Credit Reports

For many years, the credit industry treated consumer credit scores like a secret handshake between members of an exclusive cult. In fact, your credit score was such a secret that you could not even get it yourself!

Hard as it may be to believe, consumers were not allowed to access their own credit scores due to contractual agreements between the bureaus and the lenders; the credit bureaus could reveal your credit score to a lender to summarize your creditworthiness, but lenders were only allowed to show you your own score if your credit was denied.

This changed in the last few years, largely because of a 2001 advance in California mortgage lending law which required mortgage lenders and credit bureaus to make credit information widely available to borrowers. Because of this law, mortgage lenders in California must provide scores to borrowers for free. Credit bureaus, under this law, are permitted to charge a reasonable fee to any Californian that asks for their credit score. In complying with this law, credit bureaus decided to widen the availability of credit scores to consumers nationwide, and now they have services to provide your score to you, on demand, for a nominal fee.

If you want to check your score more frequently, you can subscribe to a service that allows you to monitor your credit files and access your scores online at any time. Credit monitoring services may be a good idea because you actually have three credit scores at the three different consumer credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

Also with recent changes in the law you are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the major credit bureaus. This is a copy of your entire credit report with all of the information reported to the credit bureaus, this does not include your three digit credit score though.

Whether you decide to do a one-time check of a single credit score, or purchase a year's subscription to monitor your changes in credit data at all three bureaus, or one bureau, depends upon your needs and budget. But in either case, for a reasonable fee you can look up your score online.

These days, there are plenty of ways for you to obtain your credit score on the internet. Largely because of a 2001 advance in California mortgage lending law, credit bureaus now make this information widely available to consumers for a reasonable fee.

When most people talk about "checking their credit score," what they really mean is that they are pulling a copy of their own credit report. You are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the major credit bureaus. It is important to understand that this does not include the three-digit number that represents your credit score. Your credit report is a longer document which contains the information your credit score is based on.

So where can you find your credit score? You can obtain it from one of the three different consumer credit bureaus Experian, Equifax and Transunion. By law, these companies can charge you a reasonable fee for providing your credit score. If you want to check your score more frequently, you can subscribe to a reputable site like GoFreeCredit.com which will allow you to monitor your credit files and access your scores online at any time.

Whether you decide to do a one-time check of a single credit score or purchase a year's subscription to monitor the changes in your credit data, depends upon your financial needs and what your budget is. But in either case, there are plenty of companies willing to provide you your credit score. Here is a couple of resources where you can find your credit score online:

GoFreeCredit.com: offers free access to your Credit Report for 60 days online, automated notifications of changes to your credit report, a detailed personal analysis, and details on who has reviewed your report.

MyFICO.com: This site is a joint venture of Fair Isaac and Equifax, which uses the Equifax credit score. There is a nominal fee to access this score.

Even if you are not in the market for a car or a home loan, it is still advisable to keep an eye on your credit score and be responsible with your credit.

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