I have listed to get your annual free credit report.
You can get the reports from all 3 agencies at once or stagger the reports from each one during the course of 1 year. The advantage of staggering the reports that you receive is to keep track of how any major changes in your financial picture affect what is on your credit report.
For example, if you plan on getting a second mortgage over the coming year, or applying for student loans, ect. it might be wise to get a report before and after these major events! This Act does not supplant the other methods you can take advantage of to receive a free credit report.
If you are applying for unemployment or been denied a loan, or need a credit report in order to get a job, you still have the right to obtain a free credit report.
Take advantage of this government regulation and make sure all of the information listed by all three credit reporting agencies are correct. Any errors or omissions can reduce your credit score and end up costing you a lot of money when you apply for any type of credit.
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