Need FICO Scores
It seems a lot of people are talking about FICO scores and I was wondering what mine is. Do you get it from the mortgage broker or something. I just bought a house last year and no one ever brought it up. They just said there was no problem with my credit and gave me the going rate. I am interested in an investment property and would like to have my score to negotiate a better rate on this . Is there a formula so I can figure it myself? Thanks
There might be a way to find out for free, but I went to the Equifax website and they do an excellent job of figuring it out and giving regular reports for a reasonable fee.
MarleneM
Do a google search for FICO scores, you should come up with the fico site (can't post a url here). thats the best place to get your real score.
Watch out for sites like experian's credit expert, they provide you unlimited daily access to your "plus" score, but this plus score is NOT your fico score, it is a new scoring system that is proprietary to them that they are trying to push. It can be very different than your fico score. In my case, my "plus" scores were 690-695. My actual fico scores were 620-640, and these are the numbers that creditors go by, at least until and unless they start accepting experian's new system...
Go to www.creditexpert.com. This is a great
service that will give you your score and notify you of any derragatory postings to your file. It is very inexpensive.
For example, I forgot to return a cable modem from a house I sold. The cable company referred it to collections. They did not have my fowarding address. I totally forgot I leased the modem. I was
notified by creditexpert immediately. I was able to contact the cable company, return the modem and the item came off my credit.
Good Luck,
Jeff Adam
[addsig]
I used both www.creditexpert.com and www.myfico.com and myfico to be a bit more helpful and more thorough. Both cost about the same. Myfico broke down all 3 bureaus and gave independant scores for each..I think creditexpert did the same.
Hope this helps!
Good idea by suntzu18,
You can get your FICO score of www.MyFICO.com web site.
This may sounds weird, but here's something interesting for tax times.
Microsoft Money software is on sale all over the electronic stores. You can buy the delux version for around $40.
With that, you get free credit monitoring for a year from Experian, which includes your scores.
You also get free online tax preparation with H&R Block, and a whole bunch of other online goodies for free.
The credit monitoring alone is worth the price. You can dispute credit matters online and in my experience it hasn't taken them longer than 2 weeks to respond.
They also have a simulator that tells you waht your score would be if you do certain things with your finances, like taking out more credit cards or paying others off or getting a loan for real estate.
It's worth the investment.
good luck.
beacon,
On www.FICO.com site you also have this kind of simulator you have described. Where is the one you are talking about located? On Experian site? That again is the part of the credit report you can by from them or get it for free if you were denied credit or employment in the past 30 or 60 days... I am not a big fan of MS so I wonder what else can you suggest is there in this program for one to consider buying it besides for the value of credit monitoring service ?
www.myfico.com should have a lot of useful information.
i've used alot of the financial software, including quicken, quickbooks, and just plain old excel. MS Money is the one I like the best.
IT's the most intuitive in terms of financial organization, and even planning (depending on the version you have).
Most outside accounts can be accesses through MS Money's online features also.
I know they are offering free consultation with American Express advisors as well, but I went to that and it's basically just a sales pitch.
Any of the above software is great for keeping track of accounts and loans and home values,
good luck.
BEWARE of creditexpert. The "plus" score they give you is NOT your fico score, but is their own proprietary score.
I learned this the hard way. creditexpert said 690. the lenders said 635, on the same experian report!
=I
"Scores-Galore" Apply for a loan and learn your scores. The guessing is over and the mortgage broker can assist you in selecting the right loan. Do not forget that FHA will accept a lower "Middle" FICO score (approx 585). Middle score is from the three bureaus, throw out the high and the low score = middle
Eric & Rosa
[addsig]
There are aslo a number of credit monitoring services that offer you your credit score when you sign up. Since most of them usually offer a trial period, You can get your credit score and cancel before the end of the trial period if you feel the services are not worth the requested fee.
One of them is a service called privacyguard. I am sure there are numerous such services out there and I would do a search to find one of these that offer a trial period before committing the funds.
JS.
Please be careful... I mean well here -
If you pull your credit report too many times your score drops - significantly.
Fed made a law to prevent this but I have yet to see it enforced.
If you go to a Lender, Broker or Bank - they will all have to pull it again because to secure a loan they require a current "tri-merge" report - which is a compilation of the big three - Equifax, Transperian, etc.
Also, really important - no matter whom you work with, Bank, Lender, Broker - you will qualify based on the tri-merge submitted to underwriting with all other docs but be aware that 48-24 hours prior to your closing the lender will pull your credit again to ensure that you didn't rack up insane credit card debt within the loan process timeframe.
I have some tri-merge recommendations - but you can run keyword searches...
ABSOLUTELY demand from your Broker, Bank or whomever a copy of your tri-merge report.
If they pull it - you have a right to get a copy. This way, you will always know exactly where you stand.
Best wishes,
Caterina
Caterina,
A company is not allowed to give you a copy of your credit report. At least not in the states I deal with. You are right anyone is entitled to a copy for free within thirty days of appling for credit. You just have to call all three bureaus and they will mail you a copy.
The reason a company can't give you a copy of theirs is because their name is at the top of the report. To be in compliance with most banks you must shred all documents with the customers social security number on it. Only papers that are relevant are kept in a file that is either open or closed.
lori
[addsig]
i just bought an auto can i get a free copy of my credit report from all 3 reporting agencies or do you have to be turned down...C Walker
Pretty sure you have to be turned down. But I haven't seen this enforced, just tell them you have?