Credit Reports

[BoosTT]

I am interested in finding out my credit... whats a good site to check it? I don't mind paying a few dollars, but don't want the hassle of canceling an automatic billing, ect.

Also- Is my credit affected much by co-signing?

[07ROUSHSTG3]

www.annualcreditreport.com

[Yooformula]

write a letter to each of the 3 agencies as you get a free report each year.

[STANMAN]

F R E E that spells free, creditreport.com baby:rolf I wouldn't actually get my credit report from them more than likely, that commercial just popped into my head:goof

[05caddyext]

You can get 1 free report a year from annualcreditreport.com. The only thing they don't show you for free is your actual credit score. Keep in mind, every time you check your credit, it actually hurts you. So don't write a letter to all three places. Its always a good idea to check it at least once a year. Credit score doesnt really make all that much difference if you aren't planning any big purchases soon, but study the report. Chances are you have open lines of credit you aren't even aware of.. Also with that in mind, closing out a credit account also hurts your credit. Most people believe that closing an account helps you, but it doesnt. Just a few things to know.

[GRAMPS SS]

but you can get your credit score from your bank...i did....or you can ask a friend in the auto biz to run it for ya....

[05caddyext]

Thats true. Just keep in mind as I said that every time anyone runs your credit report/score for any reason, it hurts your credit. So unless you really want to know your score for some reason, its unnecessary to run it. Getting the free report from all 3 credit companies will give you all the information you need to know about what accounts are open, all that jazz. Don't be surprised if the reports aren't the same either. They usually aren't. Some don't update as often, some have more info on you, some have less. Thats why its nice to get all 3 and compare.

[Memphis]

if you get your own report, it doesnt count as an inquiry weather through a website or through the actual credit company.

[lordairgtar]

if you get your own report, it doesnt count as an inquiry weather through a website or through the actual credit company.
Truth.

[fivonut]

Thats true. Just keep in mind as I said that every time anyone runs your credit report/score for any reason, it hurts your credit. So unless you really want to know your score for some reason, its unnecessary to run it. Getting the free report from all 3 credit companies will give you all the information you need to know about what accounts are open, all that jazz. Don't be surprised if the reports aren't the same either. They usually aren't. Some don't update as often, some have more info on you, some have less. Thats why its nice to get all 3 and compare.


There's two types of inquiries. A hard or soft inquiry. Soft inquiries have little to no effect on your score. When you check your own score that is what you're doing. When credit card companies send you that pre-approval letter they've done a soft inquiry (which is why it always says dependent on a current check) so you don't get penalized for that. When you apply for credit or a loan they do a hard inquiry and those will affect you. Basically it sends up a red flag that your out hunting for credit and the more you hunt for, the bigger risk you are.

[fivonut]

(hmm I can't edit my own posts??)


I want to add that annualcreditreport.com is the best place to get a free report. If you're concerned about monitoring your report (and you should be) the thing to do is get one report from each company every 4 months. That way by the time you get back around to say Transunion you will get another freebie and you can see what's going on on a more regular basis. Even through annual credit website there is one company that requires you to sign up for their automatic renewal program and you have to remember to call and cancel it and they will harass you about all the benefits of keeping it. Tell em to shove it and close your account ( I think it's Experian)

[wikked]

If you have a Washington Mutual (WaMu) credit card, you can see your credit score anytime for free, right on WaMu's site.

[Crawlin]

transunion.com

sign up get the free report, and then have them monitor your stuff each month. that's what I do. i also had something messed up on my report and i was able to dispute it and get it erased from my record through that site.

[LIZMO]

freecredidreport.com is free the first 7 days but after that u get billed 14.95 every month after that. trust me. i know :fire so i just called and canceled it and only paid for one month

[Smokey1226]

^ That happened to my cousin, such BS!

[DirtyMax]

I used freecreditreport and just stayed subscribed after that. I was all set to cancel it but then some 133t hax0rs got my CC# (no idea how) and tried to run it up on a bunch of web-based transactions over the course of a few minutes. CC company caught it in time so no real damage was done but for now, $14.95 per month is cheap insurance for me to keep an eye on stuff.

[LIZMO]

well the way im going to keep up on my credit report... is doing what i've been doing and paying my whole bill in full every month. which can't make my credit score much lower

[05caddyext]

well the way im going to keep up on my credit report... is doing what i've been doing and paying my whole bill in full every month. which can't make my credit score much lower

Credit card companies hate you.

[CobraSnake]

I used freecreditreport and just stayed subscribed after that. I was all set to cancel it but then some 133t hax0rs got my CC# (no idea how) and tried to run it up on a bunch of web-based transactions over the course of a few minutes. CC company caught it in time so no real damage was done but for now, $14.95 per month is cheap insurance for me to keep 4eyes on stuff.

fixed

[LIZMO]

Credit card companies hate you.

oh well! :)

[0TransAm0]

i just payed off a credit card today and canceled my account and did the same thing to two others last month.. how does canceling the account hurt you? i still have 3 that are open with very low balance and plan to keep them open one is a bestbuy card that will never get used(was used to get tv free financing for a year) and the other 2 are visa's...
i still dont understand why it would hurt your credit rateing for canceling an account...

[Crawlin]

here's how some of your score is affected...

let's say you have 5 credit cards of $2000 limit. That's $10,000 total balance. Now, if you are carrying a $1000 balance through all 5 cards, you have a 90% availability. Now let's say you cancel 4 of those cards but still have that $1000 balance. That means you just dropped that availability to 50%, which is considered carrying a high balanced based on limits. That will drop your score.

Another reason, is because even though you are not using those accounts. The longer accounts open show more responsibility. So if you are canceling old accounts, because you opened new ones, those new ones are hurting your score because they don't have the couple years of paid on time reporting. So it's actually a bad thing

[Smokey1226]

Good call, My Aunt works at a bank and said the same thing. Thats why i leave 3 accounts open just for that reason.

[84hurst]

I just tried checking my score with annualcreditreport. They cant give me the info. "You may have a Security Freeze on your credit file, an Active Duty Military or Fraud Alert" :confused I'll have my bro run it at the dealership. I hope it's nothing bad.