Starting today, free credit reports are available to Minnesotans (and other midwest states) under a national program rolled out by the the major credit reporting bureaus Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union.
But there’s a big catch: Though your credit report is free, if you want your credit score, well, you’ll have to pay for that. This strikes us as more than a little disingenuous, and not all that useful. Withholding the credit score leaves out a critical piece (if not the critical piece) of information that consumers can use to evaluate their own credit and how it will be regarded by lenders. Apart from identifying obvious reporting errors, a credit report without the scores derived from it is essentially useless.
More on this, and other thrilling credit and educational links on the far side of the link below…
The credit bureaus seem to be using the "free annual credit report" program (which by the way was mandated under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction act)
to skim a few extra dollars of profit from consumers who are simply
trying to ensure their credit is being reported AND scored properly.
This, in our view, is counter to the spirit (if not the letter) of the
FACT act and smacks of a back room deal between the politicians and the
credit bureaus.
That being said, it is still a good idea to annually review your
credit report for errors. If you are one of our past or current
clients, we will order and help review your credit report and give you your score
at any time, just call or email. For more information on credit,
credit scoring and other related issues, hit the link at the bottom for
myfico.com’s educational page – lots of good info there.
Order Your Free Report [www.annualcreditreport.com]
Credit Info and Education [myfico.com]
Summary of Your Rights Under the FACT Act [PDF - Federal Trade Commission]
Related posts:
- Credit is Money. And Vice Versa.
- FICO: Quantifying the Damage, How Short Sales May Impact Credit Scores
- What’s Worse Than Mortgage Spam? Selling Private Data to Random Lenders
- The Price of Average Credit just Went Up
- WCCO: Local Couple Among Thousands Whose Personal Data was Sold by CountryWide Employee
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